COVENTRY, UK – The first day of what promises to be a very entertaining EPL playoff weekend got underway at the Coventry Skydome on Saturday with the two semi-final games. The first match-up saw the underdog Swindon Wildcats take on the newly crowned EPL Cup winners, the Guildford Flames. It was clear from the moment the puck dropped that everyone in the Skydome arena apart from the Flames fans wanted to see the Wildcats secure an unlikely victory, and the Swindon players responded by putting some early pressure on Mark Lee in the Guildford net. However, it was Chris Douglas in the Swindon goal who was forced into the first big save of the game, as he dived across his net to deny a Guildford shorthanded breakaway in spectacular style. As the game wore on, Guildford stamped their authority on it with their effective dump and chase game, and took the lead just before the seven minute-mark when import forward Nathan Rempel, a playoff winner last season with Peterborough, burst down the right wing and unleashed a wristshot past Douglas. The first period ended 1-0, and Swindon had Douglas to thank for the close scoreline, as he made several superb saves throughout the period, while the Flames did an excellent job of blocking Swindon’s shots and disrupting their passing. In the second period, Swindon finally started to get going offensively, with import forward Danilics forcing an excellent glove save from Lee. Just as the Cats looked to be coming into the game though, Guildford doubled their lead. The puck bounced clear to Gary Clarke in the slot after a messy passage of play, and the ex-Milton Keynes sniper made no mistake, slapping it into the top corner. Just over two minutes later the game looked out of site for the Wildcats, as Clarke doubled his tally to make it 3-0, with a slapshot into the bottom corner this time after an exhilarating period of end to end action. Swindon didn’t lie down and die though, and came out in the third period all guns blazing. After just 2.27 of the period, top British forward Aaron Nell reduced the deficit with a well-placed wristshot after good work from Kohut behind the net. Shortly afterwards Nell added another to make it 3-2, with a snap-shot that found the top corner, again after excellent work from Kohut. That is where the Swindon comeback ended though. Rempel scored his second for Guildford on a two-on-one after an excellent pass from Melicherik, and after the Flames hit the bar, Ricky Plant slotted a fifth through Douglas’ legs. The game finished 5-2, a deserved result for the Guildford side who controlled the game and defended excellently, though credit must go to Swindon man-of –the-match Chris Douglas, who made a number of astonishing saves and kept the scoreline down. The second semi-final was between Manchester Phoenix and Slough Jets, and it turned out to be a tight and hard-fought game. It started at breakneck speed, with several hard hits flying in early. The teams traded early penalties, and while the Jets played a strong and effective fore-checking game, Manchester probably had the better offensive pressure, and they eventually went ahead with a powerplay goal from James Neil. Neil slotted home at the back post after an excellent cross-crease pass from Britain’s aging superstar Tony Hand. Less than a minute into the second period though Slough leveled the score. Slava Koulikov received the puck at the blueline, deked outside a Phoenix defenceman and fired an inch-perfect slapshot over the glove hand of Steve Fone in the Manchester net. Slough’s Peter Jasik almost put his side ahead shortly afterwards, as he went coast-to-coast, beating several Manchester players before firing a shot at Fone, who made a good pad save. What turned out to be the winning goal came 3.55 into the third period, when Slough’s captain fantastic Blaz Emersic was put in on a breakaway by an excellent pass from Peter Poljacek. Emersic deked Fone before lifting a back-hander into the roof of the net. For the remainder of the game Slough defended brilliantly, protecting their netminder Gregg Rockman and using the boards well to clear. Andre Payette produced several big hits for Manchester as he tried to get his team going, but the Phoenix just couldn’t break Slough down in the end, as the Jets sealed a 2-1 victory. The Jets now progress to the Sunday final where they will play Guildford, in what should be an entertaining season finale. Contact the author dave.lambert@prohockeynews.com
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