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Roses Wars - Episode 3: The fight for the bowl

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J Davidson sponsored Manchester Phoenix will defend the Rose Bowl against the Sheffield Steeldogs on the weekend of 17th/18th September.

Game 1 will be at Ice Sheffield on Saturday 17th September with a 1930hrs face off.

The return leg will be the following night, Sunday 18th September at the Dome, face off 1730hrs.

Phoenix have won the first two episodes of the challenge series and will be striving to make it 3 in a row.

The Steeldogs, coached by ex Phoenix favourite Andre Payette, have significantly strengthened their squad since last season and the two games are sure to be very competitive.

With Steeldogs icing a number of Phoenix stalwarts from last season, namely Pavel Gomeniuk, Ben Morgan and Greg Wood, and ex Steeldog Ryan Johnson in Phoenix colours, there is sure to be an extra edge to proceedings over the weekend. Steeldogs’ coach Payette was quoted as saying: “Get used to the fact that the Rose Bowl will be residing in Sheffield come the Sunday night.”

Phoenix MD Neil Morris said of the encounters: “It is a great way to kick off the new season. The two teams have established a derby-type rivalry and both sets of fans will be keen to open the season with a trophy. I am sure Pavel, Ben and Greg will get a good reception, before face off, when they come back to the Dome. As for the Rose Bowl, it is going nowhere.” Coach Tony Hand MBE said: “It is a great opportunity to put all the training into a match scenario. This will be a good test for the team. I am sure our fans will turn out in numbers again to give the lads a boost.”