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| The Riverside Raiders and Halton Huskies are locked together at the top of the Summer Classic Cup table (Photo by Haganovaphoto) |
The fascinating Widnes-based tussle at the top of the Summer Classic Cup table continued at the weekend as both the Riverside Raiders and Halton Huskies teams won away games over Hull and Blackburn respectively.
The Raiders travelled to Hull and back on Saturday and came home along the M62 with a 2-9 victory courtesy of goals from Andrew Birch (2), David Geroc (1+1), Eemeli Vuorihovi (2+2), Rory Sillery (1+0, and hat trick from former Sutton Sting junior and current Manchester university player Frederick Talbot-Berube (3+2) on his debut. Alain Barthelemy (1), Shaun Sillery (2) and Luke Pengelly (1) all added assists.
The game was actually a lot closer than the final scoreline suggests and Raiders netminder Ian Thirkettle was on fine form to keep out all but 2 of the 31 shots that he faced.
The Huskies came back from East Lancashire with a 2-6 victory over the Blackburn Buccaneers on Sunday that keeps them narrowly ahead in the overall table.
They took the lead after just 83 seconds and were leading 0-4 by the time Blackburn managed to finally get off the mark early in the second period.
The Buccaneers gave as good as they got in this game and actually outshot the Huskies by 54 to 47 overall but Adam Darbyshire in the Halton net put in an excellent performance to keep them at bay. A late exchange of goals before the second break and a 6th strike for the Huskies early in the third period rounded off the scoring for the game.
The Halton Huskies scorers were Matt Kohler (2+1), Jake Berry (2+1), Edward Ridding & John Buckell (both 1+0) and Nathan Hewitt (0+4).
The weekend wins for both teams see them move further ahead at the top of the Summer Classic Cup table. The two Widnes based sides have 3 wins each but the Huskies have an extra point from an overtime loss against the Raiders, after the match finished as a draw in regulation time. The Raiders have a game in hand and the two teams will clash again on 1st July in what might well be the cup group decider.
Before that, they still have other games to play and both the Raiders and Huskies are at home this Saturday 10th June in a tantalising double header at Planet Ice Widnes.
The Raiders take on the Blackburn Buccaneers, face off 4.15pm, and the Huskies play Hull Knights straight afterwards, 6.30pm start. Admission to both games is free for spectators – as is parking.
