DMUK Widnes Wild Women - The Season So Far

Katie Fairclough is the Wild Women's
leading points scorer so far this season
(Photo by Paul Breeze) 

The DMUK Widnes Wild women’s team also find themselves in the bottom half of the league table at the end of the calendar year with two wins from their 6 league games this season so far.

They have won both of their home games by a comfortable margin – beating Grimsby Wolves 5-0 and Kingston Diamonds 10-2 - but an unfortunate run of 4 defeats in 4 consecutive away games has left them with a lot of catching up to do in the second half of the season.

Katie Fairclough is the leading points scorer thus far for the Wild Women with 6 goals and 5 assists in 6 games while Preston Gennoe is just behind with 8+2.   Katya Oliver – a new player on the team this season  – weighs in with 1+5 in third.

The team to beat so far this season is Caledonia Steel Queens, who are a new team to the league, based in Edinburgh. The Wild Women lost 10-1 in the first ever WNIHL league match to be played in the Scottish capital and the Steel Queens have a 100% record of 4 wins from their 4 games played.  Leeds Roses are in second place with 3 wins from 3 games 

The Wild Women’s first game of the new year is on Sunday 7th January, when they take on the Whitley Bay Beacons at Planet Ice Widnes, 4.25pm face off.  The Beacons are currently third in the league table with 3 wins and 1 defeat from their 4 games to date and this is a game that Widnes will be keen to win in order to keep their season’s hopes alive.

Widnes Wild Academy Mid Season Round Up

Widnes Wild Academy Under 16 team (Photo by Paul Breeze)

The Widnes Wild Junior Academy has had a busy season so far, with 6 separate teams operating in different age groups – at Under 18, 16, 14, 12 and 10 level.

The Wild Academy Under 18 A team are in 7th place in the 8-team U18 North Division 1 league table with - at the turn of the year  - 1 win from 4 games. The sole victory to date came from a 3-4 win away at Manchester Storm

Their leading scorers are Luke Alston – who had also iced for the Wild NIHL team this season – and Cody Ogden, both with 6 points from 4 games.

The Wild Academy Under 18 B team are 7th in the 11-team U18 North Division 2 with 2 wins from 6 games, having beaten both Deeside and Grimsby at Planet Ice Widnes. Their highest scorer so far this season is Jared Knowles with 15 goals and 1 assist.

The Under 16 team are in 5th place in the 11-team U16 North Division 2 with 3 wins and 1 draw from 9 games.  These have been home wins against Billingham and Nottingham, an away win at Sheffield and a draw at Billingham. 

The Under 14 team are playing Division 2 North this season and are currently in 5th place in an 11-team league.   They have 5 wins from 8 games and are unbeaten at home with victories over Billingham, Coventry and Deeside. On the road they have picked up away wins at Blackburn and Leeds and the only big defeat they have suffered all season was a 13-1 mauling away at runaway league leaders Kingston Sharks. 

The Under 12 team sit proudly on top of the U12 North West Division hoping to defend the league title that they won last season.

They have 7 wins from their 9 games so far this season but are being stalked by second place Solihull who are unbeaten so far and have games in hand. Both of the Wild defeats have come at the hands of the Barons juniors – 0-8 at home and 9-1 away – so Widnes will be relying on other teams to knock the Midlanders off their stride in the second half of the season.

The Wild Academy also have an Under 10 team who don’t play in a league but take part in regular multi-team tournaments.

The Under 10s play shortened games in a “cross ice” format where they play across the width of the ice rink rather than skating the whole length  – so as to focus more on developing skills such as puck control, positioning and passing.

Each cross-ice tournament involves 4 teams playing once against each other and each team hosts a number of these over the course of the season. Games are played for fun with no scores or player statistics being recorded.

After a short festive break, the Wild Academy teams return to action this Saturday 6th January when the Wild Academy Under 16 and Under 18B teams both have home games against Sheffield at Planet Ice Widnes, starting at 4.20pm. Admission is free for spectators.  The Under 12s are away in Manchester the same day, face off 4.15pm

The Wild Academy are always keen to recruit new players across all age groups from Under 10 to Under 18 and hold training sessions on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at Planet Ice Widnes.

Separate “Learn To Play” sessions are also available for anybody new who would like to take up the sport. For more information, contact Academy Head Coach mike.gilbert@wildacademy.co.uk

Widnes Wild NIHL Team Mid-Season Round Up

Wild NIHL Head Coach Joey Coulter wearing the Halton Haven Hospice charity shirt (Photo by Ste Cunningham / Shots By Ste)

The Widnes Wild NIHL team have ended the calendar year of 2023 in a rather uncustomary position in the bottom half of the Moralee Division table, with just 6 wins from their 19 league games to date.

They are in 7th place in the standings – or third from bottom, depending on how you look at it  – a healthy 4 points ahead of second bottom Sheffield Scimitars and 5 ahead of bottom club Nottingham Lions.  However, they are also 7 points adrift of 6th place Hull Jets who, at present, look like the only team they have a realistic chance of overtaking.

It is a testament to the many achievements of the club over the years that this is the first time since 2014 that they have occupied the bottom half of the table at the midway point of the season.  But past glories don’t win matches and player coach Joey Coulter will have his work set out for him if the Wild are to improve on their current standing over the rest of the campaign.

