Steeldogs stand tall to extend unbeaten home record

An EPL double header against Milton Keynes Lightning at the weekend got off to a bad start when Andre Payette’s team went down 3-1, only for them to return home the following night and defeat the same opponents by the same scoreline.

It leaves the South Yorkshire club well-placed to challenge Manchester Phoenix and Slough Jets for the regular season runners-up spot, with leaders Guildford Flames enjoying a seemingly unassailable 10-point lead at the top with only eight games remaining. A win over Telford (7.30pm) will take Steeldogs level on points with Phoenix, with Slough two points behind with a game in hand.

The matches were given added spice after Sheffield had recently edged out the Lightning 1-0 over two legs to reach the final of the EPL Cup against Guildford, the first leg of which will be next Tuesday at Ice Sheffield.

Steeldogs began the encounter in Milton Keynes in perfect style, going into a 1-0 lead in the second minute through Lloyd Gibson.

Payette was forced out of the action shortly before the end of the first after a check to the head and, shortly after the restart, the home side were level through Adam Carr.

That’s how it stayed until four minutes into the third period when Milton Keynes took the lead through Tuomas Tikkanen and added a third late on, despite Steeldogs putting 21 shots on Alex Mettam’s goal.

The following night, Steeldogs exacted swift revenge, getting the better of several physical clashes in a fiesty opening period which saw 80 penalty minutes handed out before they took the lead at 18.53 through Lloyd Gibson.

Janis Ozolins doubled the score at 22.10, assisted by Ben Morgan and Pavel Gomeniuk, and while Lightning pulled one back at 45.58, the prolific Ozolins restored the two-goal cushion at 52.19, extending the Steeldogs’ home winning streak to 12 games.

“We outshot Milton Keynes by 48-28 on Saturday, but still didn’t come out on top,” said Payette. “On Sunday, we managed to gain revenge and iceSheffield is becoming a nasty place for other teams to play in

“We’ve now won our last 12 home games which is something our team can be really proud of.”