Riverside Raiders' Rory Sillery receives the MVP award from Blackburn captain Michael Walsh (Photo by Paul Breeze)
Saturday 10th June – Summer Classic Cup: Riverside Raiders 9 – Blackburn Buccaneers 5
The Widnes based Riverside Raiders extended their winning streak to 4 in 4 games in the Summer Classic Cup with a 9-5 win over the Blackburn Buccaneers at Planet Ice Widnes on Saturday.
Despite the eventual scoreline, this was a very close game for much of the time and was played in great spirit throughout.
The Buccaneers actually opened the scoring on 3 minutes but the Raiders equalised with a strike from Adam Jenkins 3 minutes later. The home side edged into the lead 18 minutes with Jenkins’ second goal of the game but Blackburn fought back to level again with 60 seconds and the score stood at 2-2 at the first period break.
The second period was similarly closely contested but the Raiders were able to make more out of their chances. Rory Sillery fired them back into the lead on 23 minutes and the advantage was doubled by David Geroc on 27 minutes.
A hat-trick goal from Adam Jenkins early in the third period put the Raiders 5-2 ahead and they looked to be easing their way to victory. However, a goal for the Buccaneers on 46 minutes sparked a frenetic spell that saw goals follow in quick succession – two for each side - with strikes from Luke Pengelly and Jenkins, again, for the Raiders bringing the score to 7-4.
Jenkins scored his 5th goal of the game on 52 minutes and an eventful last 90 seconds saw a 5th goal for the Buccaneers and last gasp Raiders strike for Rory Sillery just as the final buzzer was sounding.
The resulting 9-5 win meant that the Raiders moved briefly to the top of the Summer Classic Cup table, albeit in the knowledge that they would be overtaken again if the Halton Huskies won their game that followed immediately afterwards.
The Raiders are next in action on Sunday 25th June when they travel to meet the Buccaneers away in East Lancashire, 4.45 pm face off.
