A straight hat-trick from Ales Padelek set up a tough but vital road win for Phantoms in Milton Keynes tonight.
The home side secured an unbelievable win in Bretton earlier in the season despite leaking 70 shots on goal and it was looking a case of “as you were” when netminder Tom Annetts established a robust rearguard at one end while much traveled 18 year old Gareth O’Flaherty poached a go-ahead goal at the other to leave Thunder a goal up at the first break.
The second period saw Phantoms continue to dominate with Thunder and, in particular Annetts, continuing to serve up a determined rearguard but it wasn’t enough to stop Ales Padelek scoring at both ends of the period to turn the game around with the go-ahead and, as it were to prove, game winning goal with just 7 seconds left on the period clock.
The first goal in period three was always going to be huge and it was Padelek again with an early hat-trick marker that broke the Thunder resistance allowing further goals to rain in from Glenn Billing who went on to secure his own straight hat-trick in the final ten minutes of the game for a 1-6 victory.
Billing’s second goal was Phantoms 100th goal in this season’s league campaign making them the first to reach that milestone in NIHL South 1.
Elsewhere in the league, title rivals Basingstoke and Swindon went head to head in the first of back-to-back games with Phantoms fans hoping for Bison to drop the two points they in effect lead Phantoms by at the top of NIHL South 1 but those hopes will have to carry over to Sunday’s game in Swindon after Bison squeezed a penalty shot 2-1 win over the Cats tonight.
Game Stats HERE