Big wins put Phoenix top of the league
9:18pm Monday 9th November 2009 in Sport By Nigel McFarlane
Saturday: Phoenix 8 Bracknell Bees 3
Sunday: Milton Keynes Lightning 2 Phoenix 3
Two big wins at the weekend saw Manchester Phoenix first draw level and then leapfrog rivals Milton Keynes Lightning to go top of the English Premier League.
An Iain Bowie hat-trick and a brace from Robert Lachowicz on Saturday night saw Phoenix ease past a battling Bracknell Bees side.
The first visit of the season by the Bees to the Altrincham Ice Dome saw the visitors enjoy much the better of the opening period as Phoenix struggled to find any real cohesion. And it was no great shock when the visitors opened the scoring in the tenth minute, Jaroslav Cecky rounding Steve Fone for the opening goal. Phoenix had Fone to thank just sixteen seconds later when he saved a penalty shot from Michal Pinc after Luke Boothroyd had deliberately impeded the Bees forward. Phoenix then went two men short due to penalties and Bracknell extended their lead, Pinc the scorer with the 14th minute powerplay marker.
Phoenix player coach Tony Hand had some strong words in the first interval and the response was almost instantaneous as he fed Adam Walker for the first Phoenix goal just over a minute into the second session.
Phoenix drew level two minutes later on a powerplay, when Ed Courtenay superbly picked out Iain Bowie in space at the back post and the Scot swept home the equaliser. But Bracknell regained the lead within 15 seconds, Ryan Watt pouncing to beat Fone from short range. Phoenix still weren't firing on all cylinders and, needing a break, they got it when Bees netminder was penalised for delaying the game and the resulting powerplay saw Tony Hand find Ed Courtenay and the ace sniper crashed home his 16th goal of the season to send the teams to the second break sharing six goals.
If the Phoenix had stuttered through forty minutes, they clicked into a much smoother gear for the final session that saw them add five unanswered goals with Bowie and Lachowicz taking centre stage.
But Phoenix fans celebrated with chants of We are Number One at the final hooter on Sunday as their heroes leapfrogged Milton Keynes to go top of the English Premier League following a thrilling odd goal in five victory.
Despite a big local firework display, a good crowd turned up in the MK Thunderdome, including a noisy contingent from Manchester, and they were treated to a first period played at a frantic pace as both teams tried to impose themselves on the game.
Phoenix were called for an early High Stick penalty on Tony Hand, but they used the extra space of the huge MK ice pad to good effect as Ed Courtenay released Adam Walker through the neutral zone and the Scot fought off two Lightning defencemen before backhanding past Barry Hollyhead with less than two minutes played.
The home side hit back and equalised on a powerplay with Walker penalised, Towalksi netting from close range in the ninth minute. The pace of the period was very quick and there was no shortage of big hits as MK appeared to target Jaakko Hagelberg in particular. Lightning went two men short as Christie and Zatopek were both called for Hooking on Walker and on the two-man powerplay, Phoenix regained the lead, Courtenay and Hand the architects for Andre Mattsson to blast home his second goal of the weekend from the right circle in the 15th minute.
The quick pace of the first period continued unabated into the second with end to end play and both goaltenders needing to keep alert. The strong physical play also continued and there were signs that tempers might fray as Greg Wood and Zatopek exchanged a few harsh words after one Phoenix attack broke down. Milton Keynes put some strong pressure on the Phoenix goal and were unlucky as one shot rebounded to safety off the foot of the goalpost. Eventually, tempers did peak as Joe Graham and Grant MacPherson dropped the gloves for a short altercation in the 34th minute, both receiving double minors for their troubles.
Milton Keynes started strongly in the third period and Steve Fone produced a fine glove save to deny Smulter as the home side sought the equaliser.
With Christie in the penalty box, Hollyhead in the home goal denied Andre Mattsson with a glove save as the goalies continued their good form. With the Lightning pressing forward, Phoenix struck with deadly effect to extend their lead in the 50th minute as Greg Wood made the initial rush and when Hollyhead failed to hold his shot, Robert Lachowicz converted the rebound. Phoenix were defending well until Tony Hand was called for Hooking and on the resulting powerplay, Zatopek blasted home a one-timer to make it a one-goal game. Joe Graham saw a blast from the blue line fly just over the Lightning crossbar and Phoenix had to work hard to kill a bench penalty to seal the victory that saw them go top of the EPL table for the first time this season.
Phoenix player coach Tony Hand said: "We knew this would be a tough game as Milton Keynes are a good team and so it proved. It was fast, it was physical and we had to match them every inch of the way.
"We played well defensively tonight, we took our chances and all in all, this was probably our best sixty minutes of the season and the reward is to go top of the table. The atmosphere created by both sets of supporters was excellent and I think all the players got a lift from it, it was a great game to play in, and it had to be a great game to watch."
Manchester Phoenix are in action against Peterborough Phantoms at the Altrincham Ice Dome next Saturday, November 13, face off at 7.30pm.
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