To be completely fair to the coach, the team has suffered a lot from injuries this season – along with other upheavals - all of which have made it difficult to ice a consistently settled side.

Matty Barlow –who was the team’s leading points scorer during the early part of the season - missed 7 games through injury and Rhys Edwards and Andrew Hopkins were also out at the same time for 11 and 10 games respectively.

Edwards also had a two game ban for fighting and summer signing Damarni James missed 10 games due to an EIHA suspension for an incident in the home game against his former team Blackburn back in September.

To fill this gap, the Wild team have relied heavily on the use of younger players on 2 way deals with other clubs but, with a number of these players coming from teams in Scotland, and also having to fit in with their other teams’ commitments, that solution has also presented its own set of problems in terms of logistics and availability.   

Regarding results, the Wild have won just two of their league games at home so far this season  – against Whitley Warriors and Nottingham Lions - and they also picked up an entertaining 10-8 win over local rivals Deeside Dragons in the M56 Cup. 

They have actually fared better on their travels with 4 wins from their 10 away games – at Sheffield (twice), Nottingham and Blackburn - but that has been partly down to the fixture list pitting them against the “easier” opponents earlier in the season, whereas they have already played both their home games for the season against the tougher opposition of Whitley and Billingham.  

On a positive note, the stand out player of the season so far would have to be netminder Luca Tessadri. The 18 year old former Chelmsford netminder joined National Division Leeds Knights at the start of the season and has been playing with the Wild on a 2 way arrangement that has seen him share the goaltending duties with Harrison Walker, Phil Pearson, Jake Lowndes and Gabriel Lingard.  He has put in a number of impressive performances which have led to the Wild holding on to win a match – or keeping the score down in games that they have lost.

Joey Coulter is the Wild’s top overall points scorer in the league at this midway stage of the season with just 2 goals but an impressive 11 assists, although he is quite a way behind the Moralee Division’s overall leading scorer – Solihull Barons’ Niklas Ottoson - who has 34+28. Mikey Gilbert is second in the Wild rankings with 5+7 but Kyle Carruth leads the way in terms of goals with 6+1. 

The Wild NIHL team resume their season with back to back away games on Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th January when they have trips to face Hull Jets and Solihull Barons respectively. They are next at home on Saturday 13th January when they entertain Solihull at Planet Ice Widnes, 7pm face off.

Connah's Quay Cobras face Phantoms In Summer Cup Opener

Connah's Quay Cobras Captain Evan McKinney

The Connah’s Quay Cobras play their first game of 2024 this Saturday 6th January with a tantalising Deeside derby tussle against rink-mates the Flintshire Phantoms at Deeside Leisure Centre – 4.30pm face off.

This game represents an exciting new chapter in the Cobras’ short history as - almost exactly a year to the day since their first ever first ever training session together – they have taken the bold step of entering the Elite Section of the 2024 Ice Hockey Summer Classic Cup. 

This involves playing home and away against the other teams in a “round robin” preliminary group, with the top two finishers qualifying for the play offs in Sheffield later in the summer.

As well as the two qualifying games against Flintshire, the Cobras will also play against Trafford Thunder, Blackburn Falcons, Newcastle Predators and last year’s Development Section treble winners Riverside Raiders in a group campaign that will stretch into the summer months.

Saturday’s game will be a tough test as the Flintshire Phantoms are a well established side at Deeside and have an impressive past record in the Summer Classic Cup. They won the Western Conference in the last pre-Covid lockdown competition back in 2019 and qualified for the Play Offs in 2023 where they narrowly lost out to eventual treble winners Don Valley Vikings in the semi final.   

The Cobras’ lineup features an exciting mix of former Deeside juniors, traditional rec players and a number of former league players with NIHL experience, including Chris Keating, Sam Krempasky, Kenny Williams & Sam Plant (all Deeside Dragons), Kieran Clarkson (Bradford and Altrincham) and Stewart Cutting (Slough Jets) and they go into this game on the back of a 5-game winning streak in challenge matches.

Looking ahead to Saturday’s game, Cobras coach and team manager Scott Dutton said: 

“This has been by far the most requested and anticipated game since we started in January. The game is on a Saturday at a fantastic time so we are expecting a bigger than usual crowd. Both sides will be looking to take the win as this is the first game of the Summer Classic Cup and the winners will also be the early stage cup group leaders. 

“We will be looking to put out the strongest team we have ever fielded, so it is sure to be an exciting game played in a fast and skilful way - one not to miss!”

The Flintshire Phantoms v Connah’s Quay Cobras Summer Classic Cup game faces off at 4.30pm this Saturday 6th January at Deeside Leisure Centre and admission is free for all spectators.

Coming Next At Widnes

The Wild women’s end of year festive fancy dress scrimmage – photo by DMUK Widnes Wild Women 

Unlike the Elite League or the NIHL National Division, the Widnes teams don’t have any matches scheduled over the festive period 

The Wild NIHL team resume their season with back to back away games on Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th January when they have trips to face Hull Jets and Solihull Barons respectively. They are next at home on Saturday 13th January when they entertain Solihull at Planet Ice Widnes, 7pm face off.

