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U-12s come from behind to win local derby
Manchester Phoenix U-12s 3 - 1 Blackburn Hawks
Last Saturday saw the Phoenix Under-12 squad in action against local rivals, the Blackburn Hawks, and an exciting encounter went well for the Phoenix prospects.
A scoreless first period in the Altrincham Ice Dome saw just one minor penalty called as Hawks Tom Haines was called for Interference in the seventh minute. But the Hawks defence stood firm to keep the Phoenix powerplay from opening the scoring and the teams retired still level at the first interval
Just over two minutes into the second session, it was the visitors who broke the deadlock as James Royds found Adam Barnes who made no mistake in beating Harry Greaves in the Phoenix goal. Undeterred by this setback, the Phoenix U-12s responded perfectly, taking just 24 seconds to draw level as Michael Sergienko made the opening for Oliver Gillespie to fire the puck beyond the reach of Chris Shield in the Hawks net. A further two minutes on and the Phoenix youngsters made their pressure tell as they took the lead. Daniel Wells made the approach and when he found Michael Sergienko, there was only going to be one outcome and the red goal lamp was duly illuminated.
The final fifteen minutes could have gone either way, but it was the crisper finishing by the home side in the 35th minute that settled the outcome in their favour as Kimani Worrell made it 3-1. The Hawks threw everything bar the kitchen sink at the phoenix defence as they desperately tried to get back into the game, but the home side defended stoutly and Harry Greaves in goal made some excellent saves to protect the two-goal lead to the final hooter.
A Phoenix spokesperson noted, “Local derbies are the games you want to win the most and today we got the result. We credit the Hawks for never giving up, but our youngsters defended excellently having come from behind and putting themselves into a game-winning situation.”
Phoenix MVP – Mike Gilbert.
