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Flintshire Flames 2 - 13 Manchester Phoenix U-16A

Sunday, 7th October 2007

Flintshire Flames 2 - 13 Manchester Phoenix U-16A

Manchester Phoenix U-16A opened their weekend with an emphatic victory in Deeside on Saturday night, comprehensively extinguishing the Flintshire Flames.

Phoenix dominated straight from the first puck-drop, maintaining possession for long spells. The puck rarely strayed from the Flames' half, and when Joe Greaves struck the Phoenix opener at 8'21" it was as predictable as it was overdue. Three minutes later Ben Brown added a second to put Phoenix into a comfortable, but unambitious lead at the first break.

The second period was more fruitful, with one-way traffic piling thirty-one shots on the Flintshire net, with Phoenix goalie Bob Browne facing not a single strike in return. A pass from Harry Sims found Ryan Pike skating through centre ice to add Phoenix's third goal at 16'13". An Oli Bayne hatrick followed, with the Phoenix defenseman converting assists from Alex Pugh, Tom Hammond and Joe Greaves in a heady four-minute spell. Brown picked up his second at 25'21" with a wraparound to put Phoenix into an unassailable 7-0 lead at the second break.

With the game over as a contest, the third period was less intense, yet equally productive. Jordan Bannon added an eighth within seconds of the restart, taking a feed from fellow defenceman Marc Etherington and crashing home from the blue line. With Manchester coasting, the defence was caught napping at 34'07" turning the puck over in their own half and allowing Flintshire's Kieran Walker to grab the Flames' first goal of the day. It didn't take long for the visitors to make amends as first Josh Healey, then Ryan Pike and Jack Sweet from the blue line, all found the back of the net to extend the Phoenix lead. Flintshire called a time out to settle their embattled troops, and with Manchester's Tom Hammond sitting a two-minute minor, the home side caught Phoenix on the break a second time, Geraint Lewis lifting the puck high into the Phoenix goal.

Once again Manchester responded, with a flurry of activity around the Flintshire net in the final minutes. Bannon scored Manchester's twelfth at 43 minutes and moments later, an Alex Pugh shot was adjudged not to have crossed the line, despite having settled there after rebounding off the back of the net. As if to make a point, Alfie Olinski and Marc Etherington then combined to give Pugh another chance, which the Phoenix no.16 duly converted.

Phoenix Statistics

Oliver Bayne 3+0, Ben Brown 2+1, Ryan Pike 2+0, Jordan Bannon 2+0, Joe Greaves 1+1, Alex Pugh 1+1, Josh Healey 1+1, Jack Sweet 1+0, Marc Etherington 0+3, Tom Hammond 0+3, Harry Sims 0+1, Alfie Olinski 0+1

Netminder Bob Browne 6/2

MVP - Oliver Bayne

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