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Manchester Phoenix 3-1 Milton Keynes Lightning
After a disappointing result in Romford on Saturday night, the Manchester Phoenix stormed back to form with a hard earned victory over the Milton Keynes Lightning at the Ice Dome on Sunday night.
With the away team having won on both occasions previous to this match up, the Phoenix were looking to break the trend whilst also hoping to hold onto top spot in the English Premier League. The Phoenix took the lead in the 8th minute through Robert Lachowicz as he netted from close range after good work on the powerplay by Jaakko Hagelberg and Luke Boothroyd.
This would prove to be the only goal through the opening two periods as both teams found the netminders in spectacular form, Steve Fone in the Manchester net proving his worth whilst putting Saturdays 8-3 loss behind him and Barry Hollyhead in the Lightning net continued to thwart everything Phoenix through at him.
The breakthrough finally came in the 47th minute when the Phoenix doubled their lead through Hagelberg as he sneaked the puck under Hollyhead from in close. Steve Fone lost his shut-out bid in the 56th minute as the Lightning’s Adam Carr netted after stepping out of the penalty box. The Phoenix however, even when on the penalty kill in the dying minutes never looked like conceding further and Ed Courtaney sealed the victory with an empty net goal.
Player coach Tony Hand noted after the match, “Where we were not very good on Saturday, we were very good tonight. We defended well tonight, probably our best penalty killing of the season so far and overall, every single player showed up, played his part and I thought whilst Milton Keynes gave us a great game, we were the better side and deserved the points”
Manchester Phoenix 4-2 Peterborough Phantoms
Ed Courtenay secured Manchester Phoenix’s fifth straight victory on Saturday night, but not before a strong third period fight-back from the reigning champions.
Phoenix, sporting special Children in Need jerseys, took a quick two goal lead after a clever wrap-around goal from Iain Bowie in the 3rd minute was followed by a flowing move from Tony Hand and Ed Courtenay that left Adam Walker the easiest of finishes from close range.
Jaakko Hagelberg put the Phoenix 3-0 up in the 47th minute on the powerplay with a goal that left Phantoms netminder Stephen Wall shaking his head. Phoenix then let comfort get the better of them as the Phantoms scored twice in 81secs through Warren Tait and James Knight.
It was then left to Courtenay, with help from Hagelberg, to ease the home nerves as he crashed home a rebound goal with little over a minute remaining.
Player coach Tony Hand commented “I was impressed with the way Peterborough kept coming back at us. That said, I thought we’d played well enough to put the game beyond them before they scored. It was a good solid performance again from the guys and with a little bit of luck, we could have won by a bigger margin.”
Manchester Phoenix 6-3 Swindon Wildcats
A second period onslaught by the Manchester Phoenix was enough to beat a competitive Swindon Wildcats at the Altrincham Ice Dome on Sunday night.
Five goals in the middle frame turned the game on its head as the Phoenix came from 2-1 down to win 6-3 and clinch a four point weekend after beating Basingstoke the night before 8-4. Tony Hand’s side now lie two points behind leaders Milton Keynes Lightning.
Player coach Tony Hand remarked, “We played very well on Saturday in Basingstoke and tonight I thought we were efficient and clinical, particularly in the second period.”
Phoenix’s Adam Walker opened the scoring in the 6th minute, before goals from Aaron Nell and Raimonds Danilics gave the visitors a 2-1 lead. The second period saw the Phoenix come out flying with goals from Iain Bowie (2), Tony Hand, Andre Mattsson and leading scorer Ed Courtenay before the Wildcats managed to score again.
“We seem to be making the second period a strong time for ourselves and I think we shocked Swindon tonight with the manner in which we regained control of the game.” Added Hand.
