Phantoms opened their 2018/2019 league campaign with a disappointing home defeat to the Romford Raiders tonight, made all the more frustrating by conceding the winner in the last second of overtime ….. or even a good second after the end of overtime in the eyes of many !
In many respects, the game followed the pattern established in last weekend’s win over Telford Tigers with both sides sharing an even, largely uneventful and not particularly inspiring opening period before Phantoms started to get the better of their opponents. The difference this week was that Raiders grabbed a goal when Jake Pitchley scored on 14.11 to take a lead into the middle twenty.
As anticipated, it was the home side who dominated the middle period but Raiders were in no mood to crumble and defended well against a Phantoms side who were struggling to make tape-to-tape passing and their overall offensive play remained unconvincing and largely unthreatening. Meanwhile, Jordan Marr was called on several times to thwart more incisive looking breakouts and odd-man rushes from the Raiders for whom a second goal would have likely killed the game.
Going into the final period, Phantoms continued to boss both the possession and territory and, at last, on 44:05 Corey McEwen struck from the angle on the powerplay to tie the game. Raiders looked deflated, Phantoms looked rampant and after another spell of pressure around Michael Gray’s goal, captain James Ferrara shoveled home the go-ahead goal with 48:34 on the clock.
To their credit, Raiders then took the game back to Phantoms who seemed to be defending their lead well until the final four minutes when, first, Will Weldon was called for a tripping minor which he then backed up with a 10+Game for abuse to referee Matthews but, more crucially, James Ferrara was then called for hooking. Raiders decided to go for it with just 1:35 left on the game and pulled Gray to go 6on3 and were instantly rewarded when Huska fired home for 2-2.
The game went to overtime which started 4on3 in Raiders favour and then turned 4on3 in Phantoms favour, at which stage Petr Stepanek crashed one against the underside of the bar but referee Matthews was not convinced that the puck then crossed the line and overtime continued. In the end, the game was settled by that man Aaron Connolly (remember the title decider last season ?!!!) who fired home with the clock showing 0:00. Phantoms said the buzzer had gone, I was certain the buzzer had gone but the referee called the goal and Raiders took the win.
Phantoms MOM went to Jordan Marr.
Pessimists will say that Phantoms were largely poor tonight and failed to play with the required intensity and determination to take advantage of home ice. The lack of quality up front would also justify criticism.
The optimist might suggest that Raiders simply came with a plan and bolstered by some solid Summer signings, were more than capable of staying in the game and more. Their results already this season suggest they are tough opposition and difficult to break down and they certainly reinforced that early season promise tonight.
Who knows ….. that point from a losing position may prove of value later in the season but, at the moment, its hard to feel anything more than disappointed when losing a game like that !
Game stats HERE
Interview with Jordan Marr
Interview with Slava Koulikov