Image (C) Jo Loat
3rd/4th/5th February
By Nigel Simmonds
The Bison’s four point weekend sees the Herd in good form. However what happened elsewhere in the National Division last weekend?
Friday
The weekend started in Peterborough as the Phantoms hosted the Hull Seahawks and the visitors had the early lead thanks to Jordan Fisher. Corey McEwen tied the scores but Nathan Salem had Hull 2-1 to the good at the end of the first. However the Phantoms didn’t take kindly to this and came roaring back. Ales Padelek tied the game before goals from Ralfs Circenis, Lukas Sladkovsky and Leo Markey had Slava Koulikov’s men 5-2 to the good. Hull made a good attempt at a comeback; Jordan Fisher’s goal late in the second and Owen Bruton’s goal in the third made it 5-4 with 11.24 to play but a late empty netter from McEwen kept the points in Peterborough with the 6-4 victory.
Saturday
The Seahawks needed to rebound quickly as they headed to Sheffield on Saturday. The Steeldogs traded goals with their visitors in the first as two goals from Cam Brownley were cancelled out by goals from Sam Towner and Nathan Salem. A scoreless second saw the tie broken in the third when Finlay Ulrick set up Emil Svec and a second from Salem made it 4-2. Jordan Buesa got one back for the Steeldogs but it wasn’t enough as Matty Davies’ side took the points.
In Slough, the Bees got off to the perfect start against the Raiders as goals from Ryan Webb and Will Stead put the hosts ahead in the first and Brendan Walkom made it 3-0 in the second but Blahoslav Novak got the Raiders on the board with 58 seconds left to go in the second. With time running down in the third, Matthieu Gomercic made it nervous for the home fans by making it 3-2 but an empty netter from Stead saw the Bees get a much needed win as they battle to make it towards the playoff places.
It was a battle of the cats in Swindon as the Wildcats took on the Tigers. Russ Cowley and Tomasz Malasinski had the hosts 2-0 to the good at the end of the first. Vladimir Luka pulled one back before Aaron Nell put his side back in control by making it 3-1 after 40 minutes. Rory Herrman made it 3-2 but then the Wildcats put their foot down and put the game to bed. Nell would get a hattrick along with goals for Edgars Bebris and Reed Sayers made it 7-2. Luka’s second of the night made it 7-3 inside the last minute but Sayers’ second of the night ended the game at 8-3.
The Castle in Leeds played host to a big top of the table clash between the Knights and the MK Lightning. A nervy first had the deadlock broken late by Sam Talbot. The Knights got level in the second through Kieran Brown and when Sean Norris found the net, Brown scored again to make it 2-2. It was the Lightning who lead after 40 minutes as Rio Grinnel-Parke made it 3-2. The lead lasted 25 seconds into the third period as Cole Shudra made it 3-3 and Matt Haywood’s powerplay goal made it 4-3. The Lightning were not about to let the game pass them by and a a second of the night from Talbot with 3.51 to go tied the game at 4-4. The two teams needed overtime to separate them and it was the home fans left speechless. Sean Norris’ shot beat Sam Gospel to give Lightning the extra point and keep them in the title race.
Sunday
After their heavy loss in Swindon, the Telford Tigers looked to bounce back against the Bees at home and got off to a great start. Brodie Jesson and Sam Watkins scored early to give the hosts the lead at the first break. The Bees eventually got on the board in the second through Will Stead but Rory Herrman and Vladimir Luka tallied to make it 4-1 at the end of the second. Dan Rose and Lucas Price extended the lead to 6-1 before Brendan Walkom got one back. Finley Howells added to the home fans happiness and whilst a late goal from Dan Bradley took some gloss off the night, 7-3 saw the Tigers get a much needed win.
After their win in Sheffield, the Hull Seahawks welcomed the Steeldogs to the world’s most versatile arena. However it was Greg Wood’s side that got the quick start as Jordan Buesa and Jon Kirk had the Dogs 2-0 up inside 3 minutes but the Steeldogs got one on the board before the end of the first through Nathan Salem. However in the second it was the Dogs who stretched their lead thanks to a shorthanded goal from Ben Morgan and a powerplay goal from Buesa. In the third Jason Hewitt made it 5-1 and Cam Brownley made it 6-1. Emil Svec had the last word as he made it 6-2 but it was a split of the weekend for the Seahaws and Steeldogs.
The Battle of the South-West had its latest instalment in Bristol between the Pitbulls and the Wildcats. The visitors lead 1-0 at the end of the first. Sam Bullas and Chris Jones extended the lead to 3-0 in the second before a late powerplay goal from Bayley Harewood got Jamie Elson’s men onto the scoresheet. However they didn’t have an answer in the third as the Cats cruised to victory. Tomasz Malasinski, Edgars Bebris and Loris Taylor all tallied to make the final score 6-1 to Aaron Nell’s side.
With Leeds not playing, Peterborough needed to get a good result in Romford against the Raiders. Instead the Phantoms got a metaphorical punch to the mouth. Harry Gulliver’s goals in the first and second as wel as goal from Alex Roberts had the Raiders 3-0 up less than three minutes into the second. However all this did was wake up the Phantoms, well, one Phantom. Out of nowhere it became the Ralfs Circenis show; the Latvian born forward scoring twice in the second to make it 3-2 and setting up Jarvis Hunt to tie the game at 3-3 in the third. The game went to overtime where Circenis would prove to be the hero as he hit the overtime winner to complete his hattrick and a superb comeback win for the Phantoms.
That result saw the Phantoms cement third but are level on points with the Lightning following their loss to the Herd. Leeds top the table heading into their game this coming Friday.
