Standing ovation for an Invicta side beaten 15-0

When rock-bottom Invicta arrived at Planet Ice with only eight players this was always going to be a massive mis-match.

It wasn’t really a game. It most definitely wasn’t a contest. In fact it was a complete and utter waste of time.

Phantoms struck four times in the opening period, lit the lamp six times in the middle session and added a further five goals in a final period played at pedestrian pace with several forwards withdrawn.

There’s no doubt they could have had many more as well, but head coach Slava Koulikov was at pains to stress that Invicta should not be humiliated.

In fact the Kent club’s small group of available players - netminder Conor Morris, Ondrej Zosiak, Matt Foord, Andrew Munroe, Anthony Leone, Oskars Ancitis, Arran Strawson and Ryan Morgan – deserve huge credit for even taking to the ice.

The award of the man-ofthe-match accolade to their entire team, and the standing ovation as they left the ice, were both richly deserved.

There were nine different scorers for Phantoms during the rout.

Ales Padelek hit a hattrick for the second successive night while Nathan Pollard also bagged a treble.

Big Petr Stepanek struck twice with captain James Ferrara, James White and Martins Susters other senior men to find the net.

Youngsters Jarvis Hunt and Taylor Romeo also joined the party while another junior player, 16 year-old Ross Clarke from Guyhirn, provided arguably the best of the bunch, claiming the penultimate goal with a sizzling shot on the turn.

The victory came complete with a shut-out for back-up netminder Ryan Bainborough who dealt with all 20 shots he faced. Rival goalie Morris had 70 on-target attempts unleashed in his direction.

Corey McEwen puts Phantoms 6-0 ahead.