The first competitive ice hockey action of the new year at Planet Ice Widnes takes place on Saturday 6th January when the Wild Academy Under 16 and Under 18B teams both have home games against Sheffield, starting at 4.20pm. Admission is free for spectators. 

The DMUK Widnes Wild women’s team are at home on Sunday 7th January when they take on the Whitley Bay Beacons at Planet Ice Widnes, 4.25pm face off.

They finished off the year with their annual, light hearted, festive fancy dress scrimmage session and will be back with a vengeance in January when they will be aiming to kick start their WNIHL Division 2 North play off challenge.

Widnes Teddy Toss Donations Distributed

Players and staff from the Widnes Wild club took on the role of Santa Claus for the day as they distributed donated toys to good causes on Merseyside in the run up to Christmas.

The gifts had all been collected at the club’s annual Teddy Toss event, which took place during the Wild’s home game against Whitley Warriors on 9th December. It is part of a world-wide ice hockey tradition and, as soon as the first goal is scored, spectators are invited to throw their soft toys onto the ice where they are then gathered up for distribution.

For health and safety reasons, toys to be given to children have to be new, securely wrapped and undamaged but no donations go to waste as any used or damaged toys are taken to an animal shelter for homeless pets to play with.

In all, 133 soft toys were donated at the Teddy Toss and the recipients this year were Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and Carla Lane Animals in Need, both in Liverpool.

Widnes Wild Players In GB Action

GB Under 18 team against France – photo by Great Britain Ice Hockey.

Widnes Wild’s Rhys Edwards and Kyle Carruth have become the first male Widnes players to play for a Great Britain team after they took part in two Under 18 challenge matches against France.

The two matches had been arranged to help with final GB selection for the Under 18 World Championship Division II Group A, which will be held in Sosnowiec, Poland, next year - but it was always going to be a tough task as France play two divisions higher in the WC structure.

Unfortunately, GB lost both games but Carruth grabbed the headlines when he scored a wonder goal at the end of the first period in the first of the two games.

The goal was unusual as it was what is known as a “Michigan Goal”, where the attacker skates around behind the opponents’ net, lifts the puck onto their stick and guides it into the top corner of the net from close range. It is so called after Mike Legg of the Michigan Wolverines team famously scored such a goal in an American tournament in 1996.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to spur Great Britain on to victory as France went on to win 2-7.

France had taken the lead just 80 seconds into the game and were 3-0 up by the 5th minute mark.  GB eventually pulled a goal back on 16 minutes through Romford Raiders player Brynley Capps and the Carruth goal followed with just 30 seconds left in the first period.

3 unanswered goals in the second period and then a 7th goal on 54 minutes handed France a convincing win in the first game. 

The second game the following day saw France win 1-4, with the sole GB strike coming from another Romford player, Joe Tomalin.

Great Britain Head Coach Sean Easton said afterwards: “We had a shaky start with a lot of new players to international hockey and we were also missing the players with the under-20s, had three guys out injured and some that could not get back to the UK.”

“Considering France are a Pool 1A nation, we competed well with them and gave them a good game. France threw a lot of offence at us but we held strong. There were not long periods of offence for them and we broke well and had periods of offence ourselves. However, we didn’t create enough Grade A opportunities to win a game.”

“Overall, for a team that’s just been thrown together and only had two practices under their belt, I was happy with the potential this team has shown.”

Kyle Carruth and Rhys Edwards with the
GB U18 team (Photo by David Edwards)

Rhys Edwards was the Wild’s second highest scorer in the Moralee Division last season, in what was his first season playing at that level, but has missed much of this season due to injury.

Kyle Carruth joined the Wild this season on a 2-way deal with his home club Solway Sharks.  He has previously played with GB Under 16s and also played with the Under 18s in this year’s World Championships in Serbia back in April.

Edwards and Carruth are the first Widnes Wild players to play for a men’s Great Britain team, although the club has provided a number of international players in the past. 

Nicole Jackson was the regular first choice netminder for the GB women’s team when she played for the Wild NIHL team during the 2014/15 season, while fellow GB international CJ Ashton also played a couple of games for the Wild NIHL team during the 2019/20 season.

Wild women’s player Sarah Hutchinson also played for the senior GB women’s team while she was a Widnes player and Sophie Sinclair Reeks played for the GB Women’s Under 18 team.

Matty Barlow played for the England U23 team last season and Rhys Edwards, Sophia Green and Jared Knowles also played for England junior sides last summer. 

Wild Women’s team player coach Leen de Decker is, in fact, Widnes’ most capped player with 53 World Championship matches for her native Belgium.

She has 22 goals and 13 assists to her international record, has won 1 silver medal and 4 bronzes at the World Championships and is the joint record holder for appearances for the Belgium women’s team.

Match Report: Sheffield Scimitars 1 - Widnes Wild 3 (Moralee Division)

Luca Tessadri saves a penalty shot away at Sheffield – photo by Angela Reid

Saturday 16th December – Moralee Division: Sheffield Scimitars 1 – Widnes Wild 3

The Widnes Wild NIHL team’s up and down season continued with a 1-3 win away to Sheffield Scimitars on Saturday and a 1-7 home defeat at the hands of Billingham Stars at Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday.

