Phantoms bounce back impressively after a severe mauling at the hands of Bristol Pitbulls, plus a player departure

​Phantoms conceded seven second period goals in Bristol on the way to a 10-3 hammering at the home of the struggling Pitbulls on Saturday.

But the city side, who were short on numbers in both games because of injuries and a GB call-up for Billy Thorpe, showed tremendous resilience to come from behind to win the return game 2-1 thanks to an overtime goal from Luke Ferrara.

That also snapped a five-game losing streak for Phantoms, although they remain in the bottom half of the table ahead of a double-header in Scotland this weekend.

Slava Koulikov’s men are in Solway to face the Sharks, and former star city netminder Jordan Marr, on successive nights.

​REVENGE WIN

Phantoms battled brilliantly on home ice to pip Bristol in a tense encounter.

The city side started the game on top, but Austin Mitchell-King and Ferrara missed chances to score before the visitors broke away to take the lead against the run of play with a goal from Ewan Hill in the 17th minute.

Phantoms equalised at the start of the second period when Callum Buglass fired an effort through traffic and into the back of the net for a powerplay goal.

Duncan Speirs had almost levelled seconds earlier, but was denied by a fine save and Nathan Salem then came close to shooting the hosts in front.

The middle period ended at 1-1 and there were no goals in the final period with Phantoms’ chances not helped when top scorer Cam Gough received a 5 + game penalty for boarding, a penalty they survived thanks to some outstanding defensive work particularly from Speirs and man-of-the-match netminder Hayden Lavigne.

An excellent double save from the Bristol netminder thwarted Speirs and Tom Norton in the final stages, but crucially the visitors took a penalty at the start of sudden death overtime and Ferrara pounced to seal victory on the powerplay.

MAULED BY PITBULLS

Phantoms had been battered by Bristol the previous evening despite taking a 2-1 lead into the first break.

The home side opened the scoring in the first minute, but Phantoms replied with two strikes in a minute from Hough and Salem.

But a nightmare second session ended with Bristol 8-2 ahead which stretched to 10-2 before a consolation goal from Jarvis Hunt.

There were no further goals in the final 10 minutes.

PLAYER DEPARTURE

Forward Ralfs Circenis has left Phantoms. The Latvian was banned for a year in April 2024 for using ‘inappropriate’ language, although six months of that sentence had been suspended.