Recap

The last time these two teams met was on the final day of the Spring season, a game which Strikeforce won to preserve their Premiership status while sending Phantom down to the Championship. Having bounced straight back with a strong second half to last season, they met again with both teams hoping to get early points on the board in what looks like being a tough Premiership.

Blake Reynolds gave Phantom the lead in the 8th minute, but Chris Espley quickly levelled things up for Strikeforce. A double from Jimmy Leeson gave Phantom a two goal lead, and though Espley got his second 4 minutes before the break to reduce that lead back to one, Paul Wilkinson scored a minute later to make it 4-2 at the break.

Wilkinson scored again a minute after the restart, and Callum Jones made it a 4 goal lead two minutes later as Strikeforce started the second period very sloppily. Joey Carruth did pull one back for them again, but almost immediately Jones scored again to make it 7-3. Wilkinson grabbed his third with 15 minutes left, and though Matty Aked pulled another back from Strikeforce a minute later, they quickly conceded again through Max Paterson’s close range finish. An unfortunate injury to Strikeforce’s Mike Garratt meant that any chance they had of a late comeback were over, with Leeson switching sides to end the game. He scored one against his own team, along with another from Espley, while Wilkinson added another couple himself to complete a Phantom opening night win.