The away game on Saturday saw the welcome return of Andrew Hopkins, who had been sidelined with a long term injury, and – somewhat impressively - was the 5th game in 3 days for the indefatigable Rhys Edwards who had already played once at the venue for the Bradford Bulldogs earlier in the day.

Widnes got off to a flying start and goals from Bailey Thomson, Mikey Gilbert and Andrew Hopkins gave them a 0-3 lead at the first period break. 

The short-benched home side closed up a bit in the second period and finally managed to score a goal of their own on 37 minutes. They had the chance to further narrow the deficit shortly afterwards when they were awarded a penalty shot but Widnes netminder Luca Tessadri made the save to keep the score at 1-3 after 40 minutes of play. 

The third period played out goal-less and the Wild were able to ease off in the latter stages to conserve their energy for the home game against league leaders Billingham Stars the following night.

Widnes Wild Academy Round Up

The Widnes Wild junior academy teams had a good weekend with two wins from the three games that were played.

On Saturday, the Under 14 team won 4-6 away to Blackburn while the Under 18A team lost 3-6 at home to Telford. On Sunday, the Under 14s rounded off a 4-point weekend with a 0-3 win away to Leeds.

The Wild Academy teams return to action after the festive break with home games for the Under 16s and Under 18Bs  - both against Sheffield – on Saturday 6th January at Planet Ice Widnes, starting at 4.20pm. The Under 12s are away to Manchester the same day, face off 4.15pm.

Admission is free for all spectators to Wild Academy home games at Planet Ice Widnes and fans are encouraged to go along and support the stars of the future.

Match Report: Widnes Wild 1 - Billingham Stars 7 (Moralee Division)

Rhys Edwards scored the only Wild goal against Billingham and was awarded the MVP award (Photo by Ste Cunningham / Shots by Ste)

Sunday 17th December – Moralee Division: Widnes Wild 1 – Billingham Stars 7

The Widnes Wild NIHL team’s up and down season continued with a 1-3 win away to Sheffield Scimitars on Saturday and a 1-7 home defeat at the hands of Billingham Stars at Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday.

The home game on Sunday was always going to be a much tougher task, with the visiting Stars sitting proud at the top of the Moralee Division table with 16 wins from their 19 league games so far this season, and arriving on the back of highly impressive 9-game winning run and, while the Wild gave a reasonably good account of themselves, the match pretty much ran to league form.

Billingham opened the scoring in the 3rd minute and raced into a 0-3 lead by the 7th.  The second period started with another Stars goal just 46 seconds in and, by the end of 40 minutes’ play, the visitors were 0-5 ahead.

Two more goals early in the third period – rounding off a straight hat-trick  for their Canadian player Iain Brown – brought the score to 0-7 and Wild fans were finally given something to cheer about when Rhys Edwards eventually fired in a consolation strike on 56 minutes. 

The Wild are next in action on Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th January when they have away trips to Hull Jets and Solihull Barons respectively. They are next at home on Saturday 13th January when they entertain Solihull at Planet Ice Widnes, 7pm face off.

Joey Coulter Guests For Solway Sharks

Joey Coulter with Rhys Edwards and Kyle Carruth at Hull – photo by David Edwards

Widnes Wild NIHL team player coach Joey Coulter has re-joined his home town team Solway Sharks on a short term basis. 

Under EIHA regulations, teams are allowed to sign players from other clubs – so long as they don’t play in the same division - on an emergency basis for up to 3 games.  As Solway Sharks now play in the NIHL National Division, which is a league higher than the Moralee Division where the Wild play, the move is allowed.

The rules are different for players who are under the age of 23 as they are allowed to enter into formal season-long 2-way agreements, again between teams in different divisions, that allow for them to play for more than one club at a time with the aim of giving them extra ice time and helping with their overall development.

The Wild’s Kyle Carruth is the beneficiary of such an arrangement and he is able to turn out for Widnes when he is not required by the Sharks, who are his parent club.

With another Widnes player, Rhys Edwards, on a 2-way deal with National Division Hull Seahawks, he found himself up against Wild team-mates Coulter and Carruth in a second tier match at Hull Arena, in which the Seahawks beat the Sharks 6-3.

Talking about his temporary spell with Solway, Coulter said: “I know it seems like a bit of an odd move, coaching staff playing for another team but it’s more a favour than anything else. We have a great connection with Solway, they’ve blessed us with a trio of young and very talented players, Martin and Jamie have given me plenty of support on the coaching side of the game, so when the offer came to give something back I couldn’t decline. It’s only a short term basis, and won’t interfere with any of the scheduling at Widnes.”

“I obviously have my own selfish reasons as well, helping my hometown club and playing the game we all love with some of my best mates. Widnes still has my full focus, we work around the clock behind the scenes on improving performances but on my one night off during the week I might as well add some more hockey. A lot of the ideas I’ve been implementing over here stem from my playing days at Solway, I’m hoping to pick up some more good habits whilst I’m there and bring them back to the Wild.”

Widnes Wild Receive Emergency Blood Loss Kit

Mikey Gilbert, Nathan Britton and Matty Barlow with the Adam’s Angels Bleed Control Kit – photo by Ste Cunningham.

The Widnes Wild club has been presented with an Emergency Blood Loss Kit courtesy of the “Adam’s Angels” appeal.

