Storm 3 Belfast Giants 1

GIANT Mike Torchia turned somersaults to help Manchester Storm topple champions Belfast Giants at the M.E.N Arena last night (Sunday).

The 16-stone netminder was simply sensational as Storm chiselled out a great victory against the team with the sharpest attack and meanest defence in the league.

Torchia was saving shots on his back, with his legs and from every conceivable angle as the newly crowned champions set out to prove that, while the Superleague trophy is already theirs, they are still playing every game as though their lives depended on it.

But the game was far from being one-way traffic as, for every save Torchia made, Mark Cavallin made a stop for the visitors.

And the game remained in the balance until the very last minute, when Trevor Gallant's empty net goal sealed it for the Storm.

'Awesome'

''That was ecstatic. It was awesome and it was also well-deserved,'' said Russ Romaniuk, scorer of the crucial second goal.

''It's been building up for a long time. We managed to right our ship by beating the lower clubs in the league but we took a giant step forward tonight by beating a class team.

''The first five or six shifts they took it to us but we weathered the storm. Then we put it together and it was great to win like that at home.''

Amazingly the game was goalless for 30 minutes despite a catalogue of chances for both sides.

Belfast broke the deadlock with Jason Bowen finally breaching Torchia's defence, but Storm refused to capitulate and levelled the game after 46 minutes through Ivan Matulik.

Defensive problems

Storm went down to just three recognised defencemen when Kayle Short got injured with, but despite the handicap they took the lead with just five minutes to go when Mark Bultje sent in Romaniuk to score.

Belfast withdrew Cavallin with a minute left - leaving Gallant the chance to seal the points.

Victory put Storm back on track after a disappointing 4-2 defeat in Sheffield on Saturday and they are back in action in Ayr on Wednesday.

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