Ferguson scores and then he's axed!

Head coach Slava Koulikov confirmed the departure of Harry Ferguson after a 13-1 drubbing of Invicta in NIHL Division One South – a game in which the 19 year-old Scottish forward found the net.

Ferguson, who arrived in the summer from Elite League side Edinburgh Capitals, also scored a crucial goal in Phantoms’ triumph at table-topping Bracknell the previous evening.

Koulikov revealed he is keen to bring in a more prolific forward and also intends to give more ice-time to the club’s homegrown crop of youngsters such as Jarvis Hunt, Jack Escott and Taylor Romeo.

He told the Peterborough Telegraph: “We always evaluate our players and I guess there is never a good time to release someone.

“But we have to look at the whole of the season so far and there have been a lot of one-goal games which could have gone either way.

“We should be scoring a few more goals and Harry is unfortunately the guy who is going to be leaving. I feel it is the right move for the team.

“I don’t think Harry has done a bad job by any means, but I’m very conscious of the fact that I feel we need another goalscorer while our young prospect players have really exceeded my expectations.

“We will try to find the right man to bring in, but in the meantime we will give more chances for our own younger guys to develop further.

“Harry was surprised and obviously disappointed which is understandable, but hopefully it won’t be long before he finds another team.”

Phantoms had struggled for goals until finding the net 18 times during the course of the weekend, winning 5-4 at Bracknell before demolishing lowly Invicta.