Courtenay notches 40 goals for the season in win over Scimitars

Manchester Phoenix 4-3 Sheffield Scimitars

Phoenix forward Ed Courtenay again helped Manchester Phoenix secure two points from closest rivals Sheffield Scimitars as he notched his 39th and 40th goals of the season.

The visitors opened the scoring in the 2nd minute as James Archer caught the home side out with a close range finish. But before the period ended the teams were on level terms with Courtenay scoring his first of the night with a sublime solo effort.

Phoenix took the lead mid way through the second period as Courtenay deflected a Luke Boothroyd pass beyond Ben Bowns in the Sheffield net. The score remained the same until the third period when a quick double from the home side secured the points, firstly Stephen Wallace netted from close range after good work from Adam Walker and Tony Hand, before Hand himself scored the eventual game winner in the 47th minute on the powerplay.

Sheffield did all they could to get back into the match with a spirited fight-back that just fell short, goals from Mark Turner and Peter Slamiar reduced the deficit to one goal but the Phoenix defence stood firm in the final minutes to hold onto the points.

A Phoenix spokesman commented, “Sheffield are a team that we never take lightly as they work tremendously hard every time we play them. Possibly we should have had a bigger margin of victory given we outshot them 38-22, credit to their goalie, he made some good saves to keep things tight.”