Done, and dusted

So after 54 games the final league table has the Peterborough Phantoms in 9^th place, 8 ahead of bottom club Slough, and tantalisingly, only a single point behind play-off bound Bracknell.

As we headed out of the rink in Bracknell late on Sunday night, a few Bracknell fans in the upper tier gave us a little wave, safe in the knowledge that they’d made the pay-offs, and the Phantoms season was over.  Nevertheless, the majority of the hardy band of Phantoms’ travelling support left Berkshire with smiles on their faces after seeing an entertaining, and surprising competitive tie that went a little way towards making up for the disappointment from the night before.

The die was cast on Saturday evening when the Phantoms eventually fell at home to the 2013-14 EPL champions, the Manchester Phoenix.  Only a matter of weeks ago, on 6^th March, the Phoenix had been beaten in Peterborough and will have arrived in Bretton wanting to finish the season on a high.  At the end of the evening, that’s exactly what they did, coming from behind on 2 occasions to nick the overtime winner, after Luke Ferrara had given the Phantoms a first period lead and Darius Pliskauskas put the home team ahead for a second time after 31 minutes.

Whilst the Phantoms had taken their chances earlier in the month, on this occasion the forwards couldn’t get the job done, and the Phoenix’ netminder, Stephen Fone, was on top form, repelling the Phantoms time and again.

For a 3^rd consecutive game the Phantoms’ powerplay was toothless.  It wasn’t until the 3^rd period that a penalty went in the Phantoms’ favour, but when it did they struggled to set up effectively and on their second powerplay Manchester scored short-handed through Psurny, much to the disappointment of the home crowd.

With something like 14 minutes to go it felt like this leveller had taken the wind out of the Phantoms’ sails, though Kamil Jarina, making only his 3^rd appearance between the pipes for the Phantoms, kept the scores level with some excellent goal tending, before the game exploded after what seemed to be a high hit by Heron on Luke Ferrara (judged as a check to the head and subsequent ‘game’ penalty), for which Declan Balmer sought retribution.

Late in the game Marc Levers was hauled down by Schnabel whilst the team were on another powerplay but the resulting penalty shot was put wide and with a tense 4^th period ticking away, Frantisek Bakrlikscored the winner.

The Phoenix showed quality when it mattered, with Kovar particularly impressive, and worked their powerplay well.  Congratulations to them on their title.

For the 9^th time this year the Phantoms were defeated after regulation time, and given the eventual single point margin between 8^th and 9^th place it is clear that opportunities have not been taken.

Final score:  Peterborough Phantoms 2-3 Manchester Phoenix (OT)

With the Bracknell Bees facing off 30 minutes after the Phantoms it lead to a frustrating, and ultimately, disappointing end to the evening.  Despite the fact that the MK Lightning led on 3 occasions, the Bees fought back, and won the tie in overtime, finishing the Phantoms’ season in an instant.

For Phantoms supporters the night finished as it always might’ve – with the Phantoms out of the play-offs and leaving the away fixture in Bracknell a dead rubber.

Sunday saw the second Phanforce away trip of the season, and the venture can only be described as a resounding success.  Support for the Phantoms has been good all year, despite the fact that the team have struggled on the ice, and the positive impact of the initiatives that have been introduced this year bode well for the coming season.

Given the result on Saturday, quite naturally the bus was relatively subdued at the start of the journey, but the Phanforce team have done a good job on providing in-travel entertainment, and by the time the supporters got to Bracknell they were in fine voice.

The Phantoms went into the fixture 5-0 against the Bees, though after 12 minutes it looked like the Bees would break their Phantoms’ hoodoo as they raced to a 2 goal lead.  The Phantoms tied up the period through Luke Ferrara on a powerplay (at last, after drawing a PP blank in the 3 previous games!), and a James Ferrara ripper.

Goalie fight! Damien ‘Killer King and Alex Mettam

After the second buzzer, pushing and shoving behind the Bracknell goal led to that rare sight of the 2 netminders facing up in an entertaining end to the second period.  Both sets of supporters got behind their man (King for the Phantoms and Mettam for the Bees) in an even contest that provided a touch of excitement after a scoreless 20 minutes.

There were no further goals until the final moments – with 18 seconds left, popular veteran defenceman, James Hutchinson managed to get on the end of a pass from Captain Ferrara to finish the season with a victory.

Final score:  Bracknell Bees 2-3 Peterborough Phantoms

At the end of match presentations, we saw Marcel Petran dispute his Man of the Match award vociferously, and the team get an equally rousing send-off from the supporters.  The Phantoms’ fans got a road win, a goalie fight and a 6-0 whitewash of the Bees, and headed back to Peterborough in the knowledge that the planning for next year has already started, after Coach Koulikov’s comments following the game on Saturday which pointed to changes in the roster.