The appeal was launched by Erin Rose of ER Sports Therapy who currently works with NIHL team Romford Raiders, in memory of Nottingham Panthers player Adam Johnson who died after suffering a cut to his neck during an Elite League match against Sheffield Steelers in October 2023.

The aim of Adam’s Angels has been to provide a catastrophic bleed kit to every men’s, women's, junior and para club in the country to help guard against such an incident in the future.

The kits have been funded by a combination of public donations and company sponsorship with over £3000 having been raised so far. Further donations are welcome via Erin Rose’s JustGiving page at https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ErinRose77

The bleed kits are supplied by Turtle Engineering Ltd who also manufacture Defibrillator Cabinets and other emergency medical equipment.  They are designed to be highly portable and easily identifiable in the case of an emergency.

The emergency bleed control kit was developed by West Midlands Ambulance Service, leading consultants from the Trauma Network and the Daniel Baird Foundation* to provide a kit of medical equipment that can be easily used by the public but can also control a catastrophic bleed. The kits are widely used across the country and have been used on several occasions to save a patient’s life.

According to the Turtle website (www.turtledefibcabinets.co.uk), each kit contains:  

Large Trauma Dressing – Designed to control moderate bleeding

ChitoGauze® XR Pro – A haemostatic gauze dressing that is very effective, designed to control moderate to very severe haemorrhage

Fox Seal Chest Seal – An innovative dressing for emergency management of penetrating chest wounds

Tourniquet – Easy to use tourniquet for stopping the flow of blood to the arms or legs

2 pairs of disposable Gloves – Personal protection

Scissors – Emergency sheers for quickly and effectively removing clothes

Emergency Foil Blanket – keeps patient warm and protected from the elements

CPR Face Mask – If CPR is required the face shield protects the user

Marker Pen – Used to note the time a tourniquet is applied – this is important when a hospital come to remove it later

The kit comes with basic instructions for the lay person to have a straightforward understanding of the equipment included, and where/how to apply.

*The Daniel Baird Foundation was established in memory of Daniel Baird. Daniel was just 26 years of age when he was fatally stabbed in Birmingham in July 2017, following a night out with friends, in an area where no bleed control kit or trauma pack was at hand to use. The family of Daniel Baird believe that, had there been a publicly accessible bleed control pack available, Daniel’s life may not have been cut so short.

Widnes Wild Academy Round Up

The Wild Academy Under 12 team beat Blackburn U12s 4-1 at home on Saturday and then won 2-10 away at Telford on Sunday.

The Under 16s drew 2-2 away at Nottingham on Saturday while the Under 10s took part in a four team cross ice tournament in Deeside.

This Saturday 16th December sees the Academy Under 18 A team at home to Telford - 6pm face off - and the Academy Under 14 team away to Blackburn the same day – 5pm start. 

Admission is free for all spectators to Wild Academy home games at Planet Ice Widnes and fans are encouraged to go along and support the stars of the future.

Match Report: DMUK Widnes Wild Women 10 – Kingston Diamonds 2 (WNIHL Div2N)

Laura Moran was the Widnes Wild Women's MVP against Kingston Diamonds (Photo by Paul Breeze)

Sunday 10th December – WNIHL Div2N: DMUK Widnes Wild Women 10 – Kingston Diamonds 2

The DMUK Widnes Wild womens team got back to winning ways with a comprehensive 10-2 demolition of the Kingston Diamonds from Hull at Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday.

It was the Wild women’s first home game in over two months and came off the back of 4 consecutive away defeats that had left the team in an uncomfortable position in the lower half of the Division 2 North league table.

As it turned out, Widnes were on top throughout and outshot their plucky opponents by 60 to 24 over the course of the game, with Stephanie Drinkwater and Ellie Green sharing the Wild netminding duties 50/50.

The first goal came from Preston Gennoe on 3 minutes and this was quickly followed by strikes from Katie Fairclough and Jennifer Hickey to give the Wild Women a 3-0 lead at the first break.

Kingston pulled a goal back on 25 minutes but Widnes restored the 3-goal advantage just 16 seconds later with a second goal of the game from Katie Fairclough.  The lead was then extended to 5-1 with a goal from Phoebe Patient with 90 seconds left to go in the second period.

The third period went the same way as the previous two with Widnes comfortably in charge. A second goal of the night from Gennoe on 47 minutes edged the home side further ahead and then two goals within 20 seconds of each other – a powerplay goal from Laura Marcroft and a hat trick strike from Gennoe – handed the Wild Women an 8-1 lead.

Two more quick-fire goals came within 27 seconds of each other on 53 minutes – a fourth from Gennoe and one for Rachael Pearce – to put the Wild into double figures and Kingston fired in a late strike to round off the scoring for the game. 

The Wild Women’s Most Valuable Player awards for this season have been sponsored by Lucy London - Poet In Residence for the 5th year in a row and consist of goodie bags containing a limited edition MVP teddy bear and a selection of Body Shop products provided by Running Mum Beauty. The awards were presented by match volunteer Colin Ellis and went to Neveah Allsopp for Kingston and Laura Moran for Widnes.

The DMUK Widnes Wild Women are next in action on Sunday 7th January when they take on Whitley Bay at Planet Ice Widnes, 4.25pm face off. 

