18th/19th February
An OK weekend last time out for the Herd where they didn’t get everything they wanted but certainly got enough. Let’s check out what happened elsewhere in the National Division.
Saturday
The Raiders and the Seahawks met in Romford for the start of their home and home series and it was the hosts who lead first as Alex Roberts scored midway through the first. The visitors drew level in the second thanks to Emil Svec but Harry Gulliver restored the Raiders’ lead in the 35th minute. Blahoslav Novak made it 3-1 in the third but a second of the night from Svec made for some tense final minutes. In the end, Hull were sent home empty handed as Aaron Connolly fired into the empty net to end the game at 4-2.
Over in Swindon, it was the Bees who had the early advantage as Dan Rose’s goal put Dominik Gabaj’s side ahead against the Wildcats. However the hosts were level with just 29 seconds left in the first thanks to Aaron Nell. After the coach tied it for them, the Wildcats’ captain put them in from as Sam Bullas beat Adam Goss to make it 2-1. Chris Jones made it 3-1 but Gabaj’s goal with just under 9 minutes to go made it 3-2. The Bees would pull Goss from the net but Swindon held out for the win.
At Elland Road, Leeds and Telford were locked at 1-1 after one period as Jack Watkins’ goal for the visitors was cancelled out by Mac Howett. In the second the Knights did what has served them well and went into all out attack mode. Cole Shudra, Kieran Brown and a second of the night from Howlett made it 4-1 by the 40 minute mark. The third had a frantic start; Rory Herrman, Jake Witkowski and Scott McKenzie found the net inside the first 5 minutes of the final period to have the score at 5-3. However again the Knights found their other gear as two goals from Jordan Griffin, a second of the night from Shudra and a goal from Adam Barnes blew the Tigers away at the death to make it 9-3 when the final buzzer sounded.
Meanwhile over in Milton Keynes, Devids Sarkanis netted twice and a goal from Bobby Chamberlain had the Lightning 3-0 ahead at the end of the first in the Thunderdome against Sheffield. In the second Ross Green made it 4-0 before Matt Bissonnette got the Steeldogs on the board and a powerplay goal from Jon Kirk made it 4-2 but Sam Talbot found the net to make it 5-2 at the end of the second. Then in the third, the Lightning just went to town. Jack Hopkins, Sean Norris, Milique Martelly, James Griffin and two from Callum Field saw the Steeldogs collapse and the final score end up at 11-2.
Sunday
The following night Sheffield looked to make amends at home against Swindon but the Wildcats lead thanks to a goal from Tyler Plews before Alex Graham tied things up by the end of the first. Balint Pakdozi put the visitors ahead in the second then an outburst of offence in the third from Swindon killed the game. Aaron Nell and two goals from Colby Tower pushed the Cats over the line with a 5-1 win.
Having lost at home to the Bison, the Bristol Pitbulls headed to Slough to take on the Bees in Bees’ defenceman Harvey Stead’s 500th senior game. The Bees did Stead proud as Brendan Walkom and Dominik Gabaj had the hosts ahead 2-0 in the first and Walkom’s second made it 3-0 in the 37th minute. The Pitbulls pushed and pushed in the third but an empty net goal from Juha Lindgren then another from Dan Rose condemed the Pitbulls to a 5-0 defeat.
Having lost narrowly in Essex, Hull welcomed the Raiders to Yorkshire. After a scoreless first, Harry Gulliver broke the deadlock in the second and a goal from Jake Sylvester made it 2-0 however a goal from James Archer with 59 seconds left in the middle stanza. A frantic third period saw the home fans try and will the Seahawks to an equaliser but the Raiders held on.
With Leeds in Basingstoke, the Peterborough Phantoms and MK Lightning met to try and keep the Knights within touching
distance. In the first, Sam Talbot put the Lightning ahead and whilst goals from Ales Padelek and Duncan Speirs put the
Phantoms into the lead, Sean Norris tied the game at 2-2 late in the period. Norris would make it 3-2 in the second but Ralfs Circenis tied the game at 3-3. The teams traded goals again as Talbot’s second of the night made was answered by a goal from
Corey McEwen. Talbot completed the hattrick in the third with 17.11 to make it 5-4 and after losing their cup semi final in
Peterborough, the Lightning managed to hold on and take the points back to the Thunderdome to dent the Phantoms’ title hopes
and keep their own alive.
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
