We caught up with Wendy’s Peterborough Phantoms’ Head Coach, Ashley Tait, to get his thoughts on the season so far with the campaign now 20 games old.
Phantoms have had a mixture of results in their opening 20, with nine wins on the board so far this term, including four overtime/penalty shot victories. Coach Tait has been impressed with elements of what he’s seen so far, but also feels there’s plenty of room for improvement with a vast portion of the 2025/26 season still to be played.
“Probably a 'C', to be honest. We just haven’t found the level of consistency I would have liked by now and whilst we’ve played some very good hockey, we’ve also struggled at points.” Tait said.
Tait is in his first season as Head Coach of the Wendy’s Peterborough Phantoms and is enjoying the challenge presented to him: “So far so good. It was never going to be easy when you come in where people are or have been very established but I’m enjoying it.”
Qualification for the semi-finals of the NIHL National Cup is within the Phantoms’ grasp, with two games remaining in the qualification stages. Saturday’s game in Solway is one of those, as is Phantoms’ home tie against Slava Koulikov’s Sheffield Steeldogs on Saturday 6th December.
Tait said: “As a player, you want to win every time you step on the ice. Coaching is no different, albeit how you manage situations has a lot more external influence depending on schedules/injuries etc. Of course, you want to be involved in deciding any trophy at any level.”
The last few weeks have seen a number of debuts and season debuts within the Phantoms team. Alex Rushby, Preston Tombs and Liam Oughton-Shaw have all featured in recent games, whilst Adam Long travelled with the team to Bristol in the absence of Ryan Bainborough and Luke Clark.
Tait is pleased with how the debutants have got on: “I think [they’ve done] pretty well. It’s not easy just to drop straight in and a lot of times it’s guys who are coming from a junior level. The biggest thing for them is getting used to the speed and the fact that they’re now playing against much older stronger guys.”
With 20 games played, Coach Tait now has more of an understanding about his team, their strengths and what they need to work on in order to be as competitive as possible. He’s keen to see an upturn in consistency from his players, in order to win on a more regular basis.
“My goal has always been that we get better every week and find that level of consistency needed week in week out. We need to learn to manage certain things differently but guys have shown they can engage and carry out what’s asked of them. Consistency means picking up points weekly.” Tait said.
Upon joining the Phantoms, Ashley recalled his previous visits to Planet Ice Peterborough and hearing the noise the Phantoms fans brought each week. He’s pleased to now be on the right side of that support and is grateful to hear everyone cheering on the team each week.
“It’s been really good. It’s not something I generally notice as you’re so wrapped up during games, but as we’ve had so many OT/SO games I’ve really noticed it during the more tense parts of the game!!”
Phantoms are next on home ice on Saturday 6th December when the Steeldogs come to town. You can get tickets HERE!