Mustangs hand Adrenaline tenth consecutive home loss

The Adelaide Adrenaline, proudly presented by Hards Transport slumped to their tenth consecutive loss at home, falling 3-2 to the Melbourne Mustangs at the Ice ArenA.

The loss means the Adrenaline have now lost nine one-goal games in season 2016, a frustrating statistic for fans, players and coaching staff alike.

For the Mustangs, the weekend was the perfect result given they sit just one place out of a finals berth and six points was a must for the visitors.

Despite getting maximum points from the trip to Adelaide, the CBR Brave remain nine points clear of the Mustangs in fourth place after also recording two wins at the weekend.

Whilst the finals equation now looks difficult for the Mustangs with only six games remaining, coach Michael O’Flaherty said his side was focused on playing their style and not on what other teams around the league are doing.

“What I was pleased with was the effort that we put in when Adelaide came at us; and they worked us hard, we sort of ground out the win, which was fantastic,” O’Flaherty said.

“We’ve got to not worry about what other teams are doing and just worry about doing the right things ourselves and hopefully results will continue to fall our way.”

The win was a testament to O’Flaherty’s men, who resisted an Adrenaline outfit that came out hard looking to rectify Saturday’s disastrous first period.

“We knew they were going to come back at us after yesterday’s performance and they were up and about and they were up for the challenge,” O’Flaherty said.

Adelaide certainly looked more switched on from the opening puck-drop, managing to control much of the early play despite being forced to kill a penalty within the opening two minutes.

The opening period lacked emotion but was an enjoyable spectacle regardless, with very few stoppages in play as both team traded scoring chances to no avail.

After a scoreless first period, the Mustangs didn’t take long to break the dead-lock with Thomas Steven scoring for the visitors under three minutes into the second frame.

Wehebe Darge levelled the score on the power-play less than five minutes later and the home side were unlucky to not lead after Darren Corstens had a goal disallowed late in the period.

The Mustangs then blew the game out to a two-goal lead, scoring in the final minute of the second period and adding another early in the third.

Once again, it proved a mountain too high for the Adrenaline to climb, who were unable to recover the deficit despite Gabe O’Connor reducing the margin to one goal.

Adrenaline forward Darren Corstens said that despite the frustrations of the continual close losses, the side remained galvanised and felt they were improving with each game.

“It’s hard to pinpoint certain aspects, but I think the guys are just trying harder and harder all the time, we’re trying to really focus on different points each game and try and better that,” Corstens said.

“We’ve got a good coach in Eric Lien and he’s really trying to change the way we’re trying to play and trying to achieve a different outcome.”

Despite the results continuing in the same vain, with tight losses and mental lapses, Corstens was confident the side has shown significant improvement under Lien and the focus would be simply to win their final six games.

“The guys are really trying to get out of those bad habits and focus on a different game style and we’re slowly getting there,” Corstens said.

“Hopefully with the six games we’ve got left we can turn that around and get a few wins.”

The Adelaide Adrenaline, proudly presented by Hards Transport slumped to their tenth consecutive loss at home, falling 3-2 to the Melbourne Mustangs at the Ice ArenA.

The loss means the Adrenaline have now lost nine one-goal games in season 2016, a frustrating statistic for fans, players and coaching staff alike.

For the Mustangs, the weekend was the perfect result given they sit just one place out of a finals berth and six points was a must for the visitors.

Despite getting maximum points from the trip to Adelaide, the CBR Brave remain nine points clear of the Mustangs in fourth place after also recording two wins at the weekend.

Whilst the finals equation now looks difficult for the Mustangs with only six games remaining, coach Michael O’Flaherty said his side was focused on playing their style and not on what other teams around the league are doing.

“What I was pleased with was the effort that we put in when Adelaide came at us; and they worked us hard, we sort of ground out the win, which was fantastic,” O’Flaherty said.

“We’ve got to not worry about what other teams are doing and just worry about doing the right things ourselves and hopefully results will continue to fall our way.”

The win was a testament to O’Flaherty’s men, who resisted an Adrenaline outfit that came out hard looking to rectify Saturday’s disastrous first period.

“We knew they were going to come back at us after yesterday’s performance and they were up and about and they were up for the challenge,” O’Flaherty said.

Adelaide certainly looked more switched on from the opening puck-drop, managing to control much of the early play despite being forced to kill a penalty within the opening two minutes.

The opening period lacked emotion but was an enjoyable spectacle regardless, with very few stoppages in play as both team traded scoring chances to no avail.

After a scoreless first period, the Mustangs didn’t take long to break the dead-lock with Thomas Steven scoring for the visitors under three minutes into the second frame.

Wehebe Darge levelled the score on the power-play less than five minutes later and the home side were unlucky to not lead after Darren Corstens had a goal disallowed late in the period.

The Mustangs then blew the game out to a two-goal lead, scoring in the final minute of the second period and adding another early in the third.

Once again, it proved a mountain too high for the Adrenaline to climb, who were unable to recover the deficit despite Gabe O’Connor reducing the margin to one goal.

Adrenaline forward Darren Corstens said that despite the frustrations of the continual close losses, the side remained galvanised and felt they were improving with each game.

“It’s hard to pinpoint certain aspects, but I think the guys are just trying harder and harder all the time, we’re trying to really focus on different points each game and try and better that,” Corstens said.

“We’ve got a good coach in Eric Lien and he’s really trying to change the way we’re trying to play and trying to achieve a different outcome.”

Despite the results continuing in the same vain, with tight losses and mental lapses, Corstens was confident the side has shown significant improvement under Lien and the focus would be simply to win their final six games.

“The guys are really trying to get out of those bad habits and focus on a different game style and we’re slowly getting there,” Corstens said.

“Hopefully with the six games we’ve got left we can turn that around and get a few wins.”