Martins’ magical moment propels Peterborough Phantoms into the thick of the title race

The forward star left Swindon in a spin with an audacious overtime decider to earn Slava Koulikov’s men a 4-3 verdict in a third-versus-second clash at Planet Ice.

Susters skated in on goal and went full circle before finishing past Wildcats netminder Renny Marr to trigger some wild celebrations - on and off the ice!

And that piece of individual genius featured in a fine show of character from Phantoms as they bounced back from the blow of conceding a leveller late in regulation time to collect an 11th consecutive victory.

It moved them to within six points of table-toppers Telford who were beaten again last night in Hull. Phantoms also boast a game in hand on the Tigers and travel to Shropshire to face them this Saturday (February 29).

Delighted head coach Slava Koulikov said: “Every single one of my guys was magnificent again - just as they have been so often lately.

“We knew it was a do-or-die game for Swindon after they lost at home to Telford on Saturday night. Aaron (Swindon coach Nell) asked his main guys to answer the call and they did that.

“But we want to keep our great run going and the resilience of our group is unbelievable.

“We never gave up even after conceding the late goal in regulation time and Martins produced an unbelievable goal to win it in OT.

“We’re not paying too much attention to the table. All we focus on is trying to continue this great run as it could end on any day against any team in such a competitive league.

“There is a battle at the bottom to make it into the play-offs, there is a battle between the teams in the middle as they try to move up, and there is a battle for the title at the top.

“No team wants to give games away at this stage of the season and that makes it even more interesting.”

A powerplay rocket from import Tyler VanKleef gave Swindon an early advantage, but Phantoms hit back in devastating style with three goals in little more than five minutes.

Their turnaround was inspired by two-goal Tom Norton whose brace sandwiched a thunder-strike from import Ales Padelek.

Norton ghosted into the back post to put away a perfect Padelek pass to level on a powerplay before Padelek completed the turnaround only 45 seconds later.

Norton then struck again in a five-on-three situation to stretch the advantage, but Swindon weren’t about to wave the white flag.

The Wildcats had the better of the second session with one-time Phantoms play-off winner Eddie Bebris reducing the arrears before they had Floyd Taylor thrown out for a high-sticking offence which left Corey McEwen bloodied.

But Phantoms failed to make the most of the five-minute powerplay which followed his ejection before both sides carved out, but couldn’t take, chances galore in the final session.

The city men then ran into penalty trouble with an immense kill preserving their lead only to see it snatched away by Toms Rutkis with little more than two minutes to go.

Neither side could strike again in regulation time as they claimed a point apiece, but Susters settled the issue in the second minute of overtime.

Koulikov added: “We managed to get ourselves ahead in the first period but the momentum swung Swindon’s way a little bit in the second as they got a goal back.

“We had a plan for the third period and the guys did it really well. Unfortunately we picked up some penalties that could have been questionable calls in the final 10 minutes.

“The guys put bodies on the line to block shots and kill those penalties, but unfortunately we couldn’t stop Swindon getting a goal to bring them level.

“But we showed our character to go again and get the two points.”

Phantoms face back-to-back away games this weekend.

They make that aforementioned trip to leaders Telford for a crucial clash before heading to struggling Bracknell the following night (March 1).

Their next outing on home ice is the opening leg of the NIHL National Cup final - also against Telford - on Friday, March 6.