Manchester Storm 0 - 3 Sheffield Steelers

Written by: Charley Longden

Manchester Storm were beaten by Sheffield Steelers for the second time in a week, as the Storm’s dismal run of form continues. The Storm made life difficult for the Steelers for the best part of the match, having 56 shots to the Steelers 42. Unfortunately for the Storm, Steelers goalkeeper Rok Stojanovic was excellent between the sticks, and was pivotal in the Steelers victory.

The match was a must-win for Sheffield Steelers, as they are chasing another league title after winning the league last season. After the first fifteen minutes, the match was well balanced, and poised to be an excellent game. However, on the 17th minute, the Steelers found a breakthrough, and took the lead through Tanner Eberle. The 27-year-old forward has 19 goals and 13 assists in 42 matches this season, meaning he is the Steelers 3rd highest goal scorer so far this season.

The second period of the match was uneventful, with the highlight being the Sheffield Steelers 2-minute penalty as Sam Jones was called for holding. With the score only being 1-0, the Storm were still in the match, and had an excellent chance of upsetting the title holders.

The third period was when the Steelers truly grabbed hold of the match, and in the 49th minute, away side could breathe a sigh of relief as the reliable Robert Dowd put the Steelers 2-0 up. With just over 10 minutes left in the match, the wind was knocked out of the Storm.

The final nail was hammered into the Storm’s coffin when Vojtech Polak scored an empty net goal in the 59th minute, to seal the points for the away side with a stylish 3-0 victory. The Storm were unlucky not to have scored in the match, as Steelers goalkeeper Stojanovic was an immovable object in goal. The Storm had 36 attempts on goal and Stojanovic had the answer for every single one, having a 100% save percentage.

The Storm have had a tough run of fixtures, playing league leaders Belfast Giants and 2nd placed Sheffield Steelers twice in the space of 10 days. The tricky fixture schedule has left the Storm with just one win from their last 4 matches, leaving them 9th in the league, 4 points behind Guildford Flames, with the Flames having a game in hand on the Manchester side.

The Storm will face the Steelers for a third time in the space of a week this Sunday, a chance for Manchester Storm to get some revenge on the title chasing Sheffield side. The match will start at 17:30 (GMT).

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