Match Report: Nottingham Lions 2 - Widnes Wild 5 (Moralee Division)

Bez Hughes scored what would turn out to be the Wild's game winning goal away at Nottingham (Photo by Keith & Jenny Davies)

Sunday 10th December – Moralee Division: Nottingham Lions 2 – Widnes Wild 5

The Widnes Wild NIHL team had a mixed weekend losing 1-5 at home to Whitley Warriors at Planet Ice Widnes on Saturday and then winning 2-5 on the road away to Nottingham Lions on Sunday.

Sunday’s match away in the Lace City was a “must win” game for the Wild as defeat at the hands of the league’s cellar dwellers would have seen them slump to the bottom of the Moralee Division table for the first time ever. 

The game started well for Widnes with a goal from Kyle Carruth on 6 minutes and the score remained 0-1 at the first period break. Rhys Edwards doubled the Wild’s lead on 25 minutes and Bez Hughes made it 0-3 to the Wild 3 minutes later.  

A series of niggly penalties interrupted the Wild’s momentum after this and Nottingham eventually scored a goal of their own on 50 minutes.  The Lions struck again on 56 minutes to narrow the score to 2-3 and set up a tense finale. 

The clock ticked down to the last minute with Nottingham pushing for a late equaliser but Nathan Britton once again put daylight between the two teams with 53 seconds left to play.  Then just 22 seconds later, Bailey Thomson scored his first goal for the Wild – into an empty Lions net - to ensure victory for Widnes.

The weekend’s results mean that the Wild now have 5 wins from their 17 league games to date and, with 10 points on the board, are 3 ahead of bottom two Nottingham and Sheffield in the Moralee Division table.

They are next in action this Saturday 16th December when they make the trip to face Sheffield Scimitars at iceSheffield.  They are at home the next day, Sunday 17th December to Billingham Stars in what will be their last match of 2023, face off 5.30pm.

Match Report: Widnes Wild 1 - Whitley Warriors 5 (Moralee Division)

Kyle Carruth scored the Wild's only goal against Whitley (Photo by Keith & Jenny Davies)

Saturday 9th December – Moralee Division: Widnes Wild 1 – Whitley Warriors 5

The Widnes Wild NIHL team had a mixed weekend losing 1-5 at home to Whitley Warriors at Planet Ice Widnes on Saturday and then winning 2-5 on the road away to Nottingham Lions on Sunday.

The home game on Saturday went very much to league form with the Wild team – languishing in the bottom half of the Moralee Division table – failing to make much headway against the Warriors team, who were third at the time of this visit.

To be fair, Widnes actually outshot Whitley by 28 to 23 over the course of the 60 minutes, but it was the Warriors who were able to make more of their chances when they came.

Whitley took the lead just 90 seconds into the game and then went 0-2 up 3 minutes later.  They were leading 0-3 by the time Kyle Carruth found the back of the net for the Wild on 10 minutes, with a powerplay goal punishing a Warriors fighting penalty, and the score remained 1-3 at the first period break.

The second period saw just one goal, falling to the Warriors on 35 minutes, leaving Widnes with much to do in the final 20 minutes of play.

The third period was as tight as the second with very few chances coming for either side.  It remained  goal-less until the very last minute when Wild netminder Luca Tessadri was withdrawn in favour of an extra attacker and Whitley scored an empty net goal, make the final result seem slightly more one sided than the game deserved.

Saturday night’s home game saw the Wild’s annual Teddy Toss event where spectators were invited to throw soft toys onto the ice to be given away to good causes over the Christmas period.

This year’s beneficiaries will be Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and Carla Lane Animals In Need.

Match Report: Connah's Quay Cobras 7 - Bradford Ice Wolves 3 (Challenge Match)

Connah's Quay Cobras celebrate their win over Bradford Ice Wolves 

Sunday 10th December - Challenge Match: Connah's Quay Cobras 7 - Bradford Ice Wolves 3

The Connah’s Quay Cobras rounded off the programme for 2023 with an impressive 7-3 win over the Bradford Ice Wolves at Deeside Leisure Centre on Sunday.

After a tense opening phase, it was Bradford who eventually took the lead on 11 minutes but the Cobras struck back with an equaliser from Louis Ellwood two minutes later and the score remained 1-1 at the first period break. 

The Cobras took the lead on 24 minutes with a goal from Mackenzie Wilkes and then edged further ahead with a strike from Brad Commins 3 minutes later.

There was a flurry of activity around the halfway mark of the game with an Evan McKinney goal on 30 minutes – set up by a great assist for Emma Dutton - followed by a second goal for Ellwood 74 seconds later to make the score 5-1 - before Bradford hit back with a strike of their own on 32 minutes.

A hat-trick goal for Ellwood with just 9 seconds left to play in the period – his first ever hat-trick - saw the Cobras 6-2 in front at the second break.

The third period was a little less eventful with Bradford scoring their third and final goal on 48 minutes and the Cobras’ Ben Batho rounding off the scoring for the game on 56 minutes – his first ever goal for the club, prompting a suitable celebration.

The Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards went to Matthew Gatenby for Bradford and Mackenzie Wilkes for Connah’s Quay.

Cobras Captain
Evan McKinney

This was the Cobras’ 5th win in a row and stands them in good stead for their first qualifying group game in next year’s Summer Classic Cup when they take on rink rivals Flintshire Phantoms on Saturday 6th January at Deeside.

