Sponsored by
Phantoms 9, Telford Tigers 5 - Biggest win but coach is not happy
Ice hockey action from Phantoms v Telford Tigers: Phantoms' goal celebrations. Photo: Alan Storer/Peterborough ET
English Premier League report: LUKE Ferrara stole the show on Saturday night as Phantoms took another small step towards salvation with their biggest win of the season.
Ferrara netted his first senior hat-trick while older brother James also got his name on the game sheet alongside those of Richard Bentham, Maris Ziedins, Ondrej Lauko, Joe Graham and Tom Carlon.
It was an electrifying performance from 18 year-old Ferrara Junior who continues his emergence as one of the most exciting talents in the English Premier League. But despite the flood of goals, if Phantoms hope to emerge as play-off contenders improvements must be made.
Not that Chris Allen’s side were bad and there were plenty of positives to take from this tonking of Telford. But the toxic combination of sudden defensive lapses and the frailties of netminder Damien King could yet undermine their chances.
Phantoms were totally dominant offensively in the first two periods as they outshot the EPL’s bottom club by 35 shots to 14 but King still managed to cough up four goals. In a league where netminders are expected to save 90 per cent of what comes their way, saving two out of three just isn’t good enough.
It’s a harsh indictment on King who has undoubtedly improved in recent weeks after stepping up from reserve following the departure of Stephen Wall. But if he and his team-mates want to make the top eight, he needs to raise his game.
Allen said: “I am pleased with the result and the points which was the main thing, but I cannot stand here and say I was pleased with the performance. It was good to get nine goals but I was really disappointed to concede five against a struggling team.
“And the reason we did that is because we made too many defensive mistakes. Little lapses of concentration that cost us heavily. We got away with it against Telford but against the top teams in this league that will not happen. We had to score nine goals tonight and we are not going to do that against the likes of Guildford and Manchester so we need to put it right.
“The guys know how to play the way I want them to play, they showed that last week against Sheffield, and we need to get back to that. I don’t want to sound too negative as we got the result but we need to learn some lessons.”
One of those lessons will be to concentrate from the very first buzzer after Phantoms were caught cold after just 26 seconds when Joe Henry fired the visitors ahead.
It served as the perfect wake-up call for Phantoms who drew level halfway through the first period when James Ferrara struck after a quick Lauko-led raid. And just over a minute later Phantoms were 3-1 up after goals from Bentham and Ziedins before play was halted when Bentham dropped the gloves with Tigers’ Henrik Sahlin.
As fights go this was more Torvill and Dean than Ali-Frazier as the pair circled warily before collapsing in a tangled heap.
Still, after the Sheffield game, it was good to see Phantoms sticking to their guns. And Luke Ferrara ensured they ended the period 4-1 up when he opened his account with a laser-like shot that arrowed past Declan Ryan into the bottom corner.
After the restart, however, for a few worrying minutes the wheels looked like they were about to come off when Scott McKenzie and Thomas Castle both beat King to make it 4-3.
Phantoms hit back with a great move down the Tigers’ left flank that was started by Allen and finished in style by Lauko but another McKenzie goal had them rattled again. And for the next few minutes the visitors were on top before a smart finish from Joe Graham calmed matters and Carlon scored a peach to put his side back in the box seat.
At the start of the third period any hopes the Tigers may have had of clawing their way back into the game were killed off when Ferrara scored twice in quick succession to make it 9-4.
The game was already over as a contest by the time Thomas Soar scored a late consolation with three minutes to play. But the goal served as a timely reminder that unless Phantoms can shore up their leaky defence they could yet pay a heavy price over the coming weeks.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Peterborough
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: East
Your view
Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.