Match Report: Connah's Quay Cobras 11 - Telford Spartans 1 (Challenge Match)

Cath Thornton was the Cobras' MVP against Telford  

Sunday 25th February – Challenge Match: Connah’s Quay Cobras 11 – Telford Spartans 1

The Connah’s Quay Cobras team notched up their 8th win in a row with an 11-1 victory over the Telford Spartans at Deeside Leisure Centre on Sunday night.

To be fair to both sides, it should be pointed out that this was a “development” game, rather than a “full on” competitive encounter, and the main aim was to give extra ice time to some of the less experienced players.  As such, the former league players on the Cobras’ roster did not play in this game and the taking part was far more important than the actual result.

For the record, Slavomir Sykora was the top points scorer for the Cobras in the game with 2 goals and 4 assists.  Ken Valyear weighed in with 1+4, Luke Wainwright 3+1 and Louis Ellwood 2+1.  The other Connah’s Quay goals came from Emma Dutton, Cath Thornton (her first Cobras goal) and Mike Filek, with Louie Bailey and Sam Plant both contributing assists.

Netminder Theo Coulson – playing his first game in goal for the Cobras and only his second game ever -  put in a solid display and turned away 9 out of the 10 shots that he faced over the 60 minutes. 

Talking about the game, Cobras’ coach Emma Dutton said:

“The sportsmanship shown from both sides was amazing, recognising huge individual achievements within the game as well as practicing plays and gaining experience.” 

“A real moment of joy was Cath’s first Cobras goal, which was cheered and celebrated by both teams equally.”

Widnes Wild Academy Round Up - 24th / 25th February

The Widnes Wild Junior Academy had a mixed weekend with one win and one defeat from their two away games. The Wild Academy Under 14 team won 0-8 away at Coventry on Saturday and the Under 18A team lost 10-2 at Leeds.

This weekend sees the Wild Under 12 and Under 14 teams both away at Deeside on Saturday 2nd March, with games starting at 4.30pm. The same day, the Wild Academy Under 16 team are at home to Solihull Under 16s at Planet Ice Widnes - 4.20pm face off – with the Under 18B team taking on their Solihull counterparts straight afterwards. 

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 3 - Sheffield Scimitars 9 (Moralee Division)

Jake Meehan was the Wild's MVP against Sheffield  (Photo by Steve Cunningham)

Sunday 25th February 2024 – Moralee Division: Widnes Wild 3 - Sheffield Scimitars 9

The Widnes Wild NIHL team slumped to their third defeat in a row with a 3-9 home drubbing at the hands of the league’s bottom team Sheffield Scimitars at Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday.

The visitors took the lead in the 4th minute and then doubled the advantage 3 minutes later. It took until 17 minutes into the period before the Wild finally found the back of the net themselves with a powerplay goal from Nathan Britton, who is standing in as team captain while regular skipper Tom Jackson is out injured. 

The second period was a disaster for the Wild as they were outshot by more than 2 to 1 and a string of niggly penalties hampered them from building up any sort of momentum. Four unanswered goals left them trailing 1-6 at the second break with a lot of catching up to do in the final 20 minutes.

A 7th goal for Sheffield just 11 seconds into the third period made the proverbial mountain to climb even higher for the Wild but, to their credit, their heads did not drop and they continued to battle away. 

The Widnes efforts were rewarded with a goal from Mikey Gilbert on 46 minutes and another from Will Harper just 80 seconds later to bring the score to 3-7 but that was as far as any late revival actually got.

Two more goals in the latter stages rounded off the scoring for Sheffield and handed the Scimitars only their 5th win of the league campaign.

The result leaves the Wild nervously looking over their shoulders in terms of league position as they are still not mathematically guaranteed a play off spot and have 4 tough games still to come.

They are next in action next weekend with back to back games against north west rivals Blackburn Hawks, away on Saturday and at home on Sunday at Planet Ice Widnes.     

The Hawks are sure to be on a high after demolishing league leaders Billingham Stars 21-6 over two legs last weekend in the final of the Moralee Cup (13-4, 2-8) and they still have a chance of overtaking Solihull Barons for the runner’s up spot in the league.  Widnes v Blackburn games are always very passionate and hard fought affairs and both teams will have a point to prove next weekend.

