Phoenix U-16B 0 - 5 Sheffield Greyhounds
Sheffield came into town to play their final game of the season with a shortened bench, whilst Phoenix were missing Jared Dickinson, away at Sheffield for alate night Conference game. The Greyhounds made the early running, but a tripping minor on Joel Cope gave Manchester a powerplay that they were unable to capitalise on. Phoenix went shorthanded just past the five minute mark with Ryan Hulme binned for Roughing. Sheffield dominated, but in similar fashion to Phoenix failed to make the most of their first man advantage. A calamitous 10th minute breakdown saw the visitors break in 3-on-1 against netminder Nicole Jackson and when Cope found Brownley, he finished neatly into the top corner for the opening score.
Sheffield came out quickly in the second period a rush by defenceman Alex Harding saw him find his captain Lewis Batson with an inch-perfect pass and he had no trouble doubling the Greyhounds lead. Phoenix were certainly not at their best and the Greyhounds took advantage of some sloppy play as Deklan Allen notched up the visitors third goal at 19:53 as the puck slowly rolled over the line into the net. Both teams again exchanged minors and 4-on-4, Ryan Hulme skated through to shoot from the blueline that beat Yeoman, but cannoned of the cross bar and out to safety. The game turned a little scrappy and most of the play was in the neutral zone for a time with Harvey Treadgold making several hits, a couple being called for Charging that resulted in more penalty kill work before the second break signalled a 3-0 lead to Greyhounds.
Despite early pressure by Phoenix in the third period, little was created in terms of scoring opportunities and it was Sheffield who again scored on the powerplay at 36:33 with Luke Batson scoring unassisted. Within a minute, Cope again set up Brownley for 5-0 as the home side were again found wanting at the back. Greyhounds then took two minors to give the Phoenix a 5-on-3 advantage for just under a minute. Phoenix again created a couple of chances, the best being a slapshot from Taylor Danson that pinged off post and cross bar, again to safety. As the saying goes, 'A bad day at the office and best forgotten.'
Final score 5-0 to Sheffield and 27-22 in favour of them on the shots on goal count.
A club spokesperson summed it all up saying, "Overall a very disappointing performance with very few positives to take away from the game."
