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Manchester Phoenix 5 - 4 Telford Tigers
Tigers boss Tom Watkins praised his side's 'grit and determination' as they fought back from two goals down to snatch an overtime point from high-flying Manchester Phoenix.
Although the teams are at opposite ends of the English Premier League, it took a penalty shoot-out for the table toppers to claim the win 5-4 as Tigers bounced back from a hard fought 11-6 home defeat to Peterborough Phantoms.
"Tonight has been brilliant," said Watkins on the way home from Manchester. "The guys showed real grit and determination to come back from two goals down and take it to penalties."
It wasn't until almost halfway through the game that Manchester opened the scoring. Andy McKinney quickly struck back for Tigers against his former team, but Phoenix raced ahead to a 4-1 lead before Tom Watkins scored just ahead of the second break.
The third period saw Tigers fight back with goals from Marek Hornak, shorthanded at 55 minutes, and Scott McKenzie just a minute from time.
The sides were evenly matched in the sudden-death overtime, but Manchester shaded it in the penalty shootout.
"They had a lot of shots on us, but we rode our luck and took our chances at the other end of the ice," said Watkins. "I think we played with more smarts and our defence was solid. The guys fully deserved to take a point from a top team tonight."
Watkins opted to put Declan Ryan in goal for this game, and the youngster acquitted himself well - staying in for the full game while Manchester switched netminders for the penalty shoot-out.
"Declan played for Trafford in the ENL last year, so we thought it was right to let him play the first road game at his old rink," said Watkins. "He stood on his head for us, making a key save in the last second to keep us in it.
"And the travelling fans were fantastic. It was good to see so many make the trip and they gave us a big cheer when we got back on the bus.
"Spirits are high, but we have to stay focused and go into each game every weekend looking for the points."
The result was a superb boost after going down 11-6 at home to Peterborough. Tigers had opened the scoring in that game with a shorthanded goal from Marek Hornak at 2:38, assisted by Daniel MacKriel and new defenceman Ross Hanlon.
Phantoms went 3-1 up, Hornak hit back with a powerplay goal at 13:14, but a back post pass enabled the visitors to take a 4-2 lead into the break.
Former Tiger Joe Miller added a breakaway goal after the restart but Josh Bruce initiated a Telford fightback when he roofed the puck at 27:03. Within four minutes Tigers had equalised through Scott McKenzie and Hornak's hat trick. However a shorthanded goal for Peterborough saw the momentum swing back in their favour, and they wrapped up the middle session 7-5.
Andy McKinney gave the home fans hope with a shorthanded goal early in the third, but Peterborough stepped up the pace, scoring four unanswered goals.
A deflated Watkins said: "We really got ourselves back into it at 5-5 and the crowd was going bananas. The guys feed off that but I don't know if we got a bit too excited.
"Little mistakes cost us tonight. But credit to Peterborough, they stepped up and made us pay. If we score six goals at home we should be closer at the end of the game.
"We can score goals, but our problem is defensive lapses. That's not just defencemen, that's the forwards too. I hope the fans don't get down by the result and I hope the boys don't get down about it, because week in week out we are learning."
Tigers lost Joe Henry (injured) and Andrejs Maslovskis (broken skate) during the third period, and Henry missed the away trip on Sunday, but the team was boosted by the addition of defenceman Ross Hanlon.
Watkins said: "Ross came in and had a good game, he looked comfortable on the puck. It's a new team and he has to find his way into our systems. This is the level he should be playing and it was nice to see him get a point."
The 19-year-old added: "I really enjoyed that. It is a big learning curve for me, making the jump up to the EPL, as it is much faster. It is a great way to learn and make me better and get myself known in this league."
Hat trick hero Marek Hornak literally had his scoring boots on - new skates helping him glide to the man of the match award. However the Slovakian had mixed feelings about his personal performance, being disappointed with the final result.
Hornak said: "As a team, six goals should have been enough for a win.
OK I got three but the team is not winning the game. If you don't win the game you can't enjoy it. It's about the points. We have to start winning games."
Tigers are on the road to Slough on Saturday before greeting Swindon as visitors on Sunday (5.30pm).
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5-3 |
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4-5 |
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1-4 |
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4-4 |
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2-4 |
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5-8 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
5-1 |
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4-1 |
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5-2 |
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3-7 |
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1-1 |
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
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