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Phoenix on fire as they beat The Flames

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Manchester Phoenix 5 - Guildford Flames 3

Phoenix scorers: Michal Psurny x 3, James Archer and Shaun Thompson.

J Davidson sponsored “Men of Iron”, Manchester Phoenix, continued their winning streak with a great performance to beat Guildford Flames in their English Premier League match.

Phoenix usually make a strong start to their home games and tonight was no exception as they took the game to the Guildford defence right from the start. The Flames were pinned in their own defensive zone for the most of the first 5 minutes but the elusive first goal was prevented by a couple of good stops by Greg Rockman in the Flames net. The opening goal, when it did arrive, was a beaut as Tony Hand found James Archer deep down the right wing. Archer’s pass just eluded Rockman’s flailing stick and Michal Psurny roofed the puck high over the netminder’s shoulder. Goal timed at 7.23, 1-0 Phoenix. The home side continued to look the better team, although the Flames tested the outstanding Stephen Fone on a couple of occasions.

Flames looked certain to score on 15.45 as they broke through the Phoenix rearguard and bore down on Fone. Luke Boothroyd tracked back and managed to get a stick in but was penalised for tripping and he headed for the penalty box in the knowledge that he had helped keep the lead intact. Just as the skipper’s penalty expired, Johan Burlin took his place in the box on a delay of game penalty. Once again the Phoenix rearguard stood tall alongside Stephen Fone and the Flames could not take advantage. Neither netminder was beaten for the remainder of the period and Phoenix went to the interval with a deserved 1-0 lead. 

Flames came out the stronger of the two teams in the second period and were rewarded on 25.55 with the equaliser. The goal had a Phoenix flavour to it as Curtis Huppe, all alone at the back post, took a pass from Marcus Kristofferson to rifle the puck past Stephen Fone. Another ex Phoenix player, Andrew McKinney, was awarded the second assist. Two minutes later, Phoenix had regained the lead with the potent Psurny, Hand, Archer line coming good for the second time on the night with Michal on the end of another James Archer pass to make it 2-1. That finished the scoring for the second period, thanks mainly to a stellar performance by Fone in the Phoenix net. 40 minutes of pulsating hockey gone and the home side leading 2-1.

James Archer, returning this weekend after a nasty knee injury, showed delight and relief after weeks of frustration when he celebrated scoring Phoenix’s third goal of the evening. This time it was Michal Psurny to Tony Hand, who then found James at the back post unmarked and he swept the puck into the net. The goal was timed at 47.39 and the Psurny/Hand/Archer line had scored all three Phoenix goals.

Phoenix hit the destruct button two minutes later when they lost two goals in 10 seconds. Goals from Andrew Hemmings and Branislav Kvetan brought the Surrey side level in a game that looked like it had slipped away from them after Archer’s goal. Guildford lost some of the momentum they had gained when Curtis Huppe took a hooking penalty just 15 seconds after his team’s equaliser to give the home side a bit of respite. The game was heading towards overtime when the roof came off the Dome as Shaun Thompson scored Phoenix’s 4th goal with just 80 seconds left on the clock. Assists were awarded to Robin Kovar and Luke Boothroyd. Guildford pulled their netminder for the extra outskater and Michal Psurny hit the empty net as time expired for Phoenix’s 5th and his second hat trick of the weekend. Final score 5-3 to Phoenix.

Man of the Match James Neil said on Phoenix TV after the game: “A great game tonight between two good teams. We worked very hard and got our reward with some great goals and all round team play. We will now work hard to keep this run going and get ourselves up the table.”