MATCH REPORT | PHANTOMS RAID ROMFORD IN DOMINANT ROAD WIN

The Wendy’s Peterborough Phantoms made a flying start to their road campaign with a high-scoring victory over the Romford Raiders.

The game opened with early chances for the Raiders, as captain Brandon Ayliffe worked a move in front - which Brad Bowering did well to cut out, before Hayden Lavigne shut the door on a Jake Sylvester-led 2v1 opportunity.

At the other end, it was the Phantoms’ own captain, Luke Ferrara, who forced a save from Cole Ceci, with Janne Laakkonen close to converting the rebound.

Raiders threatened again via breakaways from Tommy Huggett and Jake Sylvester, but Lavigne stood tall to keep the score at 0.

It was a good start for the Phantoms' powerplay, as Shaun Miller’s boarding penalty at 15:51 saw Dillon Lawrence score his first of the evening, circling around the hashmarks and firing low past Ceci at 16:40.

Phantoms doubled their lead early in the second, with Lawrence’s pass towards Ferrara turned past Ceci by a Raiders defenceman at 21:40.

The Phantoms found their rhythm after the second goal, with two more following in quick succession. It was Cam Hough who struck next, finishing a 2v1 through the Raiders netminder at 23:50. Then came Ralfs Circenis, finishing a good move from Hough and Corey McEwen at 24:43, prompting a Raiders timeout.

The lead then grew to five when Morgan Clarke-Pizzo capitalised on some resolute hold-up play from Joe Gretton to finish smartly past Ceci at 32:32.

A high hit on Nojus Venskutonis saw old foes Joe Gretton and Mikey Power drop the gloves on the buzzer - with the Phantoms man coming out on top.

Power and Gretton began the final period in the box, both sitting 5 for fighting. Power served an additional 2 minutes for elbows, leaving the Phantoms on the power play.

Lawrence took full advantage, firing high past Ceci to complete his hat trick for the Phantoms’ sixth goal at 40:35.

With the wind well and truly in their sails, the Phantoms began to push on the counter attack. Circenis sent McEwen through after Joe Tomalin’s effort was deflected wide, while Foster intercepted a Baker pass at centre ice to create his own 2v1 - but both chances went begging.

Lavigne’s shutout was broken when a blue-line turnover allowed Sylvester to fire home at 53:2. Raiders’ celebrations were quickly dulled, however, when Clarke-Pizzo converted his 1v1 effort at 53:30.

Foster returned to the penalty box at 53:58, sitting for delay of the game after sending the puck into the netting. With the Phantoms struggling to clear the zone, it was import Jarrett Baker who rifled home for 2-7 at 54:49.

The final word belonged to Brad Bowering, with an increasingly familiar move rounding off the scoring. Receiving the puck by his own net, Bowering marauded down the ice, dropping a pass to Laakkonen, who found Ferrara. Ferrara threaded the needle for Bowering, whose fast hands beat Ceci for the Phantoms’ eighth and final goal at 57:42.

FINAL SCORE: Romford Raiders 2-8 Peterborough Phantoms

We spoke to Head Coach Ashley Tait post-match, who was pleased with his team’s performance:

“Last week I let the guys play with minimal instructions, tonight was more structured and I was impressed with what I saw on the ice,” he said.

“It was a decent start, we took control - they came back at us a little, but I think we had the better of the first period. There were a few things to improve on - but nothing overly negative - the second period was then where the game was won or lost.”