Following that, the Wild have another tantalising pair of derby games to look forward to - home and away against Deeside Dragons, who are also enjoying a better than expected season - to complete their regular Moralee Division schedule.  

Wild Women's Game At Grimsby Abandoned

Lucy Kirkham was stand-in netminder for the Wild Women at Grimsby (Photo by Anne Bennison) 

Saturday 24th February 2024 – WNIHL Div 2 N: Grimsby Wolves – DMUK Widnes Wild Women 

The DMUK Widnes Wild women’s team‘s game away at Grimsby was abandoned in the first period after a Wolves player suffered a broken ankle on the ice.

The home side were leading 4-1 at the time of the stoppage, although the Wild Women had travelled without a regular netminder and senior player Lucy Kirkham bravely took up the pads and played in goal. The sole Wild goal was scored by team captain Charlotte Cramp. 

There are hopes that the game will be rescheduled for a later date if a suitable ice time slot can be arranged at the Lincolnshire rink.

Widnes are away to Whitley Bay on Saturday 9th March and are next at home on Sunday 24th March when they take on the Telford Wrekin Raiders at Planet Ice Widnes, 4.25pm face off.

Mayhem Players in GB World ChampionshIp Call Up

Felicity Gregory and Mark Colquitt in action for the Mayhem (Photo by @haganovaphoto)

Four players from the Widnes–based Mayhem sledge team have been selected to play for the Great Britain national side at the 2024 World Para Ice Hockey Championships in Norway. 

Mark Colquitt, Karl Nicholson, Dean Lahan and Felicity Gregory will be part of the 18-strong squad that will compete in Pool B of the championships in Skien, Norway from the 15th-20th April.

Great Britain will go up against Norway and Germany, who were relegated from the A-Pool last year, as well as Sweden, Kazakhstan, and France in the six-team tournament.

Team GB Head Coach Peggy Assinck – who is also a Mayhem player – said: 

“I am looking forward to working with this skilled group of athletes this year as we prepare for the Pool B world championship. We have a nice mixture of four rookies making their GB team debut and several experienced veterans to round out the team. We’ve been working hard since last October’s tournament in Astana, and I’m looking forward to leading the team in Skien in April as we look to cement our B-Pool Team status.”

Mayhem team manager Peter Hagan said of the player call ups:

“Everyone at the Mayhem is so proud of those selected to GB for World Championships, especially looking at the GB squad. Mark & Karl are senior players with the national programme with Dean & Felicity building up their international experience which can only help both the mens & women’s teams. We all wish the team good luck & will be following them over in Norway.”

The Full GB squad is:

Netminders:

Bryan Hackworth – Sheffield Steelkings

Jodi Hill – Cardiff Huskies

Defence:

Damien Barker – Sheffield Steelkings

Shannon Couch – Cardiff Huskies

Mark Colquitt – Manchester Mayhem, 

Jonathon Le Galloudec – Cardiff Huskies

Paul Brown – Sheffield Steelkings

Felicity Gregory – Manchester Mayhem

Gary Farmer – Peterborough Phantoms

Forwards:

Callum Shakespeare – Peterborough Phantoms

Tyler Christopher – Cardiff Huskies

Karl Nicholson – Manchester Mayhem

Dani Czernuszka-Watts – Cardiff Huskies

Dean Lahan – Manchester Mayhem

Stacey Quirk – Peterborough Phantoms

John Mellor – Cape Breton Sledgehammers

Josh Davies – Cardiff Huskies

Ben O’Brien – Sheffield Steelkings

Reserves:

Netminder: Susi Rogers-Hartley (Peterborough Phantoms)

Defence: Leanne Emmerson (Cardiff Huskies), Jade Williams (Sheffield Steelkings), Gaz Lawton (Sheffield Steelkings)

Forwards: Dan May (Cardiff Huskies), Emily McLean (GB Women)

Team Staff:

Peggy Assinck – head coach

Patrick Assinck – assistant coach

Breanna Wagner – assistant coach / equipment

Lauren Bolger – sports therapist

Shirley Packwood – team manager / medic

Wild Women Off To Grimsby

Preston Gennoe is the Wild women’s top scorer so far this season – photo by Flyfifer.

