Manchester Phoenix 8 Basingstoke Bison 3

Hot shot Michal Psurny helped Manchester Phoenix's league season explode into life with a huge win over Basingstoke Bison on Sunday night. The Czech forward bagged a hat-trick as Phoenix put five goals past Bison in an electrifying third period of a game that had looked out of Manchester's reach after 20 minutes.

Phoenix came into Sunday night's game in second from bottom place in the league, following a 3-1 defeat away at Bracknell Bees on Saturday

They started brightly, taking the game to Bison and forcing Dean Skinns into a couple of early saves, but the Bison defence looked strong and kept the Phoenix at bay. Bison were still dangerous on the break and when Tomas Karpov scored for Bison on 11 minutes, it was a bitter blow. Phoenix looked like a team lacking confidence after that, and it was no surprise when Bison doubled the lead two minutes later through Michael Wales.

Phoenix displayed a steely determination when they came out for the second period, and their hard work paid off with two quick goals to level the tie. Robin Kovar scored the first on 26 minutes, and Frantisek Bakrlik levelled the game two minutes later. It looked like all the hard work had been for nothing when Ciaran Long skated through the Phoenix defence to put Bison back in front just before the half way mark, but it took less than half a minute for Michal Psurny to bag the first of his goals to make it 3-3. 

But Phoenix were a side transformed in the final period, as they demolished an increasingly undisciplined Bison side. Tony Hand fired Phoenix ahead on 42 minutes, and Adam Walker put daylight between the teams three minutes later to make it 5-3. Psurny bagged another on 52 minutes and a minute later Ben Wood followed that up with possibly the goal of the evening, as he cut in from the right hash marks and deked Skinns before flicking the puck high into the gaping net to make the score 7-3. With just over two minutes left, man of the match Psurny made no mistake for his hat trick goal and Phoenix’s eighth of the night to end the match with a resounding 8-3 victory.

Michal Psurny said after the game: “We all worked hard as a team tonight and showed what we can do. The fans were fantastic tonight and this win was for them.”

Phoenix are next in action next weekend with a double header. They play a Challenge Cup match against Solway Sharks on Saturday at 7:00pm and follow that with a home match against Guildford Flames on Sunday 16 November.