News

Phoenix on the road this weekend

Tweet

J Davidson sponsored Manchester Phoenix hit the road this weekend for two EPL matches.

On Saturday they take on arch rivals Guildford Flames in Surrey. Phoenix have a good record against the league champions, having won all three league encounters so far. A 4-2 win early in the season away from home was followed by two home wins, 4-3 after overtime and an amazing 6-1 victory a couple of weeks ago. Guildford gained a bit of revenge last week with a 6-4 semi final first leg win in the EPL Cup.

The Surrey outfit are always challenging at the top of the league and this season is no exception. The goaltending duo of Mark Lee and James Hadfield is one of the best pairings in the league. They have veterans Neil Liddiard and player coach Paul Dixon in front of them, ably assisted by Jez Lundin and import Branislav Kvetan. It is up front that they are most impressive with import forwards Jozef Kohut, Curtis Huppe, Nathan Rempel and Milos Melicherik aided and abetted by Brits Ben Campbell, Rick Plant and Stuart Potts. They score goals on all three lines and the Phoenix defence will have to be on top form to keep them at bay on the big ice pad in Guildford.

On Sunday, Phoenix are on their travels again with a game against Peterborough Phantoms, the enigma of the league. They are very capable of turning over any team in the competition but just as likely to be on the wrong side of a comprehensive defeat. The league series so far is even Steven between them with each having a win and a loss at home. Two games have gone to penalties, one to overtime and a two goal win for Phoenix in a 7-5 goal fest at the Dome.

Players to look out for in the Phantom’s side include Ondrej Lauko, a very dangerous striker who has hit 24 goals since he came back to the league, Maris Ziedins and captain Jeff Glowa. The Ferrara brothers, James, Robert and Luke are all an integral part of the team with Luke having an outstanding season.

Phoenix have had an up and down couple of weeks and are still suffering on the injury front. After a disappointing result in Swindon they bounced back with a superb performance against the Jets. With player coach Tony Hand away on GB duty, the team will want to send him good news from the weekend games.

Phoenix are next at home on Sunday 17th February against Guildford Flames with the usual 1730hrs face off.