The DMUK Widnes Wild women’s travel to the Lincolnshire coast this Saturday 24th February when they take on the Grimsby Wolves, 13h10pm face off.

The Wild women have yet to win on their travels this season, having lost all 4 of their away games so far. The away game against strugglers Kingston Diamonds that had been scheduled for 27th January was postponed as the Humberside ice time wasn’t available so they will be looking for a win on Saturday to give their “stop-start” season a bit of a boost.

The Wild Women beat Grimsby 5-0 in the home meeting back in October and the Wolves have lost all of their 8 games to date this season. 

Widnes narrowly lost out 2-4 to league leaders Caledonia Steel Queens in their last game but were without a number of regular players due to illness.

Preston Gennoe scored 1 goal and 1 assist in that game to take over at the top of the Wild Women scoring standings for the season.  She now has 10 goals and 3 assists from 7 games while Katie Fairclough is in second place with 6+6.

Following Saturday’s game, Widnes are away to Whitley Bay on Saturday 9th March and are next at home on Sunday 24th March when they take on the Telford Wrekin Raiders at Planet Ice Widnes, 4.25pm face off.

Widnes Wild Academy Round Up - 17th/18th February

The Widnes Wild Junior Academy had a mixed weekend with two wins and one defeat from the three games that were played across the age groups.

The Wild Academy Under 18A team beat Hull U18s 4-2 on Saturday at Planet Ice Widnes and the Under 14s won 0-8 away to Sheffield the same day. On Sunday, the Wild Academy Under 18B team narrowly lost 6-5 away to Billingham U18s. 

This weekend sees the Academy Under 18A team away to Leeds on Saturday – 7.30pm face off – and the Under 14s away to Coventry on Sunday, 4pm start.

The next Wild Academy home games are on Saturday 2nd March at Planet Ice Widnes when the Widnes Under 16 and Under 18B teams take on their counterparts from Solihull at Planet Ice Widnes, with the action starting at 4.20pm.

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 – Nottingham Lions 5 (Moralee Division)

Flynn Massie scored his first goal for the Wild and was named MVP in the match against Nottingham – photo by Steve Cunningham

Sunday 18th February – Moralee Division: Widnes Wild 2 – Nottingham Lions 5

The Widnes Wild NIHL team had a disappointing - and winless – weekend, losing 9-0 away to north west rivals Blackburn Hawks in the M56 Cup on Saturday and then crashing 2-5 to league strugglers Nottingham Lions in the Moralee Division at Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday. 

On Sunday, it was a short-benched Wild that took on league strugglers Nottingham Lions at Planet Ice Widnes and the game didn’t really go to expectations.

Widnes actually took the lead after just 34 seconds with a goal from Will Harper picking up a pass from player coach Joey Coulter but Nottingham equalised 3 minutes later with a powerplay goal punishing a Damarni James tripping penalty and then went ahead with a second goal on 11 minutes.

At 1-2 down after the first period, there seemed little cause for concern but as the game went on, the Wild’s fortunes showed no sign of improving. They had their chances in front of goal but were unable to make the most of them and Nottingham edged further ahead with goals on 34 and 38 minutes to lead 1-4 at the end of the second period.

The Lions scored again on 48 minutes, leaving Widnes with a lot of catching up to do in the closing stages and the home side finally found the back of the net again with a last gasp goal from Flynn Massie. That was the young Scottish player’s first goal for Wild and he was rewarded with the MVP award.

The result leaves the Wild in a rather uncomfortable position in the lower half of the Moralee Division table – in 7th place with 19 points from their 27 league games to date. They could – mathematically, at least - still be overtaken by both Nottingham Lions and Sheffield Scimitars who are in 8th and 9th place respectively, but they are engaged in their own battle to avoid the wooden spoon and overall league form for the season suggests that all three clubs will probably finish up in the places they are currently in. 

