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| The Riverside Raiders and Trafford Thunder teams after the charity game in aid of the Christie Hospital Charitable Fund (Photo by Paul Breeze) |
As well as helping to raise money for a very worthy cause, the game also acted a warm up for the Raiders’ Summer Cup games which will be staged at the Widnes rink during June and July.
After very even and closely contested opening phase, James Kelly put the home side ahead in the 8th minute and Jordan Birtwistle doubled the advantage just 49 seconds later.
The Thunder pulled a goal back early in the second period but Jack Walker restored the two-goal cushion for the Raiders on 25 minutes. Another Trafford goal narrowed the gap again but three unanswered goals from Mike Parkin, Kelly again and Daniel Trust handed the home side a 6-2 lead at the second period break.
Trafford pulled the game back to 6-3 with a quick goal just 7 seconds into the third period and then the Raiders’ Mike Parkin added his second goal of the game while being pushed into the goal net on top of the Trafford netminder. This caused a bit of discussion on the ice but the match official adjudged that the puck had crossed the line before the net had come off its moorings.
That rounded off the scoring for the game and the Raiders were able to celebrate a 7-3 victory over their local rivals. With a raffle, cake sale and bucket collection, the sizeable crowd generously helped to raise over £450 for the Christie Hospital Charitable Fund.
The Riverside Raiders are next in action on Sunday 9th June when they take on the Deeside-based Flintshire Phantoms in the Summer Cup at Planet Ice Widnes. Face off is at 4.30pm and admission is free.
MATCH DETAILS: to follow
