9th-11th December
By Anthony Russell
Not a good weekend for the Bison as they fell twice across the weekend. We turn our attention to the rest of the National Division.
Friday
The Battle of the South West returned to the Link Centre in Swindon as the Wildcats hosted the Bristol Pitbulls. It was a fast start from the hosts as Chris Jones and Tomasz Malasinski had Aaron Nell’s side 2-0 up inside 7 minutes but they found themselves pinned back as Mason Lipsey, Josh Shaw and Jacob White-Sey made the score 3-2 to the Pitbulls by the end of the first. Colby Tower tied the scores approaching the halfway point of the second but a goal just over a minute later from Jay Warren restored Bristol’s advantage. A goal early in the third from Ed Bradley made the hill tougher to climb for the Wildcats and as they pushed for an answer late on, Mogran Clarke-Pizzo fired into the empty net to seal the 6-3 win for the visitors and keep the South West blue for now.
Saturday
After winning away on Friday, Bristol headed home on Sunday to take on the Bees looking to wrap up a 4 point weekend by Saturday bedtime. The first period ended 1-1 as Owen Sobchak’s opener was cancelled out by Brendan Walkom but the hosts pulled away in the second period as Ed Bradley, Jay Warren and Bailey Hind-Pitcher all found the net to make it 4-1 at the 40 minute mark. In the third, Jamie Elson’s side put the Bees to the sword as Caly Robertson, Mason Lipsey and Jacob White-Sey all found the net to finish the game off at 7-1.
Hull welcomed Telford to the world’s most versatile arena. Declan Balmer had the Seahawks ahead first but it was 1-1 and the end of the opening period thanks to Corey Goodison’s powerplay goal. Andrej Themar gave the hosts the lead back which lasted all the way through the second into the third period when Themar scored his second just 11 seconds into the final stanza. Scott McKenzie pulled one back to make it 3-2 before a shorthanded goal from Sam Towner and a goal from Nathan Salem made it 5-2 and that seemed to be game over. Never count out the Telford Tigers is the lesson we all need to remember though as Jason Silverthorn made it 5-3 then goals from Vladimir Luka and Finley Howells, both with the goalie pulled tied the game at 5-5 and it seemed like Hull had thrown the game away. All hail Andrej Themar however as he converted a penaty shot in overtime to complete his hattrick and send the home fans home happy
After the Red Bull cars sped around Milton Keynes, the Lightning themselves raced into a two goal lead at home against Swindon as Bobby Chamberlan and Liam Stewart found the net in the first. Reed Sayers got the Wildcats on the board in the second before Sean Norris made it 3-1 less than a minute later, Lewis Christie made it 4-1 just after the halfway point of the game and Norris made it 5-1 in the 33rd minute before a goal from Tomasz Malasinski gave Swindon some life heading into the third. However it would be snuffed out by Callum Field and a second of the night from Christie made it a 7-2 final score to the hosts.
The big game of the weekend on Saturday night. It was first met second as Leeds and Peterborough clashed at The Castle. In true Leeds fashion they started quickly as Kieran Brown made it 1-0 after 76 seconds. Peterborough would take the lead through Jasper Foster and Corey McEwen but Leeds lead at the first break as Matt Haywood and Grant Cooper found the net to make it 3-2. The second period though belonged to the Phantoms as goals from Ralfs Circenus and Brad Bowering made it 4-3 to Peterborough, Bowering’s goal coming with 1.52 to play in the middle frame. Brown’s second of the night early in the third made it 4-4 and the teams went to war for the winning goal. The visitors thought they had it as Duncan Speirs made it 5-4 at 55.12 but a late goal from Cole Shudra would send the game to overtime. The extra frame was contested on a knife edge but Shudra again would be the difference maker, beating Jordan Marr with 22 seconds left of the extra frame to seal the win for the league leaders.
Sunday
The cancellation of Raiders and Leeds meant a shorter programme on Sunday.
Peterborough looked to rebound at home against Swindon and got the perfect start as Austin Mitchell-King netted after 68 seconds but Sam Bullas scored in the 9th minute to make it 1-1 at the first break. Bullas’ second of the night had the Wildcats ahead in the second in a closely fought contest. Peterborough would eventually level the game in the third through Tom Norton. 60 minutes couldn’t separate the sides so overtime was needed. The Phantoms were left cursing the extra frame again as Aaron Nell’s goal gave Swindon some much needed points from the weekend and condemned to Peterborough’s second defeat in the extras in as many days.
Telford had the unenviable task of trying to rebound from their loss in Hull by taking on MK in Shropshire. Sam Talbot got the opener for the Lighting in the 6th minute and a shorthanded goal from Liam Stewart a couple of minutes later made it 2-0. The game from there was a back and forth battle of attrition that went all the way to the end. Given the success the night before, Brad Day was pulled for the extra attacker again however there was no such success second time out. It was a shuout for Jordan Hedley and a vital two points for the Lightning in the title race.
Meanwhile Hull made the long journey south to Slough to take on the Bees. A scoreless first period saw the deadlock broken in the second as Nathan Salem capitalised on the powerplay. The league’s bottom two sides but on a close and exciting affair through the rest of the game but someone had to win and the Seahawks were left flying high. Dominic Smith fired into the empty net to not just make it 2-0, not just give Jordan McLaughlin the first ever Seahawks shutout but Hull’s first ever four point weekend.
Anthony Russell is the writer of Banners On The Wall (http://bannersonthewall.wordpress.com) which has covered the Bison and British hockey for the last 11 years. He hosts the BOTW What’s Current Stream, the NIHL’s live show for news and views, Wednesday night at 8pm at Twitter.com/BannersOTW
