5th-6th November
By Anthony Russell
After the oddest weekend for the Bison for some time, let’s look at the rest of the NIHL National Division.
Saturday
It was Pitbulls and Steeldogs in Bristol. The hosts took an early lead, a mad scramble in front of the Sheffield net sat Mason Lipsey get the last touch to make it 1-0 but the scores were tied at the end of the first as Matt Bissonnette set up James Spurr for the backdoor tap in. The teams battled through a scoreless second and the third saw the game continue to go back and forth. Lipsey would get a second of the night with less than 4 minutes to go but an error behind the Pitbulls net gave Spurr his second of the night with 91 seconds to go, sending the game to overtime. However the extra point would head up the motorway to Yorkshire as Vlads Vulkanovs beat Will Kerlin to make it a 3-2 final score.
The M4 derby graced Saturday evening in Swindon as the Bees travelled to the Wildcats. The Bees stunned the home fans into silence as Juha Lindgren scored after just 30 seconds and it was 2-0 to the visitors at the end of the first thanks to a goal from Brendan Walkom. The Wildcats would tie the game up in the second as thanks to goals from Balint Pakodzi and Tomasz Malasinski but a second goal from Walkom made it 3-2 in the 34th minute. Having done similar to the Bison the previous Saturday, the Bees stung the Wildcats as they held on through a veritable kitchen sink being thrown at them to take the points.
Telford got off to a good start at home against Hull as Finley Howells scored just 66 seconds into the contest and Vladimir Luka made it 2-0 in the 4th minute. Luka would get his second of the night to make it 3-0 before the end of the first. Having finally got one of their imports into the country, Hull were left in disbelief as Emil Svec was given a match penalty for a check to the head in the 24th minute, Luka getting his hattrick goal to make it 4-0 before Sam Towner got one back for the Seahawks late in the middle frame. It took the Tigers a while to get their 5th, Jason Silverthorn scoring in the 49th minute before a second of the night from Howells made it 6-1 put the game to bed.
The big game of the weekend was in Milton Keynes on Saturday evening as they welcomed Leeds and the fans were not disappointed. Adam Barnes put the visitors ahead before a shorthander from Tim Wallace tied the scores. Zack Brooks put the Knights ahead 47 seconds into the middle frame. Grant Cooper made it 3-1 before a Deivids Sarkanis strike got the hosts within one. However the Knights went on a run; a second from Barnes, one from Archie Hazeldine and one from Finley Bradon made it 6-2 forcing a timeout from the hosts. From there, it all gets a bit movie like. Halden Barnes-Garner got one back before the second buzzer to make it 6-3 and the Lighting would not be denied as Sarkanis’ second of the night made it 6-4 at 39.44. The Knights held on for most of the third but with time running out, the hosts found a way. Liam Stewart’s powerplay goal had them within one and James Griffin’s late goal tied the game at 6-6 to send the game to overtime. The two teams went back and forth in the extras but someone finally found the gap in the armour of the Knights. With 35 seconds to go, Tim Wallace beat Sam Gospel to hand Leeds their first loss of the season.
Sunday
After their first loss of the season, Leeds welcomed Bristol to Elland Road in a battle of two teams looking for a three point weekend. The Knights were in no mood to muck about as Cole Shudra and Kieron Brown had the hosts 2-0 up inside 9 minutes. Matt Haywood made it 3-0 by the end of the first period as the Knights had 25 shots in the first 20 minutes. The second didn’t start better for Bristol as Shudra and Brown both hit their second of the night for 5-0 inside 24 minutes and forcing the time out. Zack Brooks made it 6-0 in the third period before the Pitbulls finally got a goal through Mason Lipsey. The hosts would end on the high though as Brown hit his hattrick goal to make it a 7-1 final score.
Meanwhile MK headed to the Hanger to take on the Bees and picked up where they left off the night before as Deivids Sarkanis gave them the early lead but Brendan Walkom made it 1-1 moments later. Tim Wallace would give the Lightning the lead back and Sam Talbot would make it 3-1 before Will Stead got the Bees within one. Sarkanis would get a second of the night in the second period and it would be 4-2 heading into the final frame. Milique Martelly would get his first National Division goal early in the period but a quick response from Juha Lindgren and then a second from Walkom made it 5-4 with quarter of an hour to play. The visitors however would find the extra gear to get the victory as Jack Hopkins and Callum Field found the net to make it 7-4 at the end.
Swindon had the long journey to Hull in an attempt to get over their loss at home. The world’s most versatile arena was a happy hunting ground for the Wildcats who got themselves in front thanks to Loris Taylor’s 14th minute strike. The Wildcats had a penalty shot saved by Jordan McLaughlin in the first but the visitors extended their lead in the second as Tomasz Malasinski and Aaron Nell both scored to make it 3-0 at the second break. Two goals from Chris Jones in the final frame gave Swindon the 5-0 win and a solid shutout performance for Renny Marr.
A nicely rested Raiders side welcomed Telford to Romford. The Raiders have been in good form recently and continued in that vein as Mattheiu Gomercic made it 1-0 before promising youngster Tjay Anderson 2-0 and and the equally on form Adam Laishram made it 3-0 by the first buzzer. The Tigers got on the board early in the second through Bayley Harewood but Gomercic answered almost immediately to make it 4-1. A powerplay goal from Mikey Power and a strike from Aaron Connolly made it 6-1 before Brandon Ayliffe made it 7-1 before Louis Molyneux got one back for the Tigers. The third was pretty much a formality though a late Lucas Price goal for the visitors would only take off a bit of the shine for the Raiders with the 7-3 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