The Wild NIHL team are next in action this Sunday 25th February when they take on strugglers Sheffield Scimitars in the game that had to be rescheduled from 19th November due to a Carbon Monoxide issue at the Widnes rink.

Following that, Widnes have a run of 4 tantalising clashes with local rivals Blackburn Hawks and Deeside Dragons - once home and once away in each case – to round off their regular season schedule.

While local bragging rights will clearly be at stake in these games, the main aim will be to ensure that the Wild accrue points to finish in the best possible position in the Moralee Division table ready for the end of season play offs – the quarter finals of which take place over the last weekend in March.

Match Report: Blackburn Hawks 9 - Widnes Wild 0 (M56 Cup)

Saturday 17th February – M56 Cup: Blackburn Hawks 9 - Widnes Wild 0

The Widnes Wild NIHL team had a disappointing - and winless – weekend, losing 9-0 away to north west rivals Blackburn Hawks in the M56 Cup on Saturday and then crashing 2-5 to league strugglers Nottingham Lions in the Moralee Division at Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday. 

The Cup game on Saturday actually started quite well for the Wild and they gave as good as they got in the early stages.  It took until the very last minute of the opening period for the first breakthrough of the match and that fell to Blackburn with just 8 seconds left on the clock, giving them a narrow 1-0 lead at the first break.

The second period continued in similar vein with chances at both ends and Blackburn eventually struck again in the 29th minute to double their lead.

There then followed a disastrous spell for the Wild as they conceded a further 6 unanswered goals to trail 8-0 at the second interval.  With the game clearly well out of reach by that point – and the likelihood of the Wild overturning the 2 goal group deficit nigh on impossible – both teams eased off in the third period and a further goal for Hawks with 8 minutes to play proved to be the last of the game.

The result meant that Blackburn could not be overtaken at the top of the M56 Cup table, irrespective of what happens in their last group game against Deeside, and they were able to celebrate winning their first piece of silverware since 2016.

The shut-out was the Wild’s fourth of the campaign – an unwelcome record in their otherwise mainly illustrious 11 year history to date - and their second against the Hawks this season.  One bright spot in an otherwise disappointing night for the Wild was a debut appearance in goal of 16 year old Scotland Under 19 netminder Logan Reid for the second half of the game as he took over from Phil Pearson in a tactical change on 36 minutes.  

Connah's Quay Cobras To Play Telford Spartans

The Connah’s Quay Cobras are back in action this Sunday 25th February when they take on the Telford Spartans in a challenge match at Deeside Leisure Centre, face off 8.30pm.

The Cobras’ last game served up a 16-goal thriller where they just pipped Solihull Vikings 9-7 in a really action packed and entertaining match.  That was their 7th win in a row and they will be keen to keep up that 100% record as they prepare for their next group games in the Summer Classic Cup later in the year.

The Connah’s Quay roster this season features an exciting mix of former Deeside juniors, traditional local 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 the team are enjoying an ever-growing following as they enter their second year as a club.

The game against Telford on Sunday faces off at 8.30pm  and admission is free for all spectators.

Widnes Wild Academy Round Up - 10th & 11th February

The Widnes Wild Junior Academy enjoyed a successful weekend with the Under 12 team winning 0-8 away at Nottingham Sutton U12s and the Under 18B team winning 5-7 away in Sutton on Sunday.

The Wild Under 10 team took part in a 4 team cross ice tournament away in Altrincham on Saturday where they played against teams from Manchester, Deeside and Blackburn. Under 10s games are played purely for fun and no scores or player statistics are recorded. 

The Wild Academy Under 18A team are at home to Hull this Saturday 17th February at Planet Ice Widnes, 6.35pm face off.

The Under 14s are away to Sheffield the same day – 2.35pm face off - and the Under 18B team are away to Billingham on Sunday, puck drop 7pm.

