Mayhem Win Chaotic Thriller Against Phantoms
- Peter Bradders
- Aug 12
- 3 min read
PETERBOROUGH PHANTOMS 6 - 9 MANCHESTER MAYHEM
Manchester Mayhem ended their British Para Ice Hockey League programme with a thrilling 9-6 win down in Peterborough on Saturday, as it was a chaotic game where defence kind of went out the window. Neither side could move up or down in the standings, so it really was a case of just building some momentum going into the playoffs weekend next month.
In what proved to be one of the most chaotic matches witnessed, it saw Manchester taking the early lead through Karl Nicholson before Peterborough levelled past the midway point of the opening period, where Gary Farmer fired in a shot over the shoulder of Dan Hartshorn in the Mayhem goal for 1-1. Karl Nicholson then put the Mayhem back in front at 2-1 with a close-range effort before Tom Kimm saw his good work up front paying off with a goal to make it 3-1 going into the first break.
In the second period it saw Manchester move further ahead when Nicholson dashed up the wing and saw his shot hitting the foot of the post and coming straight out to Anton Tomlinson, who fired the puck into a half-empty net for 4-1. Gary Farmer then cut the deficit in half to 4-2 as his shot beat Hartshorn, and it could have been 4-3 soon after, when Farmer’s vicious shot rang the pipework with an almighty clink that echoed throughout the Peterborough Ice Rink.
The Mayhem increased their lead to 5-2 after Nicholson completed his hat trick with a low effort that caught out the goalie, and it looked like the visitors were beginning to pull clear. Despite trailing by a few goals, the Phantoms were still in the contest and constantly caused a fair few problems for the Mayhem defence. However, the Mayhem's luck ran out when Farmer dragged a couple of defenders with him, which then left Callum Shakespeare all alone as the trailing player to net a third for the hosts and have the GB man make it 5-3.
There was a touch of good fortune about the Mayhem’s sixth goal of the game – that was due to Karl Nicholson getting hit into the boards, and while slowly getting back to the blue line, the puck was kept in the zone and saw a shot saved initially by Davina Hall, but the loose rebound came straight out to Nicholson, who then slipped it home.
Heading into the third period, Manchester was fifteen minutes away from registering their biggest win for some time and saw their play having them deservedly in front. But the third was just pure mayhem, pardon the pun, and seemed to have their period for a time playing out like their luck this season.
With eight to play and 6-3 up, it saw the game suddenly turn on its head, as firstly Stacey Quirk netted from close range for 6-4, closely followed by Gary Farmer, who completed his hat trick goal with a fierce shot that went through the goalie’s defences for 6-5. Then immediately from the restart, the unluckiest goal you'll see this year happened when Karl Nicholson hit the puck forward, but it took a bad bounce off the frame of Anton Tomlinson and went behind the defenders, where Farmer latched onto it and tied things up at 6-6.
It would have been easy for Manchester to crumble, having conceded those three quick goals, but they were resilient and always threatening when they came forward, and Karl Nicholson scored his fifth of the game for 7-6 and the go-ahead goal. Canadian international Peggy Assinck then made it 8-6, as her effort bobbled through traffic and into the Phantoms' net, where Nicholson rounded off the scoring to make it 9-6 and seal victory.
Victory for the Mayhem sees them finishing the league campaign in fourth spot, registering their best season since 2019 with three wins and head into the post-season with a bit of momentum for the end of season playoffs down in London's Lea Valley, where they'll face the league champions in the Sheffield Steelkings in the semi-finals.
