News

Phoenix back to winning ways

Tweet

Manchester Phoenix 4 Peterborough Phantoms 2

Manchester Phoenix returned to winning ways with a nervy 4-2 victory over Peterborough Phantoms on Sunday night. Phoenix were desperate to halt a three-game losing streak which finally saw them lose top spot in the English Premier League following a 5-1 defeat at Guildford Flames on Saturday night.

Defenceman Ladislav Harabin made a welcome return after missing two games due to a knee injury, and Phoenix’ new signing Andrew Sharp made his home debut.

Neither side dominated the first period, but Phoenix broke the deadlock on 13 minutes when Man of the Match Tom Duggan took the puck round the back of the Phantoms net before slipping it past Stephen Wall.

The second period saw much of the same. Both sides created chances, and Phoenix in particular were guilty of over-elaborate plays in front of goal which saw numerous opportunities go begging.

A four minute goal fest half way through the period started when Phoenix were finally punished for their profligacy by Maris Ziedins, who equalised for Phantoms on 30 minutes. Tony Hand restored Phoenix’ lead on 32 minutes, and pounced again 30 seconds later to make it 3-1. Joe Miller pulled another goal back for Peterborough on 34 minutes.

Phantoms piled on the pressure in the third period in search of another equaliser, but it was a classic move by Phoenix that finally won the game three minutes from the end. A massive check by Pavel Gomeniuk, who was immense all night, broke up a Phantoms attack and allowed Tony Hand to lay on a superb pass for Marcus Kristoffersson, who fired a rocket past Stephen Wall on 57 minutes.

Phoenix player coach Tony Hand said: “That was a win we sorely needed. Confidence has taken a bit of a knock over the last couple of weeks, and I was delighted for the guys. We still looked nervous in front of goal at times, but that will ease as we get back into our stride.

“It was tight game but our character started to show through and we’ll use this as a springboard to get our title challenge back on track.”