Manchester Phoenix 0 Nottingham Panthers 2 by Nigel McFarlane

After the fireworks, the damp squib. Following Friday's heroics and a classic win against Sheffield, the Jekyll and Hyde Phoenix surfaced again with a disappointing performance against league title hopefuls Nottingham.

Manchester never really got going in the first period, and going into the game missing two forwards through injury (Mike Morin and David Kozier), their cause was not helped by star striker Miroslav Skovira, who got himself thrown out after just six minutes.

Skovira had been swapping insults away from the play with Panthers' Mikko Koivunouro, who then threw a backhand. Skovira then reacted inexplicably by upending the Finn from behind with his stick, earning himself a 5 plus game penalty.

The rest of the period began to resemble a shooting practice session for Nottingham, who were simply too big and powerful for a smaller Phoenix team to handle. Phoenix man of the match Jayme Platt stopped some big shots, but could do nothing about David Struch's classy marker on 11 minutes.

The period continued in much the same vein, and no-one was surprised when Panthers' MOM Lee Jinman belted in a second with thirty seconds remaining in the first.

Manchester came out for the second with more purpose, but Nottingham's physical game soon overtook them, and they were forced back into defence again, particularly by Jinman, who tormented the Phoenix defence like a figure skater all night. Platt again turned handstands in the net to keep Panthers out, and without his reflexes the score could have looked like a telephone number.

This was a disjointed performance from Manchester, but their effort could not be faulted. As the game wore on, it was the younger British players who rallied to the cause, with Mark Lovell, Mark Thomas and particularly Jason Hewitt having strong shifts. In truth, though, Manchester never looked like scoring against a well-drilled Panthers side who delighted their riotous 500 travelling fans with two priceles away points.

Panthers' coach Paul Adey was understandably delighted: "This was a tight, defensive game, and there weren't that many chances. We were fortunate that we got the break early on when Skovira was thrown out. That sort of took the sting out of their first line attack and we could capitalise on the advantage."

After the game, Phoenix coach Rick Brebant was effusive in his praise for the younger squad members. "They worked hard all night," he said. "They have not disappointed me all season, and they are often the ones who shine when the going gets tough. They are the ones prepared to crash the net and take a slash or a hit to try and get the goals.

"We seemed to have some guys out there tonight who were playing from their own page, and you can't do that against a side like Panthers. They are an exceptionally hard-working team, and you have to work hard as a team to break them down. We just didn't do that. Skovy apologised for what happened, but that's life. We all make mistakes."

Brebant now has to rally his side for their away game at London on Friday, before returning to the Manchester Arena for a home clash with Belfast next Sunday.