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 7 - Sheffield Scimitars 6 OTW (Moralee Division)

Jonathan Williamson scored the Wild’s over time winning goal against Sheffield and received the MVP award – photo by Steve Cunningham

Sunday 11th February – Moralee Division: Widnes Wild 7 – Sheffield Scimitars 6 (OTW)

The Widnes Wild NIHL team staged a late fightback to secure a dramatic 7-6 overtime victory over the Sheffield Scimitars at Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday.

Widnes opened the scoring with their very first attack of the game with a goal from Matty Barlow after just 25 seconds but were then pegged back with a Sheffield equaliser on 13 minutes. Barlow scored again - with a shorthanded goal with 1 second left in the period - and Widnes took a shaky 2-1 lead into the first break.

The second period was as nail-bitingly close as the first and Sheffield drew level with a powerplay goal two minutes in. Widnes edged back into the lead with goals from Barlow – for a straight hat trick – and Kyle Carruth but two more goals for the visitors left the game finely poised at 4-4 after 40 minutes of play.

Sheffield took the lead on 44 minutes and it took until the 53rd minute for Widnes to drag themselves back onto level terms with a goal from Andrew Hopkins.

A powerplay goal on 57 minutes saw Sheffield take the lead once again – with the league’s bottom team sensing the chance for just their 5th win of the season – but Widnes dug deep and an equaliser from Kyle Carruth on 59 minutes forced the game into sudden death overtime.

The match could easily have gone either way at this point and, as the clock ticked down, it increasingly looked as if a penalty shoot out might be needed to decide an overall winner.

Widnes finally got the upper hand in terms of shots on goal in the overtime period and the game winning goal finally came courtesy of Jonathan Williamson with just 34 seconds left to play.

The Wild receive two league points for the overtime win and Sheffield get one point for drawing at the end of regulation time. 

Widnes are next in action this Saturday 17th February when they travel to East Lancashire to take on the Blackburn Hawks in the M56 Cup. It is the Wild’s last group game in the round robin tournament and they would need to win by 3 clear goals to have any chance of winning the trophy.

They are then at home on Sunday 18th February, when they take on Nottingham Lions in the Moralee Division at Planet Ice Widnes, 5.30pm face off.

****

The home game against Sheffield that had to be postponed back in November due to the Carbon Monoxide issue at the Widnes rink has now been re-arranged and will be played on Sunday 25th February face off 5.30pm.

Riverside Raiders To Walk Up Snowdon

Riverside Raiders coach Ben Donkin will lead the team's ascent up Mt Snowdon (Photo by Paul Breeze)

The Riverside Raiders team are doing their bit to promote the importance of mental health awareness with a fundraising walk up Mount Snowdon wearing their full ice hockey kit.

The Raiders are celebrating their 10th anniversary this year and, as it is also 149 years since the first recorded ice hockey game took place at Victoria Skating Rink in Montreal, Canada, they want to mark the occasion by doing something unusual and becoming the first ice hockey team to scale the 1085 meters above sea level of the famous Welsh peak.

The walk will take place on Sunday 3rd March and the team are hoping to raise funds and awareness for the Rethink Mental Illness who are a charity that seek to improve the lives of people severely affected by mental illness through their networks of local groups and services, information and campaigns. 

For anybody who would like to sponsor the Raiders’ walk up Mount Snowdon, they have set up a justgiving page at: https://www.justgiving.com/team/dropthepuck

You can find out more about the Rethink Mental Illness charity on their website at www.rethink.org

Matty Barlow To Play In Rob Craig Memorial Game

Widnes Wild's Matty Barlow (Photo by Steve Cunningham)

Widnes Wild NIHL player Matty Barlow is to take part in this year’s Rob Craig memorial game which will be played at Blackburn on 12th May.

The game is played every year in memory of former Blackburn recreational player Rob Craig who took his own life in 2017 and aims to raise funds and awareness for mental health charities.  

The memorial event is now in its 5th year, having been first staged in 2018 as a friendly match between groups of Craig’s former team mates, and it has become bigger every year as more people have wanted to become involved. As the profile of the event has grown, more companies and sponsors have come on board and the game has been able to attract bigger player names to boost the team rosters.

