Well yesterday was big game day as we hosted the current league leaders & multiple league winners the Kingston Kestrels. This was bound to be tough.
1st period we were on fire, we started fast and never gave the Kestrels a second to settle, pinning them in their area and keeping the pressure on relentlessly, to a man we were playing well. Eventually our pressure paid off and we took the lead through Gary Farmer scoring from an extremely tight angle.
The Kestrels slowly came back in to the game and started piling pressure on to us. Then all of a sudden we were hit by a couple of bizarre penalty calls. The Ref who had a very tough job on for the day being on his own required eyes in the back of his head. The Kestrels were not happy to just have a knock about, they were putting everything in to this and wanted to lay a marker, they wanted their title back and with some experienced players they were using every trick in the book to intimidate and take the upper hand. With #13 Gary Farmer in the penalty box and Kestrels now at full steam the screw was being turned. Then I (#46 Darren Brown) got the first of 2 odd penalties, for T’ing it didn’t feel like I had done anything different from a lot of the other guys but the call was made and away I went. 3 on 5 the Kestrels were sure to equalise.
Somehow with some amazing defending from the guys left on the ice we held on until the penalty box was cleared out. It seemed the hockey gods were looking down on us and it wouldn’t be the last time in this game.
With both teams back to full strength and the fight for superiority swung back and forth. Once again a penalty was called and the Phantoms were down to 4 men on the ice. However this time with a quick counter attack, Gary Farmer struck again taking us to 2-0 in the period. One more clear chance came when I played a sublime pass, with a deft lob lifting the puck over everyone and dropping the puck just on the half way line and sliding clear of any defenders, Gary Farmer was through and with only the keeper to beat he smashed his shot off of the crossbar & bouncing clear preventing any 2nd chance falling his way. With only a few minutes left on the clock that’s how the period would end, 2-0 to the Phantoms.
2nd period we knew Kingston would come out all guns blazing, and they did pining us back in our half for long spells with us countering on the fast break on several occasions with one dubious call for an off side when we were clear through and only the keeper to beat. Kestrels continued to pile on the pressure and a couple of brilliant double saves by #8 Rob Gaze preventing #7 Ian Warner from opening the Kestrels account. Once again Rob came through a few minutes later as he produced another brilliant series of saves from #4 Matt Woollias. Things were getting tight and the Kestrels closer to, our net was living on the edge of being breached but for Rob being in top form. Another break away saw us go close to making a third goal. Some excellent work from Tyler behind the Kestrels net sliding the puck perfectly in to my path and a first time slap shot sailed inches wide of the top right corner of the kestrels net. 2nd period finished goal less but for some outstanding saves and a spot of good fortune, end of the 2nd period and scores remained at 2-0 to Phantoms.
Third and final period got underway and things seemed to even out as both sides competed for control of the game, both having to dig deep as tiredness due to relatively short benches didn’t allow for many changes. the game seemed to swing end to end and both sides struggled to hang on to the puck for any length of time. Then what could have been a real turning point in the game began to unravel. A 50/50 challenge between Gary Farmer & Ian Warner resulted in Gary seeing another 2 mins in the penalty box for what appeared to be a nothing challenge. With 5 mins left on the clock this was going to go down to the wire. 1 Goal from kestrels and they would have their tails in the air and extra air in their lungs, we had to hang on and keep it simple, see the clock out and do nothing stupid. Then another dubious call - a shot from Simon Berry and I automatically put my arms up in a natural reaction to protect myself… play went on a few seconds and the puck broke loose and was played out of the area. The Ref made a call that left the home team and support dumbfounded. “2 mins penalty for #46 High sticks”, which was later changed to another T’ing! I made my way to the penalty box bewildered. The penalty stood and Phantoms were once again down to 3 against 5 with only 4 minutes left to play. Once again the Hockey gods were looking down on the home team and some absolutely brilliant defending & goal keeping would keep the score at 2-0 when the final whistle blew.
Game over Peterborough Phantoms 2 Kingston Kestrels 0. This game could easily have gone either way, as it was a great team performance by the home team was enough to edge it and bring us level on points with league leaders Kestrels only we have a game in hand which we play away in Manchester in a weeks time on the 14th June. Another tough game as we will be missing two of our most influential players as Tyler & Gary fly off to celebrate their engagement, a finer couple you could not meet, have a lovely trip boys and don’t forget your rainbow flag.
My final words today are for the Kestrels, thanks for the great games fellas, that’s the toughest match I’ve played in the BSHA league and I look forward to the reverse fixture in a few short weeks… Bring it on boys.
dazza #46
