Match Report | 6th September 2006 » Sheffield Scimitars 0-6 Manchester Phoenix

Face Off: 6.30pm, Wednesday 6th September 2006

The Sheffield Scimitars attracted their largest ever crowd at iceSheffield for the challenge match against the all new Manchester Phoenix on Wednesday night.

The Manchester Elite League team have been completely rebuilt under the leadership of Player-Coach, Tony Hand, with not a single player from the 2003-04 squad returning for the 2006-07 season. Manchester hopes that their new 2,500 seat arena will be completed before the end of the year.

The first period saw both teams having to kill a number of penalties and both netminders pulled off some incredible saves to keep the scoresheet clean. The Phoenix took the lead at 16:42 with a power play goal from Adam Walker, fed from an incredibly accurate pass from the ex NHL star Radoslav Hecl. Just over three minutes later, Hecl scored , this time with an inch perfect pass from KC Timmons.

The second period saw the Scimitars pile on the pressure with shots thundering in on goal from the new captain, Ron Shudra, Rob Dowde and Steve Duncombe, but Manchester's netminder, Jason Woolfe managed to get a stick or a pad to each shot and deny a goal. Manchester re-grouped and ten minutes into the period Hecl scored on the power play to take the score to 3:0. The scimitars again fell victims to the Phoenix power play drills at 35:43 when Robin Gomez, the 6'2" enforcer who last year played pre-season for the NHL Washington Capitals, forced a shot past Pasi Raitanen. The Manchester Phoenix finished the second period with Tony Hand and Adam Walker combining to feed the puck to Joe Miller who scored the fifth goal at 38:47.

Again in the third period, the Scimitars came out fighting and the packed crowd enjoyed end to end hockey. Adam Walker scored for Manchester in the final minute of the game to take the final score to 6:0 to Manchester.

The game was a lot closer than the scoreline suggests, and the fact that the Scimitars managed to keep the score down to 6:0, against an Elite League team with such an enormous array of strength, speed, talent and power is a testament to the skill and teamwork that the Scimitars have developed. Watching this game can leave you in no doubt that the Manchester Phoenix really have risen stronger than ever, but it is also clear that the Sheffield Scimitars are going to be a force to be reckoned with in the English Premier League.

The Scimitars next home game at iceSheffield will be at 7:15 pm on Saturday 9th September when they play Brent Pope's new team, the Romford Raiders.

Next Match Report: Sheffield Scimitars 5-4 Romford Raiders
9th September 2006

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