Match Report | Phantoms Dominant in Bristol To Take The Points

The WALDECK Peterborough Phantoms travelled to Bristol on Saturday to avenge their previous visit to the Pound.

Determined to undo previous mistakes, the Phantoms battled hard from the beginning, with Nathan Salem making chances at Pitbulls goalie Tommy Nappier’s net - 24 seconds into the game Louie Kynaston also wound his stick up at the goalie, the puck rebounded and found Joe Gretton who swept it home, opening the scoring for the Phantoms.

Cam Hamill and Sean Morris both had chances against Phantoms goalie Hayden Lavigne but Janne Laakkonen and Scott Robson intervened in the duo’s plans. Wanting to extend their lead: Zaine McKenzie, Austin Mitchell-King and Luke Ferrara all took shots at Nappier, but the period ended with a one-nil lead.

1 minute and 2 seconds was all Ferrara needed to secure the second goal for the Phantoms; Brad Bowering ignited the attack when his rebound shot found Ferrara. Ben Davies and Ewan Hill tried to seek revenge when they stormed Lavigne but the goalie denied the pair. Cameron Hough and Robson more successfully emulated, as Robson shot from below the blue line and Hough guided the puck into the net.

Callum Buglass became a versatile defenceman when assisting Lavigne in net after Lavigne was left on the ice, whilst also sticking to his main role, he halted Mason Lipsey’s shot at Lavigne by blocking his shooting lane. Pitbulls’ newest import Mitch Walinski was handed a hooking penalty, the Phantoms took this opportunity to rocket another puck behind Nappier in the form of Duncan Speirs - following this goal, the Pitbulls called a timeout but they didn’t score any goals for the rest of period.

While Nojus Venskutonis sat a hooking penalty, Bowering became a nuisance to Bayley Harewood and Elliot Lewis, working hard on the penalty kill unit. Hamill tried to replicate the play against Mitchell-King, seconds later Mitchell-King led a breakaway.

Entering the third period 0-4, the Phantoms were hungry for more; Laakkonen found Hough sitting on the edge of Nappier’s net, Laakkonen made a quick pass and Hough completed the play scoring the fifth - less than 30 seconds later Mitchell-King capitalised on an empty space in Nappier’s goal, having being drawn out by Salem, unhappy with conceding six goals Nappier quit the game and he was replaced by young Harry Thomas.

Harewood sat two for holding, allowing Speirs to find Tom Norton below the face-off circle, Norton rocketed the puck past the fresh goalie. Similarly to earlier in the period, the Phantoms only needed 13 seconds to score their eighth goal, this was completed when Kynaston shot at Thomas from below the blue line, going under the goalie’s arm.

Norton, Salem, Hamill and Dylan Webb all sat two for unsportsmanlike conduct, soon after Venskutonis also two for tripping, leaving the Phantoms a player short; the Pitbulls took advantage of this as Harewood scored their first goal at 50:40. This late start for the Pitbulls lit a fire underneath them and Rhys Smethan shot a puck past Lavigne. Despite a shift in momentum, the Phantoms prevailed as Hough completed his hat trick when completing a play provided by Ferrara.

Final Score: Bristol Pitbulls 2-9 Peterborough Phantoms