27th/28th/29th January
It has been a busy week in the National Division. It was a productive weekend of the Bison with two massive wins on the quest for the playoffs. It’s time to look at the rest of the division.
Friday
We now know who will compete for the first trophy of the season as Friday saw the finalists for the National Cup decided. Leeds suffered a scare at home against the Sheffield Steeldogs as the Knights’ three goal lead was chipped into early on. However the Knights never got quietly and roared back to secure their place in the final winning 5-3 on the night and 10-5 on aggregate.
After their 1-0 win in Milton Keynes, the Peterborough Phantoms knew they needed something special to hold the Lightning’s vast firepower at bay. MK had levelled the tie on aggregate just after the half hour mark and the game became even more nervy than previously. With 2.58 to go in the game, the crucial moment fell to the stick of Phantoms’ defender Scott Robson who managed to sneak the puck past Jordan Hedley to give the Phantoms the aggregate lead back. The Lightning threw everything at Jordan Marr’s net but an empty netter with 3 seconds to go ended the tie.
Saturday
After mixed fortunes on Friday, it was top of the table clash in MK on Saturday night as the Leeds Knights headed to town. The visitors were ahead early as Matt Haywood found the net before a powerplay goal from Liam Stewart tied the score at 1-1 at the first break. Haywood’s second of the night gave Leeds the lead back. Callum Field levelled the scores at the half hour mark and whilst Tom Barry’s goal restored Leeds’ advantage, Bobby Chamberlain levelled the game at 3-3 in the 35th minute. Having beaten the Knights in MK before, the hosts fancied their chances and took the lead in the 49th minute through James Griffin. However the Lightning’s weekend got worse. Late penalty trouble cost the Lightning and with Gospel pulled, Leeds equalised as Kieran Brown scored with 53 seconds to go. In overtime, it was more back and forth by a hattrick goal from Haywood saw Ryan Alridge’s side take the extra point.
Having lost the to Knights, Sheffield looked to rebound at home against the Raiders but got off to a bad start as the hosts were a goal down at the first break thanks to a Sean Barry goal. Never one to be counted out, the hosts were level early in the second through Lee Bonner and two goals early in the third sealed the game for Greg Wood’s side. Alex Graham and Cam Brownley found the net to make it 3-1 and Sheffield shut the door to send the Raiders back to Romford empty handed.
The Bees headed west to Wiltshire to take on the Swindon Wildcats at The Link Centre. It was a good start for Aaron Nell’s men, the Wildcats’ player/coach scoring 36 seconds into the game and Balint Pakodzi doubled the lead before the first break. Things reversed in the second as Pakodzi scored then Nell and a powerplay goal from Tomasz Malasinski made it 5-0 in the 33rd minute. James Galazzi got the Bees on the board with 90 seconds left in the middle frame but Chris Jones’ near instant reply made it 6-1 and ended the game as a contest. Luke Jackson and Brendan Walkom added consolations for the visitors but 6-3 was the final score.
In a game that Bison fans were keeping a very close eye on , Bristol welcomed Telford to the south west. The Tigers had the better start as Vladimir Luka and Rory Herrman scored inside the first 5 minutes. The Pitbulls tied the scores as Jay Warren and Bayley Harewood found the net but Herrman’s second of the night had the visitors 3-2 ahead at the first break. Momentum and the lead would swing back to the Pitbulls early in the second as Reece Kelly and Caly Robertson beat Brad Day in short order to made it 4-3 after 40 minutes. Robertson’s second of the night made it 5-3 early in the third but a strike from Finley Howells and Herrman’s hattrick goal made it 5-5 with 13.55 to go. However the Pitbulls would grind out the win. Warren’s second of the night in the 50th minute proved to the game winner and an empty net goal from Harewood with 15 seconds to play saw the game end 7-5 to Bristol.
Sunday
After their win in BS10, the Bristol Pitbulls headed to Sheffield for the latest Puppy Bowl encounter with the Steeldogs. Mason Lipsey put the visitors ahead but the Steeldogs punished Bristol for their imposition. Cam Brownley, Lee Bonner, Vlads Vulkanovs, Alex Graham and Lee Haywood all scored to make it 5-1 and whilst Nik Coric got a second for the Pitbulls, 5-2 down at the end of the first put Jamie Elson’s men behind the 8 ball. It didn’t get better in the second as Jason Hewitt found the net twice and a second of the night from Bonner made it 8-2 with 20 minutes to play. Sheffield swapped Dmitri Zimozdra for Charlie Henry in net for the third and whilst the Pitbulls won the period 3-1, two goals from Josh Shaw and one from Elliot Lewis to a goal from Brownley, 9-5 as a final score saw the points stay firmly in Yorkshire.
After losing in Basingstoke on the Saturday. Hull got off to a good start in Romford against the Raiders as Emil Svec put the Seahawks ahead in the first and he made it 2-0 in the 26th minute. The hosts had a response however and goals from Alex Roberts and Mikey Power tied the score at 2-2 after 40 minutes. In the final frame Matthieu Gomercic made it 3-2 to the hosts and a late goal from Aaron Connolly put the game to bed at 4-2 for Sean Easton’s men.
After Saturday off, Peterborough looked to made a good weekend great by taking on Swindon. However it was the Wildcats who did the damage on this night. Reed Sayers goal late in the first made it 1-0 and Chris Jones doubled the lead in the second. Brad Bowering got the hosts on the board but goals from Loris Taylor and Tomasz Malasinski saw the Polish international stretch his lead at the top of the point scorer’s chart a well as give the Wildcats a 4-1 win on the road and a 4 point weekend.
Leeds had a tricky trip to Telford to round out their weekend and took the lead through Kieran Brown before Tom Carlon levelled the scores. The Knights would take the lead back as Cole Shudra scored on the powerplay and Zack Brooks made it 3-1 by the first buzzer. Brooks would add a second of the night early in the second would make it 4-1 before Vladimir Luka pinned the Knights back to 4-2. Jake Witkowski responded to make it 5-2 and Mac Howlett made it 6-2. In the third a second from Luka made it 6-3 and Rory Herrman made it 6-4 to make things nervy but another goal from Brown and another from Witkowski put the Tigers to bed. An 8-4 win for the Knights helped cement the Knights at the top of the table and the losses for Telford and Bristol combined with the Herd’s win in Slough meant Bison and Knights fans ended Sunday with a smile on their face.
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
