Britton Conference Semi-Final 1
Telford Tigers 4 Peterborough Phantoms 1
It’s the morning after the weekend before, and as in 2016 the Phantoms bowed out of the play-offs at the semi-final stage.
By now readers will have seen the result; a Rick Plant goal gave the Tigers a first period lead which was built upon through two powerplay goals from Scott Mckenzie and Macaulay Haywood on 26 12 and 30 56, virtually finishing the tie as a contest.
James White met an Ales Padelek pass from the base of the right hand circle and finished smartly to give Phantoms’ fans slight hope just after the half our (32 43), but no further inroads into the Shropshire side’s lead could be found. King was pulled late on, and Tigers’ netminder Bell was called upon to make one or two smart saves, but it would be Mckenzie, with his second of the game who would conclude a comfortable 4-1 victory for Tom Watkins’ side.
After two big weekends where hard fought performances were in evidence against both Swindon and Basingstoke this semi-final saw the Phantoms performance a mere shadow of what had been seen in both of the two recent weekends.
Despite a positive start to the game the Phantoms found themselves on the defensive rear guard for much of the first two periods, in which time they generated very little offensive momentum with just 4 shots on goal in the first period and 5 for 1 in the second, and though there was greater forward pressure in the third period the Tigers dealt with the Phantoms comfortably, having no need to press the game themselves.
James White, Nathan Pollard, Nathan Salem and Euan King all gave a good account of themselves in what was a lack lustre showing on the biggest stage of the season. I had suspected that the Telford game would be a challenge; the Phantoms hadn’t played them this year, and players like Silverthorn, Weaver and Miller still have plenty to trouble most sides.
Early in the game I thought that the Phantoms would have the beating of the Tigers, but it wasn’t to be – once they were behind they simply couldn’t find a way to get the puck in the Telford zone and put Bell under pressure. The puck was turned over too frequently leaving the defensive zone and King exposed, passing was poor, and once the Tigers were ahead they looked a step ahead of the Phantoms.
With expectations high at the start of the season the Phantoms fell short. Whilst the Coventry performance was poor, it was the fine margins of goal difference that saw Basingstoke take the league title, and in the Autumn Cup it was a penalty shoot-out that separated the Phantoms from the eventual winners, the Swindon Wildcats. I suspect we’ll not know the full story that surrounds the now infamous National Cup tie against Hull that was never played, and whilst I’m frustrated that results in our group meant that we still needed to play that fixture, the fact that it wasn’t played leaves a sour taste in the mouth.
Whilst everything has not been perfect, for a large part of the season the Phantoms led the league table (they were top on 21st January and were neck and neck with Basingstoke for the remainder of the season), split the league games with the Bison, and had the better of the series against the Wildcats, who were arguably the best side in the Britton Conference at the end of the year. Had Aaron Connolly not scored a second goal for the Bison just 1 55 before the end of the game against the Phantoms in Peterborough on 4th March the Phantoms would’ve almost certainly won the league, and with greater momentum, who knows?
I’ve said this before, but the home defeat to the MK Thunder on penalties and the 6-3 defeat to the London Raiders were the games I’d point to that almost certainly consigned the Phantoms to second place, and whilst those sentiments were expressed way back in November, who’d have thought that it was going to be so close between the teams at the top for the rest of the year?
The truth is the Phantoms were competitive in the league and missed silverware by the narrowest of deciders against the Bison, and the absence of Griffiths and Pliskauskas in the final run in cannot be underestimated. In only his second year Owen Griffiths has become a key member of the forward contingent and with him being side-lined, Weldon and Billing have really stood up to the plate in taking so many face-offs and needing to be on the ice for such long periods (and doing a great job too, I might add). In the 4-2 play-off defeat in Swindon the Phantoms were dominated in the earlier stages, but were the better side late in the second and in the third periods, and though some observers have decried the home leg after the Wildcats ensured that they’d won both ties, the Phantoms initially led, were tied at the end of the second, and simply couldn’t live with Aaron Nell at the start of the third.
Critics have pointed to the Phantoms’ style, that the hockey has been sterile, and to some degree I have sympathy with this view, and though in a number of games at the start of the season particularly it felt that like they barely needed to get out of second gear to get the win, I wonder if we really expected something more. Whilst the Phantoms might’ve been able to run a cricket score up in some games, there’s little entertainment in putting 10, 11 and 12 goals past a side that is struggling – and it happened in the EPL when the Phantoms scored a bagful against teams like Sheffield, Hull and Manchester.
In games where the Phantoms were sufficiently ahead they blooded youngsters when they could, giving valuable experience and a breather to the other players. Not clinical enough? Maybe. Giving youth a chance? Certainly. Let’s not forget that it’ll be the young, home grown players that will be the future of the club – players like Bowering, Escott, Romeo, Hunt and Peacock will all be called upon in the future and may well be the core of the Phantoms in a year or two.
At the start of the season I was delighted to see the Phantoms get Leigh Jamieson and Nathan Salem (21 goals and 52 points in 31 games at 1.67 PPG and 12 PIMS compared to 26 goals and 56 points in 55 games for Hull last year at 0.98 PPG, and 101 PIMS) and they have contributed well, as have other veterans. Will Weldon has done superbly, especially late in the season, and Euan King has been excellent between the pipes.
The defensive corps is a mix of experience and youth. Rob Ferrara has been as reliable as ever, and whilst not the finished article yet, Ed Knaggs, though not the finished article has shown what an excellent player he is going to be in the future. The young players need coaching, and in my view that is what they are going to get from Koulikov in the coming years. Nathan Long came into prominence in January and has done well, whether that being at the back or as when required as a forward.
Of course, needs must. Some other teams look like they have greater depth across their bench and experience is important. The Phantoms have numbers, but rely greatly on youth, which almost certainly is going to be down to the budget. Crowds look down (the Saturday night home game decision will have contributed significantly), budgets are squeezed and cloth has to be cut accordingly. I can only imagine we’ll see more of the same next year, where I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Phantoms field an all British line-up.
At this time of year we end up voting for our Player if the Year, and I’ll pre-empt the official awards with my ‘beyond the blue line’ awards for 2017-18
Forward of the Year
Nathan Salem
Defencemen of the Year
Robert Ferrara
Nominations for Young Player:
Nathan Long
Glenn Billing
Ed Knaggs
Owen Griffiths
Winner: Glenn Billing
Nominations for Player of the Year:
James Ferrara
Nathan Salem
Euan King
Will Weldon
Winner: James Ferrara
Finally, it remains for me to say thanks for reading ‘beyond the blue line’ this season. It continues to be a labour of love, and has become more of a challenge since I have been doing the live-stream commentating (there was a time that I could be found in the stands with a notebook and pen, but those days are long gone) and working on the Phantoms’ podcast. Hopefully there’s been something for all of you that have taken the time to have a read.
A final thanks to the staff and players at the club for their support, whether that be through ‘beyond the blue line’ Q&A pieces or interviews I have done with the Phantoms’ Media Team. Time and again the players have fielded questions in a professional and honest fashion, and no more so than when there’s been a disappointing result. It’s been very much appreciated – you’ve certainly made the job easier than it might’ve been!
I’ll see you at the rink.
The Peterborough Phantoms can be found online at http://www.gophantoms.co.uk/
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 Instagram its_phil_smith and follow for regular Phantoms updates.
beyond the blue line 