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Courtenay double helps Phoenix ease to victory

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Manchester Phoenix 4 - 3 Sheffield Scimitars

A brace of goals for Ed Courtenay set the Manchester Phoenix on the road to victory and continued domination of their Yorkshire rivals as the one goal difference in the score belied the pressure exerted on the visitors goal.

Phoenix without the suspended Andre Payette and injured Ryan Johnson called up Max Drakely and Andy McKinney from the Trafford Metros as cover, but it was the Scimitars who got the scoreboard moving as early as the second minute. A quick attack saw Mark Stewart find James Archer and he made no mistake with a short range finish. The goal shook the home side and they responded by taking almost total control of the period with Ben Bowns in the Scimitars goal seeing plenty of action. When he was beaten for the equaliser, it was a goal worth waiting for. Veteran sniper Ed Courtenay picked the puck up in his own half and he skated mazily through the visitors defence before firing the puck low past Bowns in the 16th minute to send the teams to the first interval tied at one-one.

Having outshot their opponents 13-5 in the first session, Phoenix went to work quickly in the second with Bowns again seeing more of the action and making a number of key saves. Even his stalwart effort though could not keep the Phoenix at bay and just past the half hour mark, they finally got their noses in front as approach work from Jaakko Hagelberg and Luke Boothroyd created the opportunity for Courtenay to bag his second goal of the game and fortieth of the season from a narrow angle. A spirited Scimitars didn't let the goal get to them and they raised their game in an effort to draw level that saw Steve Fone in the Phoenix goal step up to the plate with some smart saves. The period ended with referee Dave Goodwin earning the ire of the crowd for assessing Courtenay a 10-minute Misconduct penalty.

The final period saw Phoenix stretch their lead to 4-1 before a late rally by Sheffield made the final score look a lot tighter than the game actually was. Smart passing in the Scimitars defensive zone in the 43rd minute saw Adam Walker find Tony Hand and his quick feed was gleefully swept home by former Sheffield forward Stephen Wallace, his fourth goal in three games for the Phoenix. The visitors then had a goal washed out for interference on the goalie and the offender, Lee Haywood, sent to the penalty box for two minutes. On the resulting powerplay, Phoenix got the three-goal cushion as Wallace and Walker combined for player coach to beat Bowns in the 47th minute. Phoenix eased up a little and that allowed the visitors to claw a goal back through Mark Turner five minutes later before a superb solo effort by Scimitars captain Peter Slamiar made it a one goal margin at the final hooter.