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| Photo by Geoff White (www.gw-images.com) |
Sunday 18th February 2018 – Challenge Match
Halton Huskies 11 – Whitley Bay Sharks 9
Period Scores: 2-5, 5-1, 4-3
Penalties In Minutes: Huskies 8 – Sharks 6
Match Officials: Ray Ormes & Lee Twell
The Widnes-based Halton Huskies recreational team notched up a sensational 11-9 win in a 20-goal thriller against the Whitley Bay Sharks on Sunday evening. Having trailed 2-5 at the end of the first period, they won both the second and third periods to take the win in what was a highly entertaining and well-spirited game throughout.
The visitors took a shock lead just 90 seconds into the game through Kieran Buckley and Thomas Evans increased their lead with a second goal on 4 minutes.
The Huskies managed to pull level with goals from Michael Parkin on 9 minutes and James Kelly on 13 minutes but 3 goals from the Sharks in the space of two minutes towards the end of the period – from Greg Scott, Buckley again and then Chris Buckley - gave the visitors an impressive 2-5 lead heading into the first break.
The Huskies upped their game in the second period and pulled two goals back – a shorthanded effort by Anthony Hughes after 23 minutes and Jeff Chapman – Watson on 29 minutes. The Sharks edged further ahead again with a hat-trick goal from Kieran Buckley in the 32nd minute but 3 more for the home side – from Chapman-Watson, Nathan Hewitt and Anna Barnett gave the Widnes-based team a narrow 7-6 lead after two periods.
The Sharks tied the score with a Jerzy Jochimek goal just 18 seconds into the third period but 2 goals from the Huskies – from Anthony Hughes and Richard Evans put some daylight between the two teams at 9-7. A strike from Sharks’ Christopher Porthouse on 48 minutes closed the gap back to just one goal but a goal from James Kelly on 52 minutes restored the two-goal advantage of the Huskies. Jeff Chapman-Watson scored his hat-trick goal for Halton to give the Huskies an 11-8 lead with 4 minutes left to play.
However, just 15 seconds later, Chris Buckley scored his second goal of the night for the Sharks to reduce the margin to just two goals. The Huskies defended well to keep out a late surge by the Sharks and, in highly tense final 60 seconds, Whitley pulled their netminder in favour of an extra attacker but it was to no avail and the score remained 11-9 to the home side at the final buzzer.
The Halton Huskies are at home again this Sunday 25th February when they play Sheffield Ice Tigers in a challenge game at Planet Ice Widnes. Face off is at 8.30pm and admission is free.
Full Line Ups & Player Stats:
Halton Huskies:
Anna Barnett(1+0), Anthony Hughes (2+1), Connor Cooper (0+1 2PIM), Daniel Trust, David Simonds (0+1), James Kelly (2+2), James Behan, James Williams, Jeff Chapman-Watson (3+1), John Carter (2PIM), Michael Parkin (1+1), Nathan Hewitt (1+0), Richard Evans(1+0), Stephen Burns (nm) (2PIM), Thomas Jenkins, (+Bench 2PIM)
Whitley Bay Sharks:
Christopher Buckley (2+0 2PIM), Christopher Porthouse (1+0), Greg Scott (1+1 4PIM), Ian Bradley (0+2), Jerzy Jochimek (1+3), Jonathan Robinson, Keith Tinnion, Kieran Buckley (3+2), Lee McVay, Liam Renwick, Martin Honeyman, Robert Davey (0+2), Ronald Ahmed (0+2), Thomas Evans (1+1)
