Match Report: Blackburn Falcons 4 – Connah’s Quay Cobras 8 (Summer Classic Cup)

The Connah’s Quay Cobras won their second game out of two so far in the Summer Classic Cup and picked up a huge scalp with a 4-8 victory away to Blackburn Falcons.

The Falcons are widely regarded as the top recreation team in the north west and, since their formation back in 1991 when they were originally set up as Blackburn’s official second team, have featured numerous future and former league players. Saturday’s game was no exception and the Falcons’ roster boasted an impressive number of former Raptors, Eagles and Hawks 2 NIHL players.

The Cobras, in contrast, have only been in existence for just over a year but have also assembled an impressive squad with a mixture of young local talent and their own band of ex-league stars.

The game started well for the Cobras and they opened the scoring in the third minute with a goal from Mike Filek.  The Falcons hit back to equalise just 16 seconds later but a strike from player coach Emma Dutton just 8 seconds after that put Connah’s Quay back in the lead and the score remained 1-2 at the first period break.

Blackburn equalised again two minutes into the second period and then went ahead with a third goal at the midway point of the game.  The Cobras upped their efforts at this point, however, and were rewarded with three unanswered goals in a dazzling 5 minute spell  – 2 from former Deeside Dragon Chris Keating and a second of the night from Dutton – to hand them a 3-5 lead at the second interval.

A sixth Connah’s Quay goal four minutes into the third period, scored by Louis Ellwood, looked to have put the Cobras well on their way to victory but Blackburn hit back once again to pull the margin back to 2 goals heading into the final 10 minutes of play.

The Cobras outshot the Falcons by over two to one in the last period and the pressure paid off as, with five minutes to go, former Slough Jet Stewart Cutting edged them further ahead and then Keating rounded off his hat trick with two minutes left on the clock.

The resulting 4-8 victory means that Cobras have now won 9 games in row in all and sit proudly top of the group in the Summer Classic Cup with a 100% record from their first two qualifying matches, having already beaten Flintshire Phantoms in their opening game.

The Connah’s Quay Cobras are next in action on Sunday 14th April when they take on the Blackburn Falcons in their next game in the Summer Classic Cup at Deeside Leisure Centre, 8.30pm face off.  Admission is free for all spectators.   

Connah's Quay Cobras To Play Blackburn Falcons in Summer Classic Cup

The Connah’s Quay Cobras face their toughest test to date this Saturday 30th March as they travel to East Lancashire to face the Blackburn Falcons in the Summer Classic Cup this Saturday 30th March – face off 4.30pm.

The Cobras trounced Deeside rink-mates Flintshire Phantoms 3-12 in their opening game of the cup campaign back in January but the Falcons are