Mayhem MVP Felicity Gregory (#7) in action against Sheffield in Sunday's match (Photo by @haganovaphoto) |
Sunday 16th July – British Para Ice Hockey League
Mayhem 0 – Sheffield SteelStings 4
The Mayhem sledge team put in a spirited performance in their final home game of the regular BPIHL season but lost out 0-4 to the Sheffield SteelStings at Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday.
The Widnes based side have been without a number of key players this season and it has always been looked upon as a period of transition, with an eye on rebuilding for next year.
Despite the eventual scoreline, this was actually a very entertaining game to watch with lots of end to end action. The Mayhem matched their visitors in terms of puck possession for long periods but were just not able to make their chances count in front of goal.
The first period played out goal-less, leaving the Mayhem fans with some hope of seeing their team pick up their first win of the season.
However, Sheffield’s numerical advantage began to pay off in the second period and they finally opened the scoring in the 17th minute.
It took another 8 minutes until the next breakthrough and, once again, it fell to Sheffield who doubled their advantage and took a 0-2 lead into the second period break.
Darren Pomfret once again put in a superb performance in the Mayhem net and did well to keep the SteelStings attack at bay but two quickfire goals for Sheffield in the third period within 34 seconds of each other finally put the game beyond the home side’s reach.
The result meant that Sheffield were confirmed in the remaining spot in the end of season Play offs – much to the delight of their sizeable and very vocal travelling support – while the transitional Mayhem will finish bottom of the 5-team league table irrespective of what happens in their one remaining game.
They now have a long wait until 20th August to play their final game of the regular season away to the other Sheffield based team, the Steelkings.