NEXT HOME GAME: The Go Goodwins Manchester Storm face the Nottingham Panthers at the Storm Shelter in Altrincham, this Sunday 24th January (5pm face-off) in Elite League action. Tickets can be purchased online via the club website, www.manchesterstorm.com, calling the Box Office on Tel: 0161-926-8782.

The Go Goodwins Manchester Storm go into the 2nd leg of their Challenge Cup quarter final 2-5 down to the Belfast Giants, as they struggled to contain the Northern Irish outfit, on a cold Wednesday night at the Storm Shelter.

The Giants were the first on the score sheet after Brandon Benedict shot through a screen of players, causing Zane Kalemba in the Storm net to unfortunately have no chance of saving the first goal. This was then followed up with less than a minute left in the first by the Giants second of the night, another shot through a mass of players in front of the Storm net, from Giants forward, Craig Peacock to go 2-0 up over the Storm at the end of the first period.

Things started out much better for the Storm in the second period, as Luke Salazar was able to convert the man advantage into their first goal of the evening while on the power play. The play during the second, much like the rest of the match, was end to end hockey – with some great chances for both teams. Stephen Murphy in the Belfast net, pulled off some beautiful highlight reel saves to deny the Storm their second on multiple occasions in the scond period, and it was the Giants who netted the next goal, as Mitch Ganzak blasted home just after the halfway mark. A couple of minutes later, Mike Radja was able to net goal number four for the Giants, giving them a three goal lead over the Storm.

The third period saw the Giants go 5-1 up over the Storm early in the period, as Darryl Lloyd hit the back of the net, before Matt Caria score an absolute beauty of a goal for the Storm to cut the deficit to 3. Despite the valiant efforts by the Storm to get more goals on the scoreboard, Murphy was once again pulling off incredible saves to deny them the goal. Final score in the 1st leg, Manchester Storm 2-5 Belfast Giants.

MOM for the Manchester Storm: #10 Luke Salazar

MOM for the Belfast Giants: #71 Craig Peacock