Alongside Matty Barlow, it has been announced that former Widnes players Bobby Streetly and Adam Barnes – both now with Blackburn Hawks - Kieran Brown – now captain of the Leeds Knights National Division team – and Mark Higson (Bradford Bulldogs) will also be playing in the memorial match.

More big name players will be added to the line up in the run up to the event and they will be spread across two teams to ensure an entertaining and competitive game.

Event co-organiser Wez Spurett – himself a former General Manager of the Widnes Wild NIHL team - said:

“It’s not just a game of hockey for us, we play against our friends all the time, but this started off as just trying to get our friends together and remember Rob and the underlying purpose of it was to make sure that we spread awareness about what happened with Rob and do anything we can to try and prevent that.”

“We set off on this mission saying if we can help one person then the whole event is worth it, and we feel like each event there are more and more people coming and we are helping more people which makes it so worthwhile.”

“We’ve had a lot of sponsors come on board wanting to be involved to help with the fundraising so it is more than a hockey game now it's definitely an event and it is really helping us.”

The beneficiary of the 2024 Rob Craig Memorial game will be Andy’s Man Club – an organisation that started off in Halifax and now organises local groups across the country where men aged 18 and above can speak openly about their mental health in a judgement-free, non-clinical environment.

You can find out more about Andy’s Man Club and their local groups via their website at andysmanclub.co.uk

Advance tickets for the game on 12th May are now on sale via the Planet Ice Blackburn ticketing website HERE. 

Anybody who would like to help with sponsorship - or otherwise get involved with the event - is asked to contact the organisers at robcraigcharity@outlook.com

Match Report: DMUK Widnes Wild Women 2 – Caledonia Steel Queens 4 (WNIHL Div 2 North)

Wild women MVP against Caledonia Charlotte Cramp – photo by Paul Breeze

Sunday 4th February 2024 – WNIHL Div 2 North: DMUK Widnes Wild Women 2 – Caledonia Steel Queens 4

The DMUK Widnes Wild women put in a battling performance against league leaders Caledonia Steel Queens before ultimately losing out 2-4 in a highly entertaining game at Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday.

The showing was all the more impressive as the Wild women were missing several regular players due to illness.

For a “non-checking” women’s game, this was quite a physical encounter but - to their credit – the match officials let the game flow and didn’t keep blowing the whistle for niggly penalties.  In fact, Caledonia managed to stay clear of the sin bin all match and Widnes only picked up 6 minutes in total.

After a high octane opening phase, with lots of breathless end to end hockey, the visitors took the lead on 10 minutes but Widnes drew level 5 minutes later with a goal from Victoria Connelly. Caledonia edged into the lead once again with 2 minutes left in the period and took a less than convincing 1-2 lead into the break. 

The visitors scored again just two minutes into the second period to put daylight between the teams but Widnes hit back just 45 seconds later with a superb individual breakaway goal from Preston Gennoe to keep themselves in contention.

The clock ticked down, the hockey continued to flow and, just as it looked as if the second period might finish up 1-1, Widnes picked up one of those rare penalties and Caledonia scored on the resulting powerplay with just 50 seconds left to play. 

That late blow left a 2-goal deficit to overcome in the third period but the Wild women took to their task with gritty determination.  Contrary to all Widnes hopes, the last 20 minutes played out goal-less but stand out performances in every position on the ice still gave the home crowd plenty to cheer about.

Despite being heavily out-shot over the course of the game – by 53 to 16 – Widnes never really looked out of it and a superb performance by Ellie Green in the Wild net meant that she ended up with a better Save % overall than the Caledonia keeper by 92.45% to 87.50%. 

 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 Callum Rose and went to Caitlyn Monk for Caledonia and Charlotte Cramp for Widnes.

The Wild women have two away games in a row now – away to Grimsby on Saturday 24th February and away to Whitley Bay on Saturday 9th March. They are next at home on Sunday 24th March when they take on the Telford Wrekin Raiders at Planet Ice Widnes, 4.25pm face off. 

