A very decent crowd, no doubt buoyed by the Winter Olympics hockey coverage, turned out to watch Phantoms ease to a comfortable two points over Milton Keynes Thunder.
Not sure quite what the new fans would have made of a game that only served up one pair of matching minor penalties late in the game but the regulars were probably left shrugging their shoulders again as a four line Phantoms side coasted to an all too easy win over Milton Keynes second string.
In fairness to Phantoms, they were disciplined in their approach throughout, kept a good shape at all times and never looked anything less than totally in control. The visitors, to their credit, never stopped working and kept Phantoms honest but were toothless up front and rarely threatened Euan King’s goal other than in the closing moments when they managed to wreck his shut-out !
Unfortunately, Phantoms title rivals from Basingstoke managed to overturn a 1-2 deficit at the end of the second period to Bracknell into a 5-2 victory to keep ahead in the title race. Phantoms will travel to Bracknell on Sunday evening for what will be a very tough fixture but also a must win game if they are to extend the title race into a further weekend.
Import offensive playmaker Ales Padelek will play in the Bracknell game despite missing tonight’s game to rest up his long standing groin injury.
Game stats HERE