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| Sam Plant (#87) was Raiders' MVP against Wyre Seagulls photo by David Law Photography |
Period Scores: 5-0, 2-1, 0-2
Penalties in Minutes: Raiders 69 – Seagulls 12
Raiders Scoring: Gez Evans 2+0, Jack
Walker 1+1, Sam Plant 1+1, Adam Jenkins, Jordan Birtwistle, Mike Teinert all 1+0,
Peter O’Mahoney & David Priestley 0+1
Seagulls Scoring: Matthew Duncan 2+0,
Tom Murphy 1+0, Liam Hogan 0+1
MVPs: Raiders – Sam Plant / Seagulls – team award
in memory of #7 Rob Craig
Match Officials: Chris Wells & Josh Humphreys
The Widnes-based Riverside Raiders won
through to the Play Off final of the
Puckstop Summer Classic with a 7-3
semi-final win over Blackburn-based Wyre Seagulls at Silver Blades Widnes on Sunday.
The home side
took the lead as early as the 2nd minute with a well taken goal by
top scorer Gez Evans and then doubled the advantage 4 minutes later with a
strike from Sam Plant.
Two amazing
short-handed goals followed within 30 seconds of each – slotted away by Jack Walker
and Evans, again, while Dave Priestley was sitting out a 2 minute holding
penalty, and the Raiders were 4-0 up with just 10 minutes played.
A goal by
Mike Teinert after 15 minutes rounded off the scoring for the first period and
the Raiders looked to be in a commanding position at 5-0 ahead.
The Wyre
Seagulls found their feet in the second period and managed to stem the flow of
goals. With several former ENL players
in their ranks, they closed down the Raiders’ attacks and began to look much
more dangerous going forward themselves. Despite the shift in momentum, it was the home
side who scored next with yet another shorthanded goal – this time by Adam Jenkins
who fired home just before the half way point of the game.
After going
close on many occasion, the visitors finally managed to find the net in the 35th
minute when Matthew Duncan opened their account with a fine unassisted goal,
although the fightback didn’t last long as Raiders’ Jordan Birtwistle restored
the 6-goal advantage less than a minute later.
There was no
more scoring in the reminder of the period and the score after 40 minutes’ play
stood at 7-1 to the Raiders.
The Raiders thought they had scored again within minutes of the start of the third period but the goal was waved off for a man in the crease.
The third period
as a whole was very robustly contested by both teams and saw numerous penalties
handed out – mainly to Raiders players as they tried to keep the resurgent
Seagulls at bay.
A match penalty
and a 5+game were awarded during a frantic few minutes which saw as many
Raiders players in the penalty box as on the ice at one point and it was,
therefore, no great surprise when the Seagulls scored a powerplay goal – Matt
Duncan’s second of the game – in the 57th minute.
With just a
minute left in the game, Wyre’s Tom Murphy scored the Seagull’s third goal, taking
advantage of a delayed penalty call on the Raiders, to round off the scoring
for the night.
The result
sees the Raiders go through to the Puckstop Summer Classic Play Off Final which
will take place at iceSheffield on Sunday 20th August – full details
to be confirmed.
*****
The Widnes Wildcats picked up their second
win of the Summer Cup competition with a 6-2 victory over Grimsby Lightning.
The result sees them move off the bottom of the group table, leapfrogging Solihull
Vikings, and keeps them in contention for a play-off place as they have games
in hand over all the other teams.
*****
Next weekend sees a veritable feast of
ice hockey at Silver Blades Widnes starting off on Saturday night – at the rather
late face-off time of 10.15pm when the Halton Huskies take on Newcastle
Predators in a challenge game.
Then on Sunday, the Wildcats are at
home in the Summer Cup, face off 4.30pm and after that, sledge hockey - or Para
Ice Hockey as it is now known – comes to Widnes as the Manchester Mayhem team take
on the Peterborough Phantoms in a battle for league positions and a place in
the play offs.
That game faces off at 6.30pm and
admission to all games over the weekend is free.
Photo by David Law Photography - see more great photos HERE
Photo by David Law Photography - see more great photos HERE
