9:48pm Monday 11th January 2010
By Nigel McFarlane
ED Courtenay slotted his 33rd goal of the season in overtime as Manchester Phoenix beat Peterborough Phantoms 5-4 on Saturday.
It was harsh on last season's EPL Grand Slam winners who belittled their lowly league placing to almost snatch an unexpected victory.
At full strength for the first time since the beginning of December, Phoenix were wretched in a first period that Peterborough totally dominated.
But they could only lead through former Manchester star Joe Miller as netminder Stephen Fone turned aside wave after wave of attack.
Phoenix changed their shirts from red to purple in the intermission, and seemingly their attitude, as they got on top of their opponents in the second.
Two goals within a minute from Jaakko Hagelberg and Robert Lachowicz turned the game on its head before Adam Walker added his 24th of the season to make it 3-1.
But Peterborough fought back – Miller adding his second six minutes into the third period.
And it got better for the Phantoms as five minutes later James Knight levelled with a wonderful short-handed solo effect.
Walker's ferocious shot got the better of Stephen Wall to put Phoenix back ahead, but James Morgan equalised once more to send the game into sudden death overtime.
The extra period was dramatic as referee Anthony Decaux dispatched two Phantoms to the bin giving Phoenix a five on three powerplay that had most of the fans scratching their heads.
Overtime periods are usually four players a side but with Miller and Doug McIver being called for indiscretions, Decaux had to ensure Manchester had a two-man advantage.
And as the Peterborough bench complained, the puck was fed through Luke Boothroyd and Iain Bowie to Courtenay who made no mistake smashing a rising shot from two years out to beat Wall.
“Peterborough gave us a real battle,” Phoenix player-coach Tony Hand said. “They're much stronger now than they were earlier in the season and we had to dig deep. Foney [Stephen Fone] made some big saves for us but we needed the win to keep us in touch at the top.”
Sunday's game at Romford was postponed because of the adverse weather affecting the whole country.
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