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Phantoms 7, Swindon 3 - Peacock leads the way with four-timer
SWINDON may be the UK home of Honda but it's Phantoms motoring on in the English Premier League title race after crushing the Wildcats last night.
SWINDON may be the UK home of Honda but it's Phantoms motoring on in the English Premier League title race after crushing the Wildcats last night.Another awesome display at the Peterborough Arena saw Colin Patterson's title chasers retain their single point advantage at the top of the table over Milton Keynes Lightning, who kept on their shirt-tails with a win at Guildford Flames.
But if it's now looking more of a two-horse race after the Flames' drew a blank at the weekend, Phantoms are surely the form horse.
Last night's impressive win - which saw Craig Peacock return to form with a bang - means the city side have scored an impressive 16 times in their last two games at Bretton HQ.
And what made it all the more satisfying was that, much like the thousands of shiny motors that roll off the production lines in Wiltshire, the result was made in Britain.
The irresistible Peacock lit the lamp four times while one each for fellow Brits James Spurr, Callum Fowler and the rampaging James Morgan gave things a decidedly homegrown flavour.
For Patterson though the goals could be from Toronto or Tyneside - as long as they keep on coming.
He said: "It was a great performance against Swindon and I thought all the guys did great. We got up on them early and kept the pressure on.
"I hadn't noticed that it was all British guys who scored tonight, it's great but not that important to me. I don't see this group as imports or British, they are a team and that is the way I treat them.
"Everyone has their role to play but of course it is good that we are finding goals throughout the side at the moment.
"I have said before that if we are going to win this league we will need all the players to contribute and I know I have that with this group.
"We have matchwinners in every line but we have to keep working hard, it is not all about attractive hockey.
"That work ethic was there tonight and we have earned ourselves a great position. If we win all our games we win the league, our destiny is in our own hands."
From the moment Spurr opened Phantoms' account in the seventh minute, the destiny of this game at least always looked pretty certain.
And after two more from Peacock and another from Fowler, by the end of the first period it was.
The opener was so one-sided in fact Wildcats' much-vaunted netminder Ladislav Kudrna had to be coaxed back onto the ice at one stage after stomping off in a huff at the amount of rubber heading his way.
It didn't get any better for the Swindon stopper once play resumed either and how he must have wished he'd stuck to his earlier decision and walked away.
Because once the game resumed the home side merely picked up where they left off, overcoming the temporary inconvenience of Matty Davies' goal when Peacock nailed his hat-trick on the powerplay with 25 minutes gone.
James Morgan was also quick to make the most of extra numbers with a well-placed drive past the hapless Kudrna who sunk to new depths when Peacock went on to bounce number seven in off his helmet.
With the game won Patterson then opted to give youngsters Grant Bignell and Dale Jowett their chance in the final act.
The decision did open things up a little for Swindon who restored a modicum of their battered pride with the only goals of that period from Josef Kohut and Euan Forsyth.
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Weather for Peterborough
Saturday 26 May 2012
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