Hand and Courtenay conjure last gasp heroics for Phoenix.

Manchester Phoenix 6-4 Sheffield Scimitars

Three goals in three minutes from Player coach Tony Hand and hot-shot Ed Courtenay brought Manchester Phoenix back from the dead on Saturday night against a battling Sheffield Scimitars.

The Phoenix turned the tables on a Sheffield side who could have been forgiven for thinking they had done enough to beat the Phoenix for the first time in five attempts, but man of the match Hand found a way to tie the score at 4-4 in the dying minutes before Ed Courtenay edged the Phoenix in front with 50 seconds on the clock.

A pulsating game at the Altrincham Ice Dome began with an early goal for the home-side, the on form Iain Bowie firing a shot from the left wing circle past Pasi Raitanen in the Sheffield net in the 6th minute. Phoenix doubled their advantage in the 16th minute as the equally hot Robert Lachowicz capitalised on a turnover in the Sheffield zone.

An all action first period then saw Bowie drop the gloves with Sheffield’s Robert Farmer as they engaged in a fight that ended with the Phoenix winger coming worse off due to the size of the Scimitars forward. This seemed to revitalise the Scimitars and Tom Squires reduced the deficit to 2-1 in the 18th minute.

The resurgent Scimitars attacked further in the second period with the Phoenix struggling to deal with wave after wave of pressure. Deservedly, the visitors drew level in the 26th minute through Matt Haywood as he fired a blistering slap-shot past a helpless Steve Fone in the Manchester net. The Scimitars were clearly in the ascendency and they quickly took the lead through Robert Farmer and could have made the game a two goal spread, but the goal-frame came to the aid of a beaten Steve Fone.

The final period saw the Phoenix draw level in the 45th minute as Adam Walker deflected a pass from Ed Courtenay right in front of the Sheffield net and from there on in the period quickly built up into an epic spectacle of all-out attacking action as both teams went in search of the game winner. It was Sheffield who found the net in the 54th minute as James Archer struck and seemingly dealt the Phoenix a killer blow much to the delight of the travelling support.

However Phoenix coach Hand found a crack in the armour of Raitanen in the Sheffield net as he banked the puck off his legs from behind the net to tie the score at 4-4 in the 57th minute before Ed Courtenay capitalized on Sheffield give-away to put the Phoenix in the lead with less than a minute remaining. Sheffield withdrew their netminder in hope of an equally impressive comeback, but the plan backfired as Hand found the empty cage to seal two points for the Phoenix.

Player coach Hand remarked after the game, “That has to be one of the most entertaining games I’ve played in for quite some time. Both teams gave it 110% and to honest, neither deserved to lose. I thought our guys needed to stay calm and not panic, and they did. We dug deep to get the job done and I think you could tell by the noise that the supporters enjoyed the game.”

“I hope that when they spread the word about tonights’ game that we can continue to get more people to come out and see what great value for money we offer as a sporting spectacle.”