Match Report: Billingham Stars 7 – Widnes Wild 0 (Moralee Division)

Widnes Wild NIHL Player Coach Joey Coulter (source: www.facebook.com/billinghamstars)

Sunday 4th February – Moralee Division: Billingham Stars 7 – Widnes Wild 0 

The Widnes Wild NIHL team had a mixed weekend, winning 1-4 away to Deeside Dragons in the M56 Cup on Saturday and then lost losing 7-0 away to table toppers Billingham Stars in the league on Sunday. 

The away game against the league leaders on Sunday in the North East had a certain air of inevitability about it, with the Wild having already lost all 3 of the previous meetings between the two teams this season.

Although Widnes battled away, they were regularly forced into taking penalties to keep the Stars out and conceded 5 of their 7 goals while playing a man short.

Billingham took the lead on 9 minutes and then doubled the advantage 2 minutes later. The score remained 2-0 at the first period but it was a similar story in the second where three more unanswered goals put the game well and truly out of the Wild’s reach.

They found themselves with 3 men in the box with 9 minutes left to play and the result was two more power play goals for Billingham.

The home side also picked up a few penalties as the clock ticked down and Widnes were presented with a 5 on 3 powerplay opportunity of their own, but were unable to force a late consolation goal.

The 7-0 defeat was the Wild’s third “shut out” of the season and they will be hoping for better things when they take on the Moralee Division’s bottom team Sheffield Scimitars this Sunday 11th February at Planet Ice Widnes, 5.30pm face off.

You can watch Billingham Stars TV's post-match interview with Wild player coach Joey Coulter  HERE

Match Report: Deeside Dragons 1 – Widnes Wild 4 (M56 Cup)

Rhys Edwards scored a hat trick in the Wild Cup win away at Deeside – photo by Steve Cunningham 

Saturday 3rd February – M56 Cup: Deeside Dragons 1 – Widnes Wild 4

The Widnes Wild NIHL team had a mixed weekend, winning 1-4 away to Deeside Dragons in the M56 Cup on Saturday and then lost losing 7-0 away to table toppers Billingham Stars in the league on Sunday. 

The Cup game on Saturday was a robustly fought encounter - as is usually the case with Widnes v Deeside local derby games - and was strewn with penalties throughout.

Deeside took the lead on 12 minutes but Nathan Britton equalised two minutes later for the Wild and the score remained 1-1 at the first period break.

Widnes edged into the lead on 25 minutes when Rhys Edwards capitalised on a breakaway and the same player made it 1-3 three minutes later with a shorthanded goal while Damarni James and Will Harper were both sitting out 5 minute fighting penalties.

A hat-trick goal followed for Edwards on 32 minutes and Widnes looked very much in control of the match. Deeside had their own chances but these were competently dealt with by Phil Pearson in the Wild goal and the score remained 1-4 at the second break.

Widnes eased their foot off the gas in the third period – possibly with half an eye on their away trip to league leaders Billingham Stars the next day – and the game finished in a 1-4 victory.

The win sees the Wild level on points with Blackburn at the top of the M56 Cup table with two wins each.

Blackburn saw their points tally double without hitting a puck in anger after they were awarded their home tie against Deeside as a 5-0 win after the Dragons refused to travel to East Lancashire following an unsavoury incident in a previous game.

Widnes have already lost 5-7 at home to the Hawks in this competition and will need to win by a higher margin in the return fixture on 17th February if they are to have any chance of winning the trophy.

The final group game between Deeside and Blackburn – which is scheduled for 9th March, should it, indeed, go ahead… - would then decide the outcome of the competition.

Widnes Wild Academy Round Up - 4th February 2024

The Widnes Wild Junior Academy had a mixed weekend with the Under 14 team winning 0-7 away to Sutton Sting on Saturday and the Under 18B team losing out by the same scoreline at home to Whitley Bay U18s at Planet Ice Widnes.

This weekend sees the Academy Under 10 team take part in a 4-team cross ice tournament away in Manchester on Saturday and the Under 12s and Under 18Bs away to Nottingham and Sheffield respectively on Sunday.

The next home game for the Wild Academy is on Saturday 17th February when the Under 18A team take on Hull at Planet Ice Widnes, 6.35pm face off.

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.

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