Images (C) Jo Loat
21st/22nd January
By Anthony Russell
It was a bad weekend for the Herd as they failed to repel the Raiders. It’s time to look at the rest of the National Division.
Saturday
After a smash and grab raid against MK in the first leg of their cup semi-final, Peterborough travelled to Ice Sheffield to face the Steeldogs. The hosts were 1-0 up at the end of the first thanks to Lee Haywood but the Phantoms came roaring back in the second as Glenn Billing and Lukas Sladkovsky found the net. In the third Duncan Speirs made it 3-1 and a second from Sladkovsky made it 4-1 with 17 minutes to play. Vlads Vulkanovs got a late consolation for the Dogs but the Phantoms took the two points.
Swindon welcomed Hull to the Link Centre. The game started in familiar fashion as Tomasz Malasinski got the Wildcats in front before the inevitable rule of hockey occurred and former Wildcat, Emil Svec tied the game for the Seahawks. Sadly for the Seahawks, Swindon have two of the top scorers in the league and if one doesn’t score then the other likely will. A goal in the second and one in the third from Aaron Nell put the Wildcats over the line with a 3-1 win.
The Bees and Tigers met in Slough as the race for the playoffs continues to heat up. Finley Howells put Telford in front but the Bees wrestled the lead back as Brendan Walkom scored twice before the end of the first. Scott McKenzie levelled the score at 2-2 just before the halfway mark of the game but Walkom’s hattrick goal had the hosts in front at the second buzzer. The Tigers spent the third period looking for a way back, the Bees looked to put the game to be and with 77 seconds to play there was an answer. Rory Herrman, fresh into the roster from the Cardiff Devils was the one to get the puck over the line and send the game into overtime. The Tigers had a goal washed out in the extra frame and a shootout was needed. It went back and forth but eventually Vladimir Luka would get the all important goal to give the Tigers the points.
Milton Keynes welcomed Bristol for the first of their home and home series for the weekend. To say this was a goalfest was an understatement. The Lightning raced to a 6-0 lead in the first before Nic Coric got one back for the Pitbulls. Coric did get a second for the visitors but unfortunately that made it 8-2 and it was 9-2 at the end of the second. The pace didn’t ease up in the third and eventually the Lightning ran out 15-2 winners. Bobby Chamberlain got a hattrick and there were goals from Tyler Nixon, Deivids Sarkanis (2), Liam Stewart (2), Hallden Barnes-Garner (2), Ed Knaggs, Milique Martelly, Sean Norris and Sam Talbot(2). Player/coach Tim Wallace had 5 assists on the night.
Sunday
The Pitbulls and Lightning renewed hostilities the following night in BS10 hoping for a better result. It didn’t start well though as Liam Stewart made it 1-0 and it was 2-0 just before the first break thanks to Sean Norris. Norris tallied his second of the night in the 28th minute to make it 3-0 and Sam Talbot made it 4-0 by the 40 minute mark. The Pitbulls got on the board just 20 seconds into the third as Jay Warren broke the shutout but the Lightning kept their hosts at bay to take the 4 point weekend off the back of a 19 goal weekend.
Telford looked to build on their win in Slough as they took on Sheffield at home. The Tigers started well as Scott Mckenzie struck twice in the first 10 minutes before Jason Hewitt got the Steeldogs on the board. The visitors would tie the game up in the second through Lee Bonner and took the lead through Alex Graham before Brodie Jesson levelled the game at 3-3 just before the half hour mark. The teams battled through the third and the visitors edged in front as a second from Graham made it 4-3 with just over 6 minutes to go. The Tigers pushed for the equaliser but the puck instead fell to Graham who fired into the empty net for a 5-3 Steeldogs win.
Peterborough and the Bees would battle it out in Cambridgeshire and it was the hosts who got going first. Ralfs Circenis struck twice along with a goal for Martins Susters had the score at 3-0 after 20 minutes. Glenn Billing made it 4-0 early in the second and whilst Brendan Walkom got the Bees on the board, Austin Mitchell-King made it 5-1 in the 38th minute. The Bees staged a small comeback in the third as Josh Martin and JJ Pitchley scored to make it 5-3 but an empty netter from Billing finished the game off at 6-3.
Swindon and Leeds met for the latest instalment of the Nell-classico at The Castle. The first was a tight affair, the deadlock broken with 22 seconds to go as Sam Zajac found the net. Tomasz Malasinski tied the game in the second but a goal from Kieran Brown and two from Cole Shudra made it 4-1 and the end of the second. Zack Brooks made it 5-1 and then Swindon decided to roll the dice. With a powerplay with 6 minutes to go, they pulled the goalie. Instead of mounting a comeback, Matt Haywood fired into the empty net for 6-1 with 4.38 to play. There was still time for Carter Hamill to find the net for 7-1 to complete the rout and keep the Knights 1 point behind MK with 3 games in hand.
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