Disappointing to miss the play-offs?  Certainly, but the league table doesn’t lie.  Good luck to the Bees in their play-off adventure.

Though there have been some off nights, most notably and crucially last weekend against Milton Keynes, the form under the new coach since Christmas has suggested that further progress is possible, though this will depend on the nature of the team that the coach puts together.

The new season will be a long time coming.

The Peterborough Phantoms can be found online at http://www.peterboroughphantoms.com/

You can also follow the club on Twitter at @GoPhantoms 

If you have any comments or observations I’d love to hear from you.  Find me on Twitter at   ‏@phil_smith66  and follow for regular Phantoms updates.

 

The Lightning strike twice (again)

The view from behind the goal in Coventry

The penultimate weekend of the regular season saw the Phantoms match up against their closest and fiercest rivals, the Milton Keynes Lightning, who are playing their home games in Coventry whilst their own rink is refurbished.

This gave Phanforce, the newly formed Peterborough Phantoms’ supporters club, the opportunity to run their first away trip.  A bus full of excited passengers headed off for the Skydome, part of an excellent support of something in the region of 130 travelling fans, hopeful that this wouldn’t be the final time this year that they get to see the home of the Coventry Blaze, with the end of season play-offs just around the corner.

After a few excellent rounds of ‘bus bingo’, superbly called by our Gala Bingo wannabees,  a stop off at a local hostelry for light refreshments and the usual discussion of the teams’ chances and the relative merits of the two outfits, the game got under way.  With the Bracknell Bees not playing until Sunday this was the Phantoms’ game in hand on the Berkshire side, with the 2 teams separated by a couple of points.

Despite a strong start, the opening period saw the Phantoms on the defensive.  After 11 minutes the Lightning forwards broke quickly and Marcel Petran, so often the saviour this season slid through the forward, Damien King and the net in an attempt to clear the danger, only to lie prostrate on the ice.  The Phantoms held their breath, but fortunately Petran was fit to carry on.  Penalties were traded toward the end of the period, but surprisingly and somewhat rarely given recent form, the Phantoms’ powerplay was toothless and the period finished scoreless, with the closest anyone got ex-Phantom Tom Carlon hitting the bar, though the puck clearly bounced away, much to the disappointment of the MK fans.

The start of the second period was error strewn, with both sides off their game.  It was looking increasingly as though a mistake or act of superior skill would break the deadlock.  Tom Soar hit the bar for the Phantoms and Hedley made a terrific glove save from the same man, but chances on goal were hard to come by.  Stan Lascek scored the Lightning’s opener after almost 7 minutes of the period and as we edged towards the second buzzer the Phantoms’ net led something of a charmed life.

The Phantoms were up against it, but against the run of play Will Weldon smuggled the puck over the line to level the scores, 1-1 after 2.

Phantoms at the end of the game on Saturday

The 3^rd period saw the Phantoms’ 4^th, 5^th and 6^th scoreless powerplays, and late in the piece Koulikov scythed down the rushing MK forward, attacking short-handed as the visitors struggled to get things going.  I’m never sure whether a penalty shot ought to be awarded in these circumstances; it looked a distinct possibility from the stands, but nothing was given other than the penalty for Slava for slashing.

A full 59 seconds later Damien King was called for ‘delay of game’ after kicking the net off its moorings when making a save, and the Lightning were 5 on 3 for 30 seconds.  That initial advantage was killed, though MK got a break through to take the score to 2-1 with another Lascek strike through traffic, which was followed up with an empty net goal, with King barely off the ice before the puck hit twine.

The Phantoms didn’t get out of second gear and were beaten by an efficient and solid, if not spectacular Milton Keynes side for the 5^th time this year.

Final score:  MK Lightning 3-1 Peterborough Phantoms

Following a good run of form, culminating in the victory at home against league leaders Manchester, the Phantoms were going into this weekend’s MK double header with optimism, though having been beaten in all 4 of the games against Nick Poole’s side it was never going to be straightforward, despite the promise of play-off positions at stake.

On Sunday, the home game started in the way you might expect from a local derby.  It was frenetic stuff, with the home crowd, as usual, right behind the team.

In other news, the Bracknell Bees were facing off against the Swindon Wildcats with hopes of putting 8^th place beyond the Phantoms, and in  Manchester, there was a 1^st v 2^nd match up, as the Phoenix were attempting to win the title on home ice, before visiting Bretton next weekend.

