The first period saw both teams involved in an end to end
game. Widnes took the lead at 5.25 when presssure in the Nottingham end saw
Chris Preston and Geoof Wigglesworth feed the puck to Ken Armstrong for a tap
in at the right post. Despite plenty of possession, the final pass was just
missing for Widnes. Strong forechecking from the Lions forwards made it
difficult for Widnes to break out. Nottingham equalised at 13.06, when a
breakout down the right saw Connor Glossop take a pass and beat Greg Ruxton in
a one on one. In the last two minutes of the period Filip Supa and Shaun
Dipnall both went close to restoring the Wild lead.
In an evenly contested start to the second period errors in
defence nearly cost both teams dearly, Ruxton and Hovell both making key close
range saves. Overseas star Ivo Dimitrijevs was causing lots of problems for the
Wild defence. In a Wild breakaway, the home side regained the lead when a
fierce shot was blocked by Hovell but the puck bounced out to Filip Supa, who
fired home to give Wild the 2- 1 lead. A spell of dominance saw some
constructive attacking from Wild. In the 37th minute Ben Brown broke clear for
Wild but his final shot was well saved. In the last two minutes of the period,
several key saves from Ruxton kept Wilds slender lead.
With just a goal separating the teams, spectators were
treated to an enthralling ,end to end, third period contest. Ruxton kept the
Nottingham forwards at bay but in three attacks, first Supa with an attempted
tip in, Brown and Pollitt with a shot that rattled the post all came close for
Wild. After a great Caunce breakaway and shot in the 54th minute Nottingham
broke to the other end and Greg Ruxton made a stunning glove save to keep Wild
in the lead. After a Lions time out, Nottingham drew their netminder Hovell and
within seconds, the Wild trio of Caunce, Supa and Dipnall had engineered an
opening on the right for Shaun Dipnall to tap into an empty net at 59.17 to put
Wild 3 - 1 ahead.This was a hard won victory, with Pollitt, Caunce, Supa, Brown and Dipnall all working hard to ensure a Widnes victory. Greg Ruxton took the MVP for Widnes - repeatedly foiling the Lions forwards. A hardworking young Lions made it difficult to bring the puck out of defence and again a number of good chances were spurned.
Report by Dick Gillingham
Photo: Widnes netminder Grex Ruxton receives the MVP award. Photo by Geoff White - www.gw-images.co.uk
