Jets second period blitz sinks Phoenix

Manchester Phoenix 3-5 Slough Jets

Four unanswered second period goals from Slough Jets cost Manchester Phoenix dearly as a late fight-back turned out to be too little too late.

Phoenix, buoyed by an impressive 5-1 win away at Basingstoke Bison on Saturday, were five goals behind on Sunday before they came to life in the final period but they left themselves too much to do.

Jets’ Adam Calder gave the visitors a 1-0 lead at the first break, but it was the second period blitz from the visitors that left Phoenix a mountain to climb.

Calder added his second before goals from Joe Greener, Doug Sheppard and Dan Davies saw the Jets out of sight in a horror middle period for home-side.

Tom Duggan finally got Phoenix on the board in the 45th minute on a five on three power-play before Jaroslav Spelda blasted in a second on the same advantage.

Slava Koulikov reduced the deficit further in the 49th minute but the comeback stopped there as Jets netminder Gregg Rockman stood firm with some stellar saves and the visitors deservedly took the points.

Phoenix player coach Tony Hand said: “If you turn up for twenty minutes out of sixty, you’ll get punished, and that is exactly what happened.

“We can be encouraged by the third period performance, and there are some positives to take into next weekend, but we were the architects of our own downfall tonight.”

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.”

Phoenix offence finally ignites at the Dome

Manchester Phoenix 1-4 Sheffield Steeldogs
Manchester Phoenix 9-5 Telford Tigers

Sniper Martin Cingel fired in a hat-trick to lead Manchester Phoenix to a convincing win over Telford Tigers on Saturday night.

Phoenix, who have suffered at home recently, have already been beaten by the Tigers this season in a penalty shoot-out but they looked to have finally found their scoring touch at home whilst wearing special Children in Need jerseys.

Further goals from Ladislav Harabin (2), James Archer, Ben Wood, Ciaran Long and Tom Duggan helped Phoenix on their way to their first home win in three games.

Player-coach Tony Hand said “It was a good performance by the team tonight and nice to see a lot of the lads get among the goals.

“Telford are a hard working side but I felt we definitely had the upper hand tonight and deserved the points.”

If was a different story on Thursday night however when they went down 4-1 against Sheffield with ex-Phoenix centre Greg Wood coming back to haunt his old team with a pair of goals.

Phoenix failed to capitalise on multiple chances whilst Sheffield were clinical when they needed to be in a game that highlighted again the reigning champions’ inability to find consistency.

Ladislav Harabin netted Phoenix’s only goal of the game on a 5 on 3 power-play late in the second period but pairs of goals from Wood and Janis Ozolins was enough to see the Yorkshire side take their first ever win over Phoenix.

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Bison shut down Phoenix

Manchester Phoenix 0-3 Basingstoke Bison

Manchester Phoenix were forced to settle for another split weekend as Basingstoke Bison shut down Tony Hand’s side on Sunday night.

Phoenix, who beat Basingstoke 5-2 on Saturday in Hampshire, simply had no answer to Basingstoke’s strong defending and created very little clear cut chances in a dire encounter.

Currently without both import defencemen Ladislav Harabin and Jaroslav Spelda to injuries, Phoenix have brought in Brit blue-liner John Connolly as cover, but it was the lack of fire power that cost the reigning champions the points.

Hand said: “Two points for the weekend are better than nothing, but I know it was disappointing to come away empty handed from a home game.”

Bison took the lead during a power-play for the home side, ex-Phoenix player Joe Miller tapping in from close range after a shorthanded breakaway in the 11th minute.

Phoenix lost defenceman Ryan Johnson to a match penalty late in the second period which added to the defensive problems but the Bison did not capitalize again until the first minute of the final period.

Basingstoke player coach Steve Moria scored on the power-play before Viktor Kubenko netted the visitors’ second shorthanded tally of the night as he punished an ineffective Phoenix power-play in the 52nd minute.

Hand added: “The guys have given everything, but we are missing Jaroslav Spelda and Ladzi Harabin, and they are a major presence on the ice.

“Injuries are part of the deal. We’ll just have to ride it out and do our best until we are back at full strength.”

Phoenix fend off Bees; Record first win in 4

Manchester Phoenix 5-3 Bracknell Bees

After losing their third consecutive game on Saturday, Manchester Phoenix bounced back with a hard fought 5-3 against Bracknell on Sunday.

Phoenix lost 4-2 away at Swindon Wildcats continuing their up and down start to the new English Premier League season which has been hampered by early injuries.

But Tony Hand’s side gained an important two points on Sunday, fending off a Bracknell fight-back whilst restoring some confidence after only picking up two points from their previous three games.

Hand said after the win, “We needed that. We have been plagued by injuries in recent weeks, and our confidence has taken a knock.”

“It was a hard-fought win, but we knew it would be. Hopefully this can kick-start our season and we can build on it next week.”

Juraj Faith gave the home side the lead with their first shot of the game in the 2nd minute whilst Stephen Wallace and Slava Koulikov also found the Bracknell net before the first break with Shaun Thompson replying for the visitors.

Faith completed his brace early in the second period before a penalty against Phoenix captain Luke Boothroyd sparked a Bracknell fight back. First Peter Jasik netted on the powerplay before Lukas Smital reduced the deficit further.

But in the final period centre Tom Duggan neatly finished off a move with Ciaran Long and restored Phoenix’s two goal lead to seal the points.

Phoenix shot down by Jets in OT

Manchester Phoenix 3-4 Slough Jets (After Overtime)

Reigning league champions Manchester Phoenix fell to their first home defeat of the season on Sunday when Slough forward Dan Davies netted the game winner in overtime.

Phoenix, without the injured James Archer and Josh Ward, looked the better side after ten minutes, with James Neil scoring on a delayed penalty call and Juraj Faith doubling their lead in the 12th minute.

But Slough hit back with two goals in a minute before the first break and from that point forward always looked the better side, Darius Pliskauskas netting his first of the night followed quickly by Ryan Watt.

The Slough defence kept the Phoenix forwards at bay as the home side struggled to create clear cut chances, and when did find a way through, Jets netminder Gregg Rockman was in the way.

The visitors deservedly took the lead in the 44th minute through Pliskauskas but Phoenix equalized whilst killing off a penalty of their own, Martin Cingel and Slava Koulikov combining to tie the game at 3-3.

But Tony Hand’s men ran into late penalty trouble and with Faith in the penalty box going into overtime, Davies scored the game winner to seal the extra point.

Hand said after the game, “Sometimes you just don’t get the bounces. We out shot the Jets and hit the pipes a few times, but it just wasn’t our night.”