News

Steelers draw first blood in renewal of War Of The Roses hockey

Sunday, 24th September 2006

Two superbly executed short-handed goals from Tony Hand and Johan Molin in the space of just 25 seconds were not enough for the Manchester Phoenix as they went down in Sheffield on Saturday night. 

Trailing two-nil to two early Sheffield powerplay strikes, Hand converted a superb pass from Molin before repaying the compliment with an identical move less than half a minute later to send the teams in tied at the first interval. 

Phoenix steadied their play and were matching their hosts till just after the half hour mark when the Steelers finished off an excellent passing move with Shaun Sutter netting his second of the game. And the Steelers regained a two-goal lead shortly through Brett Clouthier. 

The third period saw tempers fray after Sheffield again punished the Phoenix with a third powerplay goal and Phil Hill netted his second of the night in the 49th minute. David Vychodil clashed with Shawn Maltby; Derek Campbell had a toe-to-toe bout with Steelers Regan Darby before Robin Gomez squared up to Clouthier. 

Phoenix player/coach Tony Hand commented, “Naturally, we’re all disappointed at losing but, we won’t get down on ourselves. We have Sunday in Deeside to quickly bounce back and show that the 6-2 scoreline tonight was possibly a little harsh on us. Some of the other teams have played more games than us, and we’re still adjusting to the way the games are being called by the officials. There’s no excuses though, I think Sheffield maybe wanted it a little more tonight as they were desperate to get their first win at home.”

Final score: Sheffield Steelers 6 Manchester Phoenix 2