Despite facing a total of 40 shots, man-of-the-match Wall remained unbeaten as he produced a flawless display between the pipes for his side who went on to score through Craig Peacock, Brent Gough and Nathan Rempel.

Under Gareth Endicott, the Raiders are a new proposition and the trip to their island fortress is certainly a daunting prospect for any side in the EPL.

But despite facing Endicott's side in their own barn just a week after they had beaten reigning champions Guildford Flames, Colin Patterson's players were undaunted and ultimately excelled on this tough away assignment.

Having fought hard for the right to play their game in the first period, Phantoms went on to take control in the second through Peacock and Gough and there was even time for Rempel to indulge in a lively scuffle with Wightlink's Janne Saarenpaa.

And after the gory results of Rempel's legendary pugilism had been cleared from the ice, the Canadian forward put his gloves back on to smash in the third of the night and make the game safe in the third period.

All in all a good night's work for Patterson and assistant Tim Peacock who were only too aware of the potential pitfalls which often lurk on the Isle of Wight.

Peacock said: "It is always a tough place to go. Their rink is very tight and it always takes some getting used to which can easily catch visiting teams out.

"But after a tight first period Craig scored a good goal just at the right time and when Brent added a second we knew we were right in there. But the Raiders are a better side this season and we needed to come up big in all three periods to get the job done which we did.

"The defence stood up very well and of course Stephen had another great game for us which was crucial. Not many teams will go there and win."