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Phoenix revenge in Telford

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Telford Tigers 1 Manchester Phoenix 6

Phoenix scorers: Michal Psurny x 2, Joachim Flaten, James Archer, Tony Hand and Tom Duggan.

J Davidson sponsored Manchester Phoenix gained revenge for their 4-1 defeat last time they visited Telford with a solid 6-1 victory.

Phoenix made a bright start to the game and hit the pipes after 5 minutes. Telford looked dangerous on the break early in the game but Stephen Fone was on top form to keep the scoresheet blank. With just over 13 minutes gone, Telford fell foul of the icing infraction rule, resulting in a 2 minute power play to Phoenix. The visitors scored just over half way through the one man advantage courtesy of Joachim Flaten. Assists went to Tony Hand and Michal Psurny. 44 seconds later, the Phoenix lead was doubled when James Archer scored, assisted by Tom Duggan and Bari McKenzie. No further scoring in the period and Phoenix went for a cup of tea with a healthy 2-0 lead.

The second period was littered with minor penalties with Phoenix suffering three in quick succession. Telford could not break through with the man advantage but they did pull a goal back on 34.55 when ex Phoenix forward Scott McKenzie scored for his old/new club against his old club. The Phoenix reply was swift and incisive with two goals in two minutes. Firstly, Tony Hand poked the puck goalwards and Baz Hollyhead in the Telford net appeared to have fallen on the puck. The whistle was blown as the referee lost sight of it. The puck was then found behind one of the goalie’s leg pads. Unfortunately for him, the leg was over the line and a goal was awarded. Shortly afterwards, Ben Wood was penalised for tripping and Phoenix again went on the penalty kill. This time, it was the short handed team that scored, Michal Psurny scoring with an assist going to Tom Duggan. End of period two and Phoenix were looking comfortable at 4-1.

Phoenix were in control in the third period but Telford always looked dangerous on the break with new forward Tomas Karpov troubling the Phoenix defence. The visitors always looked dangerous and put the game to bed with two further goals from Tom Duggan and Michal Psurny. With the points secure, Tony Hand gave Stephen Fone a rest and Jorge El-Hage came on for the final 10 minutes. There was no further scoring and a final result of 6-1 to Phoenix gave them a very important 4 point weekend.

Coach Hand said after the game: “Telford are always a tricky team to play against in their own barn and we had to concentrate for the whole game to get the win. I am very pleased with the weekend’s results which keep us right up there challenging for the title.”