Images (C) Jo Loat
31st March – 2nd April
By Anthony Russell
The final weekend of the season saw the Bison and the Steeldogs mix up their lines and give some ice time to the youngsters but what about the rest of the National Division?
Friday
The Raiders welcomed to Bees to Romford to kick off the weekend and were out to an early lead. Matthieu Gomercic and two goals from Aaron Connolly made it 3-0 after 20 minutes. Two goals from Alex Roberts made it 5-0 early in the second before Dan Rose got one on the board for the visitors. In the third, Jake Sylvester and Harry Gulliver both netted to make it 7-1 before Connolly completed his hattrick in the later stages. Brendan Walkom got the final word, hitting the net in the final minute to win back a bit of pride for the Bees and set the final score at 8-2 to the Raiders.
Saturday
The Bees had the night off on Saturday but the Raiders had the long journey down to Swindon. After a scoreless first period, Sean Easton’s side got the better of the early part of the second as Aaron Connolly and Matthieu Gomercic put the Raiders ahead but the Wildcats tied the game up before the end of the second thanks to Balint Pakodzi and Stevie Whitfield. Gomercic and Chris Jones traded goals but it would be Alex Roberts would give the Raider the 4-3 lead with just over 11 minutes to go. The Wildcats couldn’t find an equaliser to it was 4 points by Saturday night for the Raiders.
It was also scoreless at the World’s Most Versatile Arena as Hull hosted Telford. The Tigers opened the scoring in the second period through Vladimir Luka. Tom Stubley equlaised by a goal from Danny Rose put the visitors back in front. Finley Howells made it 3-1 and whilst Jordan Fisher got one back for Matty Davies’ side, the Tigers took the win and leapfrogged the Bison into 7th spot in the table.
Bristol welcomed Peterborough to The Pound and the two sides put on a goalfest for the fans in attendance. The teams traded goals in the first; Jay Warren, Austin Mitchell-King, Mason Lipsey and Archie Salisbury all finding the net to make it 2-2 at the 20 minute mark. They then did it again in the second period as Nik Coric, Jasper Forster, Caly Robertson and Will Weldon all scored to make it 4-4 after 40 minutes. A second of the night from Robertson and Mitchell-King made it 5-5 but the hosts would end up taking the spoils. A late short handed goal from Lipsey and two late goals from Coric to complete his hattrick pushed the Pitbulls over the line to take the game 8-5.
On Legends Night in Milton Keynes, the Lightning got off to the worst possible start against Leeds as the Knights raced into a 3-0 lead. Two goals from Cole Shudra and one from Mac Howlett gave the visitors the advantage before Tim Wallace found the net near the end of the first. However in front of a whose who of MK hockey royalty, the Lightning turned the game around. Rio Grinell-Parke and Sam Talbot tied the game at 3-3 in the second and a second from Talbot made it 4-3 early in the third. Zack Brooks responded to make it 4-4 but two goals from Liam Stewart made it 6-4 with 11.39 to play. Another Brooks goal got the Knights within one but Wallace’s second of the night made it 7-5 and sent the MK fans home happy.
Sunday
It was not the same the following night when the Knights and Lightning met in Leeds. The Knights raced into another early lead as a goal each from Adam Barnes and Jake Witkowski and two from Matt Haywood made it 4-0 inside 20 minutes. Deivids Sarkanis got MK on the board but that would be the last of it. Keiran Brown made it 5-1 in the second before another 3 goal period in the third. Cole Shudra, Mac Howlett, a second of the night from Brown and a third of the night from Haywood saw the league champions round out their record setting campaign with a 9-1 win over their nearest rivals for the title.
Long a thorn in the sides of many and beloved in Berkshire, James Galazzi took to the ice for the last time as the Bees welcomed Swindon to The Hanger. It was a see-saw first period that saw the hosts lead 3-2 at its conclusion. Goals from Brendan Walkom,Ryan Webb and Josh Smith had them ahead of strikes from Colby Tower and Sam Bullas. The Wildcats would wrestle the lead back in the second as Reed Sayers and Balint Pakdozi tallied to make it 4-3 with 20 minutes to play. Harvey Stead tied the game at 4-4 early in the third period but a goal from Chris Hones as well as goals from Tower and Pakodzi made it 7-4 before Brendan Walkom brought the curtain down on the Bees’ season to make it 7-5 at the final buzzer, Galazzi skating into retirement with a loss but one more assist on his way out the door.
It was not as close a game in Shropshire as Telford welcomed Bristol. It was a close first period as Telford led 3-2 at the end of the frame with goals from Dan Rose, Finley Howells and Rory Herrman putting them over Owen Sobchak and Sean Morris’ strikes. However the Tigers blew the doors off the game in the second. Caly Robertson made it 3-3 and that was the last that the Pitbulls had to say in the matter. Vladimir Luka hit a second period hat trick along with goals from Herrman and Scott McKenzie to make it 8-3 after 40 minutes. Luka then proceeded to score a natural hattrick in the third period to make it 11-3 at the conclusion and send a bit of a message to the MK Lightning ahead of their playoff clash that the Tigers intend to roar in the post-season.
With injuries and issues getting their imports into the country, this season has been one of “what if” for the Hull Seahawks. They travelled to Peterborough and had the Phantoms on the back foot at the end of the first as two goals from Andrej Themar and a goal from Emil Svec had them ahead over the lone goal from Austin Mitchell-King. Glenn Billing made it 3-2 before Themar got his hat trick goal. Ralfs Circenis pulled another back for the hosts but goals from Svec and Chris Wilcox made it 6-3 to Hull heading into the final period. However the hosts responded in the third. Billing and Declan Balmer traded goals but an offensive outburst at the end tipped the scales. Ales Padelek and Lukas Sladkovsky scored to make it 7-6 with less than two minutes to go and Padelek’s second with just 13 seconds to go tied the game and sent it to OT. For all that effort to come back, the visitors had the last word. Former Phantom, Nathan Salem scored the winner to send the Seahawks flying home into the off-season with one last win.
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
