MANCHESTER Phoenix U-10s 2 - 12 Whitley Bay Mischiefs.

The first weekend of the season saw a double-header against Whitley Bay for the youngest Phoenix team.

For eight of the Phoenix players these would be their first ever games of ice hockey and despite the score lines they can be proud of their efforts.

Saturday’s home game started with two early goals for Whitley Bay for Jamie Ord and Finlay Ray which tested Will Soens in his first ever outing between the Phoenix pipes.

The Phoenix first line continued to attack the Whitley Bay net and in the eighth minute Sophie Reeks scored her opening goal of the season from a great pass from Leon Shaw.

Despite Phoenix's best efforts Whitley drove home another two goals from Ord to end the first period 1-4. The second period went all Whitley's way with two more goals from Ord who was making life difficult for the Phoenix second line although Max Sullivan in his first ever game was battling hard.

Despite several breakaways and some great passing, Phoenix were unable to get past Rudd in the Whitley goal and the score at the end of the second period was 1-6.

The third period continued in the same vein with the Mischiefs claiming another four goals with one each for Ord, Ray, Hopkins and Taylor.

The Phoenix never gave up though and in the 58th minute were rewarded with their second goal when Ethan Cassidy found the net assisted by Charlie Ratcliffe.

Whitley's third line then finally broke through the brand new Phoenix third line and Fisher scored two late goals ending the final period on 2-12.

Whitley Bay Mischiefs 9 – 5 Manchester Phoenix U-10s.

Sunday’s return fixture saw an early morning start for the north east coast for the tired Phoenix youngsters – and the daunting task of their first ever road trip to the Hillheads Ice Rink in Whitley Bay.

And boosted by superb travelling parental support, the Phoenix Under-10s showed a tremendous positive attitude and determination to register their arrival on the ice hockey scene.

Whitley opened the scoring again with two goals in the second minute from Taylor and Ord, but that seemed to just spur Phoenix on.

Will Soens in the Phoenix net made some great saves and the first line was unlucky not to score several times.

After Whitley had taken a third goal, Ord again on the mark Phoenix hit back with two of their own from a superb singlehanded break away by TJ Wainwright and Charlie Ratcliffe chipping one in after a great pass from Charlie Ford in only her second game.

After a further goal from the impressive Ord, Whitley had stretched their lead to 4-2 at the first interval. The second period saw honours even with two goals from Phoenix, an unassisted effort from Ethan Cassidy and Charlie Ratcliffe picking up a second helped by TJ Wainwright.

Whitley picked up two more from Ord who again was making the second line work hard. The second period ended with Whitley still ahead by a brace 6-4 and the tension was building as Phoenix came out for the final session determined to continue to improve and fight hard. The pace of the game had really picked up by now and Whitley were clearly frustrated at their inability to score on the Phoenix first line meaning that Jordan Baines and Sophie Reeks came in for some unwelcome attention from their defence.

Despite the obvious tiredness that was inevitably taking its toll and some line change errors, the Phoenix third line superbly registered their presence by scoring the fifth goal courtesy of the stick of Ethan Cassidy. The improvement in the third line from Saturday to Sunday was significant and this line is showing great promise for the rest of the season. Unfortunately, the home side were able to add three further markers to complete a 9-5 final score in favour of the Mischiefs.

The team is now looking forward to another trip to the north east this weekend against Newcastle where they hope to pick up their first victory.