Cobras’ Captain Evan McKinney said after the game: “This was a huge result for the Cobras tonight - both on the ice and in the dressing room - ahead of our first cup game in January. We’re building a fantastic, positive team culture here at Deeside and it’s very exciting to be a part of it.”

Widnes Wild Players In GB Call Ups

Rhys Edwards in action for the Wild against Deeside (Photo by Ste Cunningham / Shots By Ste)

Widnes Wild NIHL team players Rhys Edwards and Kyle Carruth have been named in the Great Britain Under 18 squad to play two challenge matches against France next week in Sheffield. The matches have been arranged to help with final GB selection for the Under 18 World Championships which will be held in Poland next year.

Rhys Edwards was the Wild’s second highest scorer in the Moralee Division last season, in what was his first season playing at that level, but has missed much of this season due to injury.

Kyle Carruth joined the Wild this season on a 2-way deal with his home club Solway Sharks.  He has previously played with GB Under 16s and also played with the Under 18s in this year’s World Championships in Serbia back in April. 

GB U18 Head Coach Sean Easton said: “We have changed our prep up slightly this year with fewer training camps and to make the Christmas camp more challenging, we have brought France in to play.”

“For a lot of the players at a World Championship, the first game at a tournament is their first experience of playing international hockey and normally that’s the first game of the tournament - which we have lost two years running now.”

“These games will see give them the experience of playing an international team and over the three days, give them insight for the World Championship formation with morning training and afternoon games. These matches against France will help to make our team selections where we normally have to use training sessions. We can use game situations to make our selections.”

The Team GB Under 18s play France U18s at iceSheffield on Thursday 14th December (3pm face-off), as well as Friday 15th December (2pm) and admission is free for all spectators.

DMUK Wild Women At Home To Kingston On Sunday

DMUK Widnes Wild Women (Photo by Wil Evans)

The DMUK Widnes Wild women will be looking to get back to winning ways with their first home game for over 2 months when they take on the Kingston Diamonds at Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday 10th December, 4.25pm face off.

Widnes opened the new WNIHL Division 2 North campaign with a 5-0 win over Grimsby Wolves but have since lost four away games in a row – away in Edinburgh, Leeds and Sheffield and Telford.

The Diamonds have also had a “slow start” to the season and are in the mix with the Wild women in the bottom half of the league table, so both teams will have a point to prove on Sunday.

Wild Academy Round Up

This weekend saw two matches for Wild Academy junior teams, with the Under 12s beating Sheffield U12s 9-4 at Planet Ice Widnes on Saturday and the Under 16s losing 1-0 to Nottingham U16s the same day.

The Wild Academy Under 12 team are at home to Blackburn this Saturday 9th December, 420pm face off. 

Also on Saturday, the Under 10s are away in Deeside in a four team cross ice tournament that also features Blackburn, Manchester and the host team, 4.30pm start and the Under 16s are away in Billingham – 5pm face off.

The Under 12s are away to Telford on Sunday, facing off at 11.50am.

Admission is free for all spectators to Wild Academy home games at Planet Ice Widnes and fans are encouraged to go along and support the stars of the future.

Match Report: Widnes Wild 2 - Deeside Dragons 4 (Moralee Division)

Nathan Briton was the Wild MVP in Sunday's Moralee Division game against Deeside (Photo by Ste Cunningham / Shots by Ste)

Sunday 3rd December – Moralee Division: Widnes Wild 2 – Deeside Dragons 4

The Widnes Wild NIHL team had a mixed weekend with a 10-8 win over local rivals Deeside Dragons on Saturday in the M56 Cup and then a 2-4 home defeat to the same opposition in the league on Sunday at Planet Ice Widnes.

The game on Sunday was a much tighter affair than the night before – with fewer goals but plenty of end to end action – and penalties.

The opening phase was very tense and it took until the 11th minute for the first breakthrough.  That fell to Deeside with a goal from their import Petr Valusiak but Widnes drew level just 60 seconds later with a delayed penalty goal from Jonathan Williamson punishing a Dragons interference call.

The score remained 1-1 at the first break and, indeed, despite numerous chances at both ends, it was still 1-1 after two periods of play.    

Deeside edged back into the lead again 76 seconds into the third period and then went 1-3 up with a goal three minutes later.

Nathan Britton pulled one back for the Wild on 50 minutes but they were unable to build on this and the Dragons rounded off the scoring for the game on 55 minutes for a 2-4 win.

The Wild are next in action this Saturday 9th December when they take on Whitley Warriors at Planet Ice Widnes, 7pm face off.

The game will see the club’s annual Teddy Toss event where spectators are invited to donate soft toys, which will be distributed to local charities and good causes over the Christmas period.

At a pre-arranged point during the game everyone throws their toys onto the ice and, to avoid them getting damaged by surface water, fans are asked to make sure that their donations are securely wrapped in plastic before propelling them rink-wards. 

For reasons of health and safety, donated toys should be new but any that are unsuitable for handing out to children will be taken to a local animal shelter, so no gift will go to waste! 

