U-18s tournament report

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The Manchester Phoenix U-18 squad traveled to Deeside Ice Rink for the Annual May Bank Holiday International Tournament hosted by the Flintshire Freeze.

With a packed schedule of games, the format was for all games to be played over thirty minutes with a running clock. The format meant that all the teams would be relying on the players stamina, staying power and sheer will to win if they were going to be successful in such a tournament.

Day One, Friday saw the Phoenix take to the ice at 7.30 - in the morning - for their opening fixture against the team representing Slough. Maybe the long journey north affected the southerners as the Phoenix romped home in some style, winning with a comprehensive 7-0 shutout show. Game Two on Friday saw the Phoenix up against the home side, Flintshire A and incredibly, the stunning form of the opening game was almost repeated as the Welshmen were trounced 6-0. Buoyant on the back of two excellent victories, Game three saw the second string Flintshire B squad as the opposition and another victory followed as the B-Team were overcome with a 4-0 score line. The final game of Day One was against the foreign opposition as Den Haag of the Netherlands put up the stiffest resistance so far, before the Phoenix finally ran out narrow victors, 2-1. Four games played, four games won and the Phoenix youngsters went to bed in great spirit and looking forward to Day Two.

Saturday dawned and the Phoenix were pitched into the fray against the Dutch and this time, the result was a narrow loss, 3-2 to Den Haag who were establishing credentials as the tournament favourites. Three more games on Day two saw the Phoenix squad return to winning ways as Flintshire B were despatched 7-0, Slough were soundly beaten again before the day ended on another high as the home A-team were again sent packing on the wrong end of a rampant 6-1 Phoenix victory.

Day Three and the final stanza of another excellent tournament hosted by the Flintshire club, and the result of the early game could see the Phoenix through to the final. Flintshire B stood in their path, but there were to be no mistakes and no upsets as the Phoenix made it 3-for-3 over the Welshmen with yet another shutout 7-0 victory. The win meant an evening match-up against Den Haag and with it being one game apaiece against the Europeans, it would all to play for to see who lifted the trophy.

Two confident teams took to the ice and a terrific encounter ensued with end-to-end hockey with Phoenix opening the scoring through Tom Revesz as he confidently deked the goalie before netting. The Dutch team responded to level at 1-1 and the frenetic end-to-end play continued until the final five minutes. Now, the greater experience of the Dutch team played its part as three quick goals gave the Phoenix a mountain to climb. Phoenix coach Nick Crawley called his Timeout and as the Dutch fans tried to disrupt his team talk by kicking the plexiglass behind the bench, the mood of the crowd turned sour. With play resuming, it was Den Haag who added a fifth marker with only a late consolation from Jordan Bannon with a huge slapshot for the Phoenix to take any solace from. The game then exploded in the final minute as Tom Revesz was targetted by a dangerous hit and his team-mates reacted angrily with fighting breaking out. The referee chose to abandon the game with just 32 seconds remaining on the clock and what had started out as a superb weekend, sadly petered out with that 5-2 loss to the Dutch.

A Phoenix spokesperson commented, "The team represented the club tremedously well, winning eight of ten games played and only denied at the last hurdle as a bit of fatigue caught up with them. We hope the disappointing end didn't spoil the weekend for anyone, but when a player is hit so hard and, in our opinion, dangerously so late in the game, it's only natural that the others step up to the plate to protect him. All the players were magnificent, but special mention goes to netminder Jorge El Hage for his outstanding displays between the pipes and no fewer than five shutouts; and Jordan Bannon for being recognised as Forward of the Tournament."