Phoenix Double Fight Back Goes Up In Flames

Manchester Phoenix 7-8 Guildford Flames (After Penalty Shots)

Tony Hand’s Manchester Phoenix fought back emphatically on Sunday night against the in-form Guildford Flames to earn a crucial point after being 3 goals down TWICE.

In the second match of a double header against the Flames, Phoenix were 3-0 down at the half way point of the game through goals from Gary Clarke, Lukas Smital and Martin Masa.

But the first Phoenix fight back started in the 31st minute through player-coach Hand before goals from Greg Wood and Ed Courtenay tied the match. Adam Walker then netted a powerplay goal in the 38th minute to give Phoenix the lead before Jaakko Hagelberg was ejected from the match for accidental high sticks causing another shift in momentum.

Guildford took advantage of an extended powerplay at the beginning of the third period with goals from Jez Lundin and Masa to regain the lead. Further damage was done when Adrian Saul netted a shorthanded goal for the visitors in the 47th minute and this was followed by another strike from Smital leaving the Phoenix again trailing by three goals at 7-4.

After losing 9-2 in Guildford the night before, Phoenix were determined to get something from the weekend and they battled back again in the final ten minutes to send the game into overtime. James Neil scoring in the 52nd minute got them started, before an excellent goal from Robert Lachowicz pulled the home-side to within one. With four minutes remaining the unstoppable duo of Tony Hand and Ed Courtenay combined again for the latter to net the game tying goal.

The overtime period produced no further goals and the tie needed penalty shots to decide the outcome with the winner coming from the visitors as Adrian Saul squeezed the puck past Steve Fone for the extra point.

Tony Hand reflected on the result by saying, “Despite the final result, I think we showed tremendous character to twice fight back from being three goals behind. Guildford have a very powerful line-up and we had to battle very hard. And considering the score from Saturday, I think the effort was exceptional tonight.”