Faith leads Phoenix without Hand

Manchester Phoenix 4-1 Peterborough Phantoms

Injury hit Manchester Phoenix put in a resilient performance against Peterborough Phantoms on Sunday night, and they were rewarded with a 4-1 win.

With player coach Tony Hand, winger Stephen Wallace and import defence man Jaroslav Spelda all out of action, Juraj Faith took charge with a pair of assists and helped Phoenix to a valuable two points.

Phoenix, who lost 3-1 in Peterborough the previous night, took an early lead with a scrappy James Archer goal in the 5th minute and never looked back.

Slava Koulikov doubled the home sides lead in the 17th minute after good work from Faith and Martin Cingel sliced open the Phantoms defence.

Cingel made it 3-0 early in the second period after Faith broke free of the Phantoms defence to set up an odd man breakaway to leave the sniper with the easiest of finishes.

Tom Duggan added a fourth before Luke Ferrara scored a late consolation for the visitors breaking netminder Steve Fone’s shut-out hopes.

Hand said after the game: “That was a vital win for us. The guys played well, kept things tight and we stuck to our game.

“It’s been tough the last few weeks with injuries, but hopefully the light is at the end of the tunnel.”