What ensued was a frustrating evening all round.  The Phantoms took the lead after 7 minutes when Piatak rifled in following good work from James Ferrara and Koulikov to create the opening that the early pressure merited.  Less than a minute later, Leigh Jamieson found Blaz Emersic, so often a thorn in the Phantoms side, unmarked in front of King, and the Slovenian levelled the score easily.

Real time:  6.02pm
Phantoms still in 9^th place, Bees v Wildcats just starting, Manchester level with the Bison at the top.  The Phoenix will need to come to Peterborough next weekend and win.  Things are looking tough.

The second period in Peterborough saw Hedley (MK’s Man of the Match in both games over the weekend) save smartly from Koulikov through traffic, and after almost 5 minutes of the period Zatopek scored the go-ahead goal for the Lightning, whose lead was doubled with 5 minutes to go when Michael Farn hit a blueliner through the defence, the screen, and Damien King, to put the Phantoms’ backs against it for the second night running.

Real time:  6.30pm
A break in play in due to a bent door and sheet of plexi gives us the chance to check scores elsewhere.  Phantoms trailing 3-1 suggests that there is much to be done, Bees still level in their game, so too the Phoenix.  As you were.

The remainder of the second period was concluded with strange and missed calls, a flurry of penalties, chances going begging, and increasing home support frustration with the officials, the Phantoms misfiring powerplay and the impending result.  MK’s Tom Carlon took a ‘check from behind’ penalty for an ugly hit on Marc Levers.  It takes a lot to rile James Ferrara, but this did the trick.  Ferrara took 2 for roughing as a result.

Unlike on Saturday, where MK outshot the Phantoms 1.65:1, on Sunday the shots on goal were much more even (Phantoms SOG 35, MK SOG 38).

Real time:  6.55pm
Bees still 0-0, Phoenix 2-2 with Bison.  They’re going to need something on Saturday.

Real time:  6.57pm
Phoenix are now 4-2 up, and close to winning the league on home ice.  Could work out for the Phantoms if, (clutching at straws here) there is less pressure on them to get a result next weekend.  The Bees are 3 points ahead of the Phantoms, with 2 to play.

No sooner had the final period started than Zatopek took a ‘delay of game’ penalty, the puck hitting a member of the crowd, but yet again the Phantoms couldn’t make their man advantage count, which has been the story of the beleaguered Phantoms this weekend.

Both Will Weldon and Marc Levers went close short-handed for the Phantoms, but the pressure was to no avail, as Carlon scored to give the away team a 4-1 lead.  The fat lady was doing her warm up exercises.

Real time:  7.37pm
The Cats have taken a lead in Bracknell.  Apart from the fact that we’ve played a game more now, it’s as you were at the bottom.

With 10 minutes to go Marc Levers breathed life into the Phantoms by shooting in from the centre of the offensive zone, assisted by Weldon and Hutchinson, though on this occasion, like in too many others this year, there was too much to do.  The home side gave it a go in the remaining minutes, but again were foiled by another empty net goal to give us a sixth defeat against the Lightning this year.

Final score:  Peterborough Phantoms 2-5 MK Lightning

Real time:  8.09pm
Cats still winning, Phoenix look like they beaten the Bison 5-2 to win the title.  Congratulations in order to them for the achievement.  Please take it easy next week.

Real time:  8.18pm
Cats still winning.

Real time:  8.30pm
The Bees have fallen at home to the Wildcats, which means that the Phantoms need to equal, or better, Bracknell’s result on Saturday to set up the 8^th place decider on Sunday.

This was a disappointing weekend for the Phantoms, against a tough and effective (though short-benched) MK side.  If there was a time to beat them, perhaps this was it.

The Phantoms created too little over the weekend and didn’t put the chances away, yet are still in with a shout of the play-offs due to results elsewhere.  It’s going to be a time when the Phantoms’ key players will need to impose themselves if further success is to be achieved this year.

Some readers may not like the fact that it’s come down to how other teams perform, and I’ll agree.  But I’ll also be honest.  I’d rather the Phantoms made 8^th place than not, and if we squeak by Bracknell so be it.  Then we’ll be in a play-off spot and no matter how small the margin, that’s the goal this year.

Let’s hope for a repeat of the performance against Manchester earlier in the month, and who’s to say next Sunday won’t be an ‘all or nothing’ decider.

See you there.

There are a few seats left on the Phanforce bus to Bracknell, leaving Planet Ice at 1.30pm on Sunday.  See us on the Phanforce table against Manchester on Saturday if you are interested (£12 for Phanforce members, £17 for non-members)

The Peterborough Phantoms can be found online at http://www.peterboroughphantoms.com/

You can also follow the club on Twitter at @GoPhantoms 

If you have any comments or observations I’d love to hear from you.  Find me on Twitter at   ‏@phil_smith66  and follow for regular Phantoms updates.

