Jets down Phoenix

SLOUGH Jets maintained their 100 per cent winning record over Manchester Phoenix with a 7-6 overtime win last night.

Blaz Emersic scored five and had a hand in the Jets’ other two goals as they notched up their fourth win over Phoenix this season.

But it could have been so different if Manchester would have kept hold of a 3–1 advantage they had built by midway.

They brushed off the loss of top scorer Ed Courtenay by taking a two-goal lead just shy of two minutes through Adam Walker and Iain Bowie.

Slough rallied through Emersic and had a goal chalked off by the referee before Tony Hand restored the advantage.

Emersic added two more before 34 minutes and, despite Hand putting Phoenix ahead once more, two goals in 28 seconds from Dan Davies and Emersic once more turned the match on its head.

Davies then latched on to an Emersic feed with around eight minutes to go to leave Manchester with a hill to climb.

But the home side fought back grabbing a powerplay marker from Walker before the excellent Robert Lachowicz levelled it up a minute later.

Slough’s Adam Greener took an interference penalty from referee Steve Wardell right on the stroke of full time and that gave Phoenix a man advantage in overtime.

But they never really made the Jets pay for that indiscretion and it was no surprise when the puck was worked to Emersic and he smacked it into the top corner to end the contest

On Saturday Phoenix lost ground on league leaders Milton Keynes with a 2-1 reverse in Basingstoke.

Tom Long and Tony Redmond gave the home side a two-goal margin by the eleventh minute and, despite regular attacks, Manchester couldn’t find a way past former Sheffield goalie Davey Lawrence.

Phoenix fired 25 shots on Lawrence in the second period, but it took until the 50th minute before Andre Payette put them on the board.

More shots rained in but Basingstoke held on to record their first win over Manchester this season.