MATCH REPORT | ALL TO PLAY FOR IN THE SECOND LEG

It’ll be a winner takes all encounter in Sheffield next week as the Phantoms and the Steeldogs battled to a hard fought draw in the First Leg of the National Cup Semi-Final.

Phantoms welcomed Scott Robson, AJ Herring, Preston Tombs and Corey McEwen back to the lineup, but Tom Norton, Brad Bowering, Ralfs Circenis and Alex Rushby were amongst the absentees.

Steeldogs, meanwhile, utilitied their Steelers connection with the inclusion of Cole Shudra - with the Steelers forward having iced once for the Steeldogs in cup competition this season.

Phantoms had some good early openings and chances they maybe should’ve taken - Morgan Clarke-Pizzo had one of those after being found on the back post by Cam Hough, but fired his shot over the crossbar.

Luke Ferrara and Dillon Lawrence also went close, but it was the Steeldogs who took the lead through CJ Garcia, who popped up on the back post to tuck his shot beyond Hayden Lavigne.

And a similar play proved to be Phantoms’ undoing again a couple of minutes later, as Shudra found Liam Steele ghosting in to double the visitors advantage.

But Phantoms continued to create some good openings and were unfortunate to go into the first intermission two behind, with Jasper Foster, Ferrara and Lawrence all testing Brady Parker’s resolve before the buzzer.

Their persistence paid off in the opening minute of the second period when Lawrence gained the zone and ripped his shot into the far corner from the left circle to cut the Steeldogs’ lead down to one.

And with 25:59 played, we had a brand new game. With Phantoms on the powerplay, Laakkonen, Ferrara and Hough went tic-tac-toe and Hough converted from in close.

Phantoms’ tails were well and truly up by now and captain Luke Ferrara gave them the lead with 27:53 on the clock. It was a nice play which saw Corey McEwen find Lawrence in the left circle and he sent a lovely pass across the crease for Ferrara to score.

Phantoms’ third line of Foster, Louie Kynaston and Barni Sari then embarked on a brilliant shift of their own with all three buzzing around the offensive zone. The shift saw Kynaston and Foster go close, before creating a chance for Sari - a one timer which almost picked out the top shelf.

But the Steeldogs are no pushovers and tied the game again at 31:18 when Shudra sent the puck out in front and Kyle Watson was on hand to prod the puck into the back of the net.

The setback didn’t get the Phantoms down though and they bounced back quickly. When Liam Steele turned the puck over on the Dogs’ offensive blue line, Sari sent Ferrara in on a breakaway and he applied the kind of finish which has seen him become Phantoms’ all time regular season top scorer.

Phantoms started fast again in the third period and thought they’d extended their lead to two, but the goal was washed out with the referees’ whistle having already sounded.

Lavigne continued to stand tall at the other end and made a double stop to deny Jonathan Phillips and Ben Morgan with a matter of seconds.

The Steeldogs’ latest leveller came in frustrating circumstances for the Phantoms, a shorthanded marker from Shudra, who broke forward and slapped his shot into the far corner.

Chances continued to come at either end - Phantoms went close when Scott Robson sent Ferrara and Lawrence on a two-on-one but after Ferrara found Lawrence, Parker produced a fine stop to deny Phantoms a fifth.

At the other end, Watson and Shudra linked up again, but Lavigne got across well to deny Shudra’s effort on the back post.

It remained 4-4 through the closing stages, meaning it’s all to play for in the second leg in Sheffield next week.

FINAL SCORE: Peterborough Phantoms 4-4 Sheffield Steeldogs