Sunday overtime pays off

PHANTOMS 3 SWINDON 2

An explosive top-of-the-table clash came complete with an epic finale as Peterborough Phantoms claimed the scalp of their biggest title rivals on Sunday.

The city team triumphed 3-2 against Swindon in an overtime thriller at Planet Ice to extend their advantage at the NIHL Division One South summit to two points.

Glenn Billing was the man to provide sudden-death glory and settle a game that had it all . . . high quality, huge entertainment and some horrendous refereeing.

The joy was also coupled with a sense of relief that such a crucial contest was settled by a moment of class from one of the many fine players on show rather than decided by official Deana Cuglietta.

She was happy to allow a stack of indiscretions – including some crude early hits from Swindon - to go unpunished but then felt the need to gift the Wildcats a five-onthree powerplay in the dying moments of the third period with two calls which could only be described as innocuous (a Tom Norton tripping offence) and unfathomable (Scott Robson penalised for delay of the game when he and the puck were trapped at the boards by a gaggle of Wildcats men).

The latter incident sparked outrage from the Phantoms coaching staff while import Ales Padelek earned himself a misconduct penalty which meant he took no further part in the fixture, but they channelled their frustration into a rousing defensive effort with brilliant backing from the stands helping them to the buzzer and a guaranteed share of the spoils with the sides deadlocked.

And one point became two in overtime with Robson fittingly having a hand in the game-winning goal as he fed Billing who finished brilliantly to earn his side a four-point weekend and four points against their biggest rivals across the last two weekends.

Earlier Phantoms were briefly behind in the first period as a penalty carelessly picked up for having too many men on the ice was punished by Toms Rutkis, but they responded quickly and with quality as a fine Padelek pass was finished superbly by captain James Ferrara.

Ferrara finished on a powerplay to make it 2-1 but Swindon levelled as Adam Harding was left with time and space to finish following a turnover of possession.

Chances were at a premium in the final period when Ferrara was denied a hattrick by a super save in a delayed penalty situation.

Referee Deana Cuglietta was a controversial figure.