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| Photo by Peter Sheffield - www.psd-images.co.uk |
A huge crowd of over 700 watched
a thrilling game that saw the Wild take a 3-1 lead into the first break only to
be overhauled by the title chasing Dragons who made it 4-5 after two periods. A 3-2 period for the Wild with the GTG goal
coming with just over a minute to go left the nerves on edge and Dragons’ fans
reaching for their calculators to see if the result was enough to hand them the
title.
Before the game, most of the talk
had been about the Dragons needing to win to secure their first league crown since
1994 (Flintshire Freeze won the ENL North title in 2004) but little thought had
been given to the effect that a draw would have on the league standings what
with a draw being a comparatively rare result in an ice hockey match.
As it turned out, the shared
points mean that the Dragons cannot be overtaken by Widnes and are now confirmed
as Laidler Conference champions.
Widnes are favourites to take
second place and contest the home and away Promotion Play Off game with whoever
finishes second from bottom in the Moralee Conference but they are still looking
over their shoulders as third place team Nottingham Lions – who won 1-2 away at
Altrincham Aces last night - could still catch them.
