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Blank weekend for Phoenix

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Telford Tigers 6 - Manchester Phoenix 2

Phoenix scorers: Shaun Thompson and Michal Psurny

Phoenix travelled back up the M6 after suffering for the second day in a row to league leaders Telford Tigers. Phoenix had lost 6-2 at home on Saturday night and lost by the same score in Shropshire on Sunday.

The first ten minutes saw Telford and Phoenix go at it hammer and tongs and there was little between the teams until 10.37 when Jason Silverthorn scored from a tight angle past Declan Ryan. The period ended 1-0 and both teams must take credit for an entertaining first stanza.

The home side increased their tempo in the second period and doubled their lead with a delayed penalty goal by that man Silverthorn again. Telford made it 3-1 on 32.39 as Blahoslav Novak was first to react to a loose puck, sending it past Ryan.

The period ended 3 minutes early after a nasty injury to Phoenix forward Jacob Corson-Heron. A flying puck found its way onto the bench and hit Jacob in the face. Due to the young forward receiving extensive treatment on the bench, referee Dan Boardman decided to send the players to the locker room to allow the medical team to look after Jacob. On the resumption, Phoenix got a goal back on 37.36 when Shaun Thompson reacted quickest at the far post as a rebound came his way and he made no mistake. Phoenix joy was short-lived however and Tigers hit their fourth of the night on 38.55 through a Jonathan Weaver trade mark shot.

The teams traded goals early in the third period as Peter Szabo scored for Telford and Michal Psurny bagged one for Phoenix. Tigers had the last laugh on 51.57 when Martin Ondrej scored to make it 6-2 and with it secured the two points. There was just over 4 minutes left in the game when Nathan Salem and Joe Graham had a slight disagreement. This time, unlike the previous evening, both players dropped the gloves and Graham got the better of his opponent in the ensuing scrap. Both players sat out 2 plus 2 penalties for their efforts.

Coach Hand said after the match: “It is always disappointing to have a blank weekend but credit again to Telford on their victories. The problem we have at Phoenix at the moment is that our best players are not being our best players and we need to rectify that. We have another tough weekend coming up with a trip to Sheffield and the Bison visiting us on Sunday. I am looking for a big improvement.”