Widnes Wild Unveil 10th Anniversary Shirts

Wild Captain Tom Jackson sports the Widnes 10th Anniversary shirt (Photo by David Tattum / DJT Ice Hockey Photos)

The Widnes Wild NIHL team unveiled a special set of “10th Anniversary” playing shirts at the home game against Deeside Dragons on Saturday night.

The shirts are white in colour – as opposed to the usual yellow – and are intended as a throwback to the original playing colour that the Wild wore in their earlier seasons. 

The players’ shirts are available to “own and loan” via the club but no replica versions will be on sale.

Widnes Wild played their first ever match in August 2013 and are now in their 11th season.  It is their 10th league campaign, however, as the 2020/21 league season was cancelled due to the Covid Pandemic and only a series of “behind closed doors” cup games were able to be played.

You can read all about the first 10 years of the Widnes team – with season by season by season results, player statistics, league tables and lots of photos - in the “10 Years In The Wild” book, which is available from HERE  and various other mail order outlets. 

Match Report: Widnes Wild 10 - Deeside Dragons 8 (M56 Cup)

Widnes Wild v Deeside Dragons in the M56 Cup (Photo by David Tattum / DJT Ice Hockey Photos)

Saturday 2nd December – M56 Cup: Widnes Wild 10 – Deeside Dragons 8

The Widnes Wild NIHL team had a mixed weekend with a 10-8 win over local rivals Deeside Dragons on Saturday in the M56 Cup and then a 2-4 home defeat to the same opposition in the league on Sunday at Planet Ice Widnes.

The Wild roster was boosted by the return of Rhys Edwards and Matty Barlow – both back from injury – and Damarni James after having served an EIHA suspension. Further spice was added to the encounter with former Wild players Matt Wainwright, Joe Greaves and MJ Clancy in the Deeside team along with former Widnes import Jakub Hajek.

The game on Saturday started well for the Wild with Innes Gallacher firing them into the lead with just 99 seconds on the clock. 

Deeside levelled 5 minutes later but Kyle Carruth restored the Widnes advantage with a goal on 11 minutes. The Dragons equalised again on 15 minutes and then edged into the lead with just 29 seconds left in the period to lead 2-3 at the first break.

Widnes drew level with a delayed penalty goal from Carruth on 28 minutes and a second goal of the night from Gallacher two minutes later put them back in the lead. However, two more goals for Deeside late in the period handed them a 4-5 lead going into the second interval.

The third period was littered with niggly penalties but this seemed to spur the Wild on.  They scored two shorthanded goals – from Conor McNulty and Matty Barlow - within an incredible 9 seconds of each other to retake the lead and then a hat-trick strike from Gallacher just 90 seconds after that finally put daylight between the two teams for the first time.

The lead didn’t last, however, and Deeside pulled the score back to 7-7 with two more goals and then edged back into the lead with a shorthanded goal of their own with 10 minutes left to play. 

Luckily, Widnes still had something left in the tank and Mikey Gilbert equalised on 53 minutes, sparking a late charge.

McNulty fired in another shorthanded goal for Widnes on 58 minutes to put them back in the lead and, with the Deeside netminder removed for the last minute, Matty Barlow made sure of the win with an empty net goal with 35 seconds left on the clock.

The M56 Cup is a three-way tournament featuring the Wild, Deeside Dragons and Blackburn Hawks.  Each team plays the others once home and once away and the team that finishes top of the “round robin” group wins the Cup.  

The competition was cancelled last season with Deeside unable to fulfill their games due to ice time availability, after beating Widnes in the only game that was played.  Instead, the Wild and the Hawks played a two team North West Challenge Cup, which Widnes won over two legs.

The Wild’s remaining fixtures in this year’s M56 Cup are:

20th Jan: home v Blackburn

3rd Feb: away @ Deeside

17th Feb: away @ Blackburn

Chris Keating Joins Connah's Quay Cobras

Chris Keating (#88) in action for the Deeside Dragons (Photo by Peter Sheffield)

The Connah’s Quay Cobras have boosted their roster with the signing of highly experienced former Deeside Dragons forward Chris Keating. 

Keating is a veteran of over 140 NIHL appearances over 7 seasons with Lancashire Raptors, Altrincham Aces and Deeside Dragons and in that time has scored 60 goals and 60 assists.

Keating’s arrival at the Cobras brings the team contingent of players with league experience to 6 as he joins Sam Krempasky, Kenny Williams & Sam Plant (all Deeside Dragons), Kieran Clarkson (Bradford and Altrincham) and Stewart Cutting (Slough Jets).   

Talking about joining the Connah’s Quay team, Keating said: 

“I’m excited about the prospect of playing for the Cobras. I’ve been really impressed with the organisation and vision of the club. Emma and Scott have set up a really interesting concept in regards to what the club offers. The club focuses on good values but also incorporates technology and statistics to improve players and the team.”

Commenting on Keating’s signing, team manager and coach Scott Dutton said:

“We are delighted to finally have Chris sign with us.  After playing alongside many of the Cobras players over the years, he already has chemistry with the team. Chris is a really positive and reliable team player who performs well under pressure and is another strong signing leading up to next year's Summer Classic Cup.”

The Cobras are next in action on Sunday 10th December when they take on the Bradford Ice Wolves at Deeside Leisure Centre. Face off is 8.30pm – after the Deeside Dragons v Sheffield Scimitars NIHL game - and admission is free for all spectators.