Bison capitalize on Phoenix slump

Manchester Phoenix 2-4 Basingstoke Bison

Manchester Phoenix’s recent bad home form continued on Sunday night as they fell to visitors Basingstoke Bison as they failed to capitalize on opportunities.

Phoenix, now four points adrift of third place Guildford Flames, lost their third straight home game and conceded a worrying 18 goals whilst only scoring 6 over the bad stretch.

Ed Courtenay created Phoenix’s best chance of the first period, crashing a shot against the cross bar. But the visitors took the lead on the powerplay with a goal from Bison player coach Steve Moria and Ondrej Lauko doubled their advantage before the intermission.

Courtenay brought Phoenix level before the 28 minute mark with two goals in quick succession, the first coming on the poweplay. But for all their hard work, the Phoenix defence failed them again, Steve Fone was beaten by Moria for a second time before Shaun Thompson added a fourth for the visitors.

Phoenix pressured the Bison defence in the final period but Tom Annetts in the visitors net was in good form and there was to be no second come back.

Phoenix caught cold by Lightning strike

Manchester Phoenix 2-8 Milton Keynes Lightning

Tony Hand’s Manchester Phoenix were handed a semi final first leg thrashing by league leading Milton Keynes Lightning on Thursday night that now leaves them with very little chance of reaching the EPL cup final.

Milton Keynes arrived late at the Altrincham Ice Dome after being caught in traffic but it was the home side which looked tired and flat throughout what was the most important game of the season.

Joe Graham gave Phoenix the lead in the 9th minute on the powerplay, but three goals from the Lighting before the end of period saw the visitors firmly in control, Lewis Christie, Andre Smulter and Nick Poole all finding the net.

And the second period saw no let up in the Lightning’s dominance, Lukas Zatopek, Leigh Jamieson and Russ Bowers all converted for the visitors as Steve Fone in the Manchester net struggled to deal with the Lightning onslaught, a lone Adam Walker goal was all Phoenix could manage.

Smulter and Monir Kalgoum added further goals in the third period to all but seal their place in the final before the second leg has even took place leaving Phoenix with an embarrassing home defeat.

Phoenix Winning Streak Ended By Flames

Manchester Phoenix 2-6 Guildford Flames

Manchester Phoenix’s four game winning run came to a disappointing end on Sunday night as the Guildford Flames left Altrincham Ice Dome with two points for the second time this season.

In their final game of the season at the Dome, the Flames played the perfect road game against the Phoenix, as the hosts looked out of ideas and were unable to muster much offensively whilst the leaky home-defence was again at fault.

Guildford opened the scoring in the 13th minute through Tom Duggan, but Stephen Wallace replied with a breakaway goal in the 18th minute. An early second period double saw the visitors take control, Lubomir Hurtaj and Nathan Rempel both beating Steve Fone in the Manchester net by the 25th minute. Ed Courtenay pulled a goal back in the 34th minute before a fluke Martin Masa goal restored the Flames two goal cushion.

The third period saw Phoenix frustrations boil over with both Ed Courtenay and Andre Payette receiving 10 minute Misconduct penalties, whilst the Flames continued to hit the net. Goals from Stuart Potts and a shorthanded goal from Martin Masa sealed the points.

Player coach Tony Hand commented,“We got what we deserved this evening, nothing. That might sound harsh, but we just didn’t get going tonight and credit to Guildford, they were very good and shut us down very effectively.”

Four-goal Payette leads Phoenix past helpless Raiders

Manchester Phoenix 12-3 Romford Raiders

Canadian winger Andre Payette ignited a first period demolition of bottom club Romford Raiders on Sunday as the Manchester Phoenix secured their first four point weekend since the beginning of December.

Phoenix’s recent return to form has seen them win five of the last six games and moved them up to third in the English Premier League. On Saturday night, Phoenix came away from Guildford 4-1 victors and earn a valuable two points in their hunt for the league title.

Commenting on the two wins, player coach Tony Hand said, “This weekend will give us a great lift. We’ve had guys missing for one reason or another and we’ve taken four valuable points”

“We wanted to get the win tonight and with no disrespect to Romford, we knew we had a chance to improve our goal difference. Everyone played well on Saturday and they did again tonight.”

In the opening period against the Raiders, Phoenix netted six times effectively ending the contest early. Payette (3), Greg Wood, Robert Lachowicz and Joe Graham all finding their way past Charlie Kaylor in the Romford net, whilst the visitors replied through Matt Turner and Frankie Harvey.

Further goals from Payette, Lachowicz and Graham were added to by Adam Walker, Tony Hand and Stephen Wallace to complete the home scoring before Frankie Harvey added a late consolation.

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.”

New Signing Wallace Helps Phoenix Past Wildcats

Manchester Phoenix 7-2 Swindon Wildcats

New signing Stephen Wallace bagged a brace of goals in is home debut and helped Manchester Phoenix to a 7-2 thrashing of Swindon Wildcats.

Phoenix, currently in fourth in the English Premier League, signed 25 year old Wallace during the week as he was released from rivals Sheffield Scimitars and the gritty winger has spent no time in boosting the Phoenix attack with three goals in two games including a goal in Phoenix’s 6-4 loss at Milton Keynes Lightning the previous night.

The Wildcats took a 1-0 lead into the first interval on Sunday night as Aaron Nell netted on the powerplay, but the lead was to be short-lived as within three minutes of the restart, Phoenix took the lead through goals by Ed Courtenay and Joe Graham and never looked back.

Wallace netted his first of the night in the 37th minute and Adam Walker finished off a great period for the home side with Phoenix’s fourth in the final minute.

Despite countless heroics by Swindon’s man of the match netminder Chris Douglas, Phoenix continued to put the puck in the net in the final period. Goals from Courtenay, Wallace and Jaakko Hagelberg put the result beyond doubt before Jason Cassells netted a late consolation for Swindon.

“Stephen is a gritty forward who knows how to put the puck in the net and I felt he could help us as we enter the final stages of the season.” Said player coach Tony Hand

“We played well tonight and it was nice to get back to winning a game without being pushed to the limit. Stephen slotted in well and I thought overall, the performance was very solid.”

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.”