Steeldogs gunning for revenge over Phoenix

After a disappointing 3-2 defeat at home to Manchester Phoenix, the South Yorkshire club overcame a poor first period at Telford Tigers to come back from a 3-1 deficit to run out 7-5 winners, to leave them sitting in third place, three points behind leaders Slough.

In the first competitive clash of the season with Manchester in front of a bumper crowd enjoying the unusual 1pm face-off time, the Steeldogs were always chasing the game after finding themselves two goals down after 15 minutes, with Tony Hand and Martin Cingel on target for the visitors as they restricted their hosts to a couple of breakaway efforts. But as the Steeldogs stepped up their intensity levels towards the end of the first, Janis Ozolins tapped in at 19.46 to halve the deficit.

Manchester again created more in the second and deservedly restored their two-goal lead at 29.01 through Ladislav Harabin. The third belonged to the Steeldogs as they piled relentless pressure on the Phoenix goal but, despite Greg Wood scoring against his old club in the 55th minute to make it a one-goal game again, the home side couldn’t quite create enough to grab at least a point.

It looked like being a weekend to forget when the Steeldogs found themselves 3-0 down after just 10 minutes at Telford.

Crucially, Payette scored before the end of the first to give the visitors hope and they came out for the second fired up, scoring three goals to Telford’s two to make it a one-goal game with 20 minutes to play.

Wood, Ozolins and Edgars Bebris were on target for Sheffield in the second and the pressure continued in the third as they outshot their hosts by 17-6. Wood equalised at 44.44 before Ozolins gave his team the lead for the first time with 10 minutes remaining and sealed a deserved hat-trick with an empty-net strike in the final minute.

The chance for Sheffield to end their poor run of form against defending champions Manchester comes around again quickly when they travel to the Altrincham Ice Dome on Thursday night (7.30pm).

“We were very disappointed with the result against Phoenix,” said Payette, “Although we worked hard in the third period we still failed to get the win. However, we meet them again on Thursday at their place so we’ve got a good chance to bounce back.

“On Sunday, we were diabolical in the first period against Telford but then, in the second and third, I felt we played the best hockey we have played all year.”