Phantoms reign in Cats and Dogs

(Apologies for the worst article title in a season!)

What a weekend!

Whereas the Bracknell Bees were something like 10 points ahead of the Phantoms  a couple of weeks ago, the Phantoms have taken 7 out of 8 points with 3 wins and a penalty shoot-out defeat in Swindon, to close the gap on the Bees to only 3 points.

There are 5 games left to play, and in truth, none of them look easy, with 2 home ties against title challengers Manchester, a double header against the old enemy, Milton Keynes, and what potentially could be a winner takes all game (at least in terms of qualifying for the play-offs) in Bracknell on the last day of the regular season.

Saturday evening saw the Phantoms powerplay unit get the business done in Swindon, with the team making their numerical advantage count 3 times.  Koulikov, Levers and Petran did the damage, with the third goal levelling the scores after Jonas Hoog had nudged the Wildcats ahead 9 minutes into the final period.

Neither side could forge the breakthrough in overtime, and hot-shot Aaron Nell, relatively quiet in the last 2 fixtures against the Phantoms, scored in the penalty shoot-out to win the additional point for the Cats.  The Phantoms have taken a game to overtime or a penalty shoot-out on 8 occasions this season and have failed to win in any of them; even taking a couple of extra points would make the play-off push a little easier at this stage.

The Sunday night fixture against the Sheffield Steeldogs had taken on the mantle of ‘must-win game’ as a result of the Bees defeat in Manchester on Saturday and the fact that most Phantoms’ fans were supporting the in-form Telford Tigers against the Bracknell club on Sunday.  If the Phantoms were to make up ground on 8^th place a win would be essential.  Telford did their bit, comfortably defeating the Bees …

Refereeing the game was Matthew Thompson, and none other than Olympic gold medal match official, Joy Johnston, making her first appearance in Peterborough since the Womens’ final in Sochi.  You do wonder what goes through the minds of the players, and the officials too, when you think of the stage that Joy has appeared on recently.  USA v Canada to Peterborough v Sheffield in a matter of weeks, and just as that game was full of late drama, so was this 9 goal thriller.

Mr Payette brought his gang to town following defeats to Manchester on Friday and Telford on Saturday.  Phantoms’ supporters hoped that the Steeldogs would run out of steam after a punishing weekend.  In truth, this didn’t happen; credit to Andre and co for a spirited performance – the game was physical but there was precious little difference between the penalty minutes accumulated by either side.

The last time the teams met I suggested that the Dogs were past masters of the ‘dark arts’, but on this evening, the Sheffield side played a more honest game, and for significant passages of play were the better side, passing crisply and putting the Phantoms defence under pressure, whilst the Phantoms, particularly in the final period seemed to lose their cutting edge.

The atmosphere in the old barn could be summed up through one of two moods – the tense, fingernail biting response to being under pressure for large parts of the game, with Damien King being forced to make a number of saves and defenders making last ditch dives to keep the Dogs at bay; and the electric, euphoric response to Phantoms goals and key penalty kills (especially at the death).  I’m not sure my ticker can take much more of this!

With 3 seconds left at the end of the first period Edgars Bebris managed to score on Damien King, with the puck crossing the goal-line in agonising slow motion; one of those heart in the mouth moments that meant the opening stanza finished with the Phantoms leading 3-2, following a brace of goals from Man of the Match Marcel Petran, and a miss-hit blue liner from James Ferrara that beat Dalibor Sedlar high on the glove side.  Ex-Phantom Steve Duncombe had scored the Dogs first with a smartly hit shot from the blue line on a powerplay.

At the start of the second period the home side were second best in the opening exchanges, though both James Ferrara, Petran again and Levers went close.  With just under 4 minutes to go in the period, Greg Chambers tied up the scoring in a phase of the game where Koulikov’s men were making heavy work of defending their lead.

Just at the point where people were making a move to beat the queues for their intermission refreshments, the coach himself battled superbly in neutral ice, advanced down the left wing, and placed a pass on Darius Pliskauskas’ stick.  The Lithuanian made no mistake with a shot rifled into the net, to give the Phantoms a 4-3 lead on the second buzzer.

The final 20 minutes was a tense affair.  With less than 2 minutes gone Sheffield had tied up the scores yet again, this time Ashley Calvert finishing under relatively little pressure, which was a recurring theme throughout the period.

