Phantoms wasted no time in avenging Swindon’s win in Bretton recently, storming into the lair of the Wildcats tonight to take an impressive 2-4 road win.
Cats coach Aaron Nell had talked up the need for a good start in this one and it took only 85 seconds for his side to deliver with a goal from Rutkis and it needed some sharp netminding from Jordan Marr to limit the damage to the one goal as slowly the Phantoms got a foothold in the game. With 13:21 on the clock, ex-Wildcat Corey McEwen kept up his consistent points haul against his old side with a game tieing goal and with the momentum shifting in Phantoms favour, it was McEwen again who struck just over two minutes later to put his side ahead. A late penalty on Cats gave Phantoms the opportunity to seriously twist the knife and Ales Padelek was on hand to inflict the pain with a powerplay goal at 17:44 to leave Phantoms 1-3 up at the first break.
Once again, it was the home side who were fastest out of the blocks as they battled to turn the momentum in their favour but Phantoms had seen that script just a few weeks back and resolutely stood their ground to frustrate Cats. With Jordan Marr winning the battle of the Marrs with some standout netminding, Cats frustrations boiled over with a tripping call on Neil Liddiard that gave Tom Norton the opportunity to blast home a trademark finish to extend Phantoms lead to 1-4 at 36:09 and serve up a three goal lead going into the final period.
The barnstorming early fightback was anticipated but again Phantoms were ready and resolute, keeping Cats at bay until 49:02 when Sam Bullas pulled one back. Both sides traded powerplay opportunities in the last ten minutes without further scoring and even a 6on4 and brief 6on3 as Cats pulled their netminder at the death was insufficient to break Phantoms resolve as they held out for a huge 2-4 win.
Phantoms MOM was two goal Corey McEwen.
The victory puts Phantoms one point behind the Cats at the top of the NIHL table but with two games in hand. It also leaves Phantoms needing just one point from their final NIHL South Cup qualifying game against Milton Keynes to secure home advantage in both the semi-final and, if they make it through, final.
Game stats HERE