Phoenix breeze past Bracknell

Sunday, 28th February 2016

Manchester Phoenix put in a dominant display on Sunday evening as they saw off the Bracknell Bees 5-1 in Deeside.

Phoenix grabbed an early lead as a drop pass from Michal Satek allowed Robin Kovar to fire past Alex Mettam at 2:00. Kovar had another chance with a one-on-one as Phoenix applied significant pressure on the Bracknell goal throughout the period. The second goal arrived at 16:24 as Satek blasted a shot from the blue line which found the top corner, with the assist going to Ben Wood.

The second period was a more even affair, and Phoenix netminder Phil Spanswick made a number of good saves to keep Bracknell at bay, including on a lengthy 5-on-3 Powerplay for the visitors. Phoenix scored their third at 35:33 as Gareth O’Flaherty set up Stanislav Gron to score on the backhand.

Bracknell got on the scoreboard early in the final period as Alex Barker broke clear to net at 41:00. The goal spurred Phoenix into life and Trent Hope squared the puck for Kovar to score his second of the night at 42:44. Martin Baranek almost added a fifth when his thunderous shot was partly saved by Mettam before the puck was cleared off the line. Phoenix weren’t to be denied however and Baranek sent Gareth O’Flaherty away, and he coolly slotted home at 47:55 to round off the scoring.

Phil Spanswick was named man-of-the-match as he produced 42 saves in an excellent display.

Phoenix host the Telford Tigers in Deeside next Saturday evening with a 7pm face-off.