Sledge Buddies – Phantoms Naomi Jenks battles old teams Felicity Gregory and Mark Colquitt -Photo: Haganova Photos
Manchester Mayhem 2-4 Peterborough Phantoms
Saturday evening saw the Manchester Mayhem’s imperfect season carrying on, with the Widnes based side falling to their third straight league defeat of the season at the hands of the Peterborough Phantoms, which featured three Mayhem loanees’ coming out on the winning side of a 4-2 scoreline. It was a thoroughly entertaining game that finally saw the Phantoms getting the monkey off their back of having never beaten the Mayhem before, as the run stretched over 11 games including both league and playoffs in the British Para Ice Hockey League, with their last win against Manchester being back in 2016 when the home side iced under the ‘Phoenix’ banner.
Bizarrely, the Mayhem’s downfall came from Manchester’s normal head coach in Karl Nicholson, as he bagging a hat trick in the game. Nicholson is one of three players donning the red and black of the Phantoms this year, as due to some off ice problems facing the Phantoms in terms of personnel, it saw Manchester being the only club to help out the fallen side, which has helped to ease the uncertainty regarding the former league champions. So with Nicholson playing down south but coaching the Mayhem when fixtures don’t clash, it’s saw the two other loanees’ in rookie last year in Naomi Jenks and Canadian International Peggy Assinck all helping out the Phantoms.
Manchester went into the game on the back of two heavy defeats to the title favourites in Cardiff, but they were boosted ahead of the contest with Anthony Booth making his first appearance in Mayhem colours this season, as the side have been lacking massively in terms of greater firepower. As following the departures of both Nicholson and Jenks, plus no Rob Allen through injury and the added miss of top scorer in Dean Lahan who was away as well, it meant goals were looking pretty thin on the ground. However, it was one of their underrated forwards in Tom Kimm that opened the scoring thanks to Anthony Booth outsmarting Peggy Assinck near goal, before playing in Kimm whose effort beat Dan Lee with 39 seconds gone on the clock.
Anthony Booth and Stacey Quirk : Photo: Haganova Photos
Peterborough equalised at 3.17 through Karl Nicholson, as play down the left drew three Mayhem players over to the puck, where Stacey Quirk spotted Nicholson skating into space and who then fired high on Darren Pomfrett to make it 1-1. It was a very even contest where both sides had chances and saw the netminders in Pomfrett and Lee both being called into action. The shots on goal illustrate how close things were, as the Phantoms outshot their hosts in the first and second periods, with both periods being by a single shot (6-5 and 5-4 in favour of the Phantoms).
Soon after it saw Nicholson putting the away side ahead with 7.46 gone, as a pass at centre ice from Sarah Hope was then fired from distance and looped in over the goalie to make it 2-1. But Manchester would respond themselves minutes later, as it was Anthony Booth who both started and finished off the move for the Mayhem, as the former GB man played the puck up ice for Anton Tomlinson who took it into zone before an awkward looking one-two from Booth and Gregory saw the Mayhem forward putting past Lee for 2-2.
Play in the second was just as tight as the first, with just that extra bit of quality telling from the Phantoms, as they turned a face-off down in their zone to a scoring chance that they capitalised on seconds later. Following a face off win by Shakespeare, it saw Peggy Assinck playing a pass up the wing for Quirk, who then waited for Nicholson to get up in support on the far side and played a inch perfect weighted pass for Nicholson to one-time strike and put the Phantoms 3-2 up with a superb team effort. The difference between the sides in their attacks was speed based – as while the Phantoms had the quicker skaters and used that quickness to their advantage; on the flip side, the Mayhem struggled to move the puck as fast up ice and made it easier for the away side to cut out.
In the third stanza, it was still a case of the game being up in the air, as while Peterborough held a 3-2 lead, the hosts were still very much in the contest and if they could find a score they would set up an interesting final period for sure. Manchester tried to put the puck on goal, but nothing was really troubling that of Lee in the Phantoms cage and saw them searching for a third. Peterborough had been quiet in the 3rd, but when Callum Shakespeare made it 4-2 by scoring his own rebound at 38.10, it was like a dagger in the Mayhem hearts.
Anthony Booth holds off Peggy Assinck Photo: Haganova Photos
Manchester though, much like the two previous games this season, saw them battling on and saw them getting into a groove in the final five minutes of play and on another day could have snuck victory. It saw Tom Kimm striking the outside of the goal post, with Anton Tomlinson going close himself with a couple of efforts late on, with one chance put just inches past the far post with the goalie beat and saw the home bench thinking he had scored. Sadly for the Mayhem, they just couldn’t buy a third goal and saw the Phantoms registering their first ever win over the Mayhem at the 12th attempt. Despite the loss, it was another learning experience for this mix of old and new heads to build on moving forwards, but you couldn’t deny the effort and commitment put in again over the course of the whole 45 minutes. The sides will renew acquaintances next weekend down in Peterborough, where the Mayhem will look to break their duck this season.
GAME STATS:
Period scores: (2-2, 0-1, 0-1) Phantoms: Daniel Lee – Shots on Goal: 17, Saves: 15 – Save Percentage: 88.2% Mayhem : Daz Pomfrett -Shots on Goal: 13, Saves: 9 – Save Percentage: 69.2%
Manchester: Anthony Booth 1+1, Tom Kimm 1+0, Felicity Gregory 0+1
Peterborough: Karl Nicholson 3+0, Callum Shakespeare 1+0, Stacey Quirk 0+2, Sarah Hope 0+1, Peggy Assinck 0+1