Two penalties were called on the Phantoms in the last 10 minutes.  Firstly, James Hutchinson’s penalty, for delay of game after throwing himself to the ice when trying to block the Dogs offence, was killed.  Subsequently, with less than 5 minutes to go, Luke Ferrara was sent to the box for slashing, moments after being flattened from behind.

And on such fine margins …

On the resultant powerplay, the Steeldogs piled on the pressure and sent a shot goal ward that came back off the post, to our surprise, and no small amount of relief.   The Phantoms killed the remainder of the penalty, and with 1 08 left on the clock, penalty box villain turned hero; Luke Ferrara swept in the winner to send the home fans into raptures at the end of a hard earned victory.

Final score:  Peterborough Phantoms 5-4 Sheffield Steeldogs

Sometimes, just sometimes, there is nothing better than supporting your team and seeing them prevail in difficult circumstances.  This was one of those moments.  The manner of the victory and the atmosphere in the rink made the finish one of the highlights of the season; well done to the team, and to the crowd too.

Up next, the Manchester Phoenix.

The Peterborough Phantoms can be found online at http://www.peterboroughphantoms.com/

You can also follow the club on Twitter at @GoPhantoms 

If you have any comments or observations I’d love to hear from you.  Find me on Twitter at   ‏@phil_smith66  and follow for regular Phantoms updates.

WWFC Monthly Update – February 2014

Whereas other teams have been involved in the FA Cup, the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, and fulfilling a backlog of fixtures, Wolves will have played just 3 games in the whole of February (contrast with what will be a punishing March, with 8 games due to be played).   The month saw Wolves momentarily slip to 3^rd place, but finish strongly in 2^nd following a win against the league leaders. 

1/2/2014 Final Score:  LG1 Wolves 2-0 Bradford
Position – 2^nd
Scorers:  McDonald, Dicko

15/2/2014 Final Score:  LG1 Wolves 2-0 Notts County
Position:  2^nd
Scorer:  Jacobs (2) 

Wolves conjure a 5 game winning streak with 2 routine victories.  Leon Clarke made a solid 2^nd debut against the Bantams without scoring, and the impressive Michael Jacobs bagged a brace against County at a time when Leyton Orient’s relatively poor run of form has allowed Wanderers to climb back into the automatic promotion places.

The magnitude of the challenge of the tie at Griffin Park was reflected by Brentford’s form since the early months of the season.  The fixture against the Old Gold and Black was Brentford’s 20^th tie since their last league defeat, against Stevenage on 12^th October 2013.

In the 19 fixtures that followed, they won 16 and drew just 3, including a 0-0 at Molineux in late November.

I’d have been happy with a draw from this one too …

22/2/2014 Final Score:  LG1 Brentford 0-3 Wolves
Position: 2nd
Scorers: Henry, Jacobs (2)

Elsewhere on this blog I’ve used the phrase ‘And the other guy blinked’, originally coined when 2 giants went head to head with each other in a so or die challenge, and when something had to give.

On this occasion, the ‘something’ that gave was Brentford’s terrific run of form, outlined above, and summarised by the fact that they hadn’t been beaten in the league for some 19 games.  Wolves extended their winning streak to 6 games and despite the continuing injury to recent acquisition Leon Clarke, the goals are flowing relatively freely.

James Henry deftly turned a Kevin McDonald cross into the goal in the dying moments of the first half to give the visitors the lead, and Michael Jacobs continued his rich vein of form by bagging a brace in the second half (note the lack of reference to any savoury, cheese accompanying biscuits at this point). Jacob’s second goal, an excellent 20 yard strike, came from excellent work on the right between Golbourne and Sako, but the finish was sublime.

This result came as something of a pleasant surprise.  Though Wolves form was good going into the fixture, the nature of the win laid down a real marker for the rest of the season.

Wolves are still without a prolific striker; Leigh Griffiths is still Wolves’ top league goal scorer, with 11, though Leon Clarke has scored 13 this season for Coventry, prior to his move back to Molineux.

Wolves have more shots on target than any other League One team, have more clean sheets, and currently sit in 2^nd place, on the same record as Orient, but with 2 games in hand.

The form guide is interesting.  After the last 6 games, Wolves are top of the league, winning their last games, followed by Rotherham and Peterborough.  Preston and Brentford, sitting 3^rd and 4^th in the division respectively are 5^th and 6^th in the form table, whilst Orient, top of League One as we enter March, sit 15^th in terms of their last 6 results.

March will be a key month; by the time that April comes round Wolves will have played 39 out of their 46 games.

If you have any comments or observations I’d love to hear from anyone who has read the blog.  Find me on Twitter at  ‏@phil_smith66  and follow for monthly WWFC updates and regular Peterborough Phantoms articles.