Cingel & Fone lead Phoenix past Cats

Manchester Phoenix 3-2 Swindon Wildcats

Slovakian sniper Martin Cingel scored twice in the second period and netminder Steve Fone held firm late on to lead Manchester Phoenix to a 3-2 win on Sunday.

Cingel, who scored twice last weekend in a 5-4 win over Basingstoke, continued his hot start to the new season by scoring twice in the second period to help Phoenix beat a stubborn Wildcats side.

Swindon suffocated the Phoenix offence for the majority of the game, and when the home side did get a chance, Wildcats netminder Thomas Murdy was in the way most of the night.

Phoenix scored three times in the second period through Cingel and defenceman Jaroslav Spelda and appeared to have unlocked the Wildcats game-plan, but a much improved Swindon side came back strong with Lee Richardson and Jarislav Cesky scoring either side of the break to set up a tense finish.

But man of the match Fone prevented Swindon from tying the game with a string of fine saves in the Manchester net, allowing Phoenix to bounce back from a 5-2 defeat in Milton Keynes the night before.

Phoenix player coach Tony Hand said: “We needed that win. It was important to get straight back to winning ways after the defeat at Milton Keynes on Saturday.

“Swindon are a tricky side to break down, but we knew that if we were patient and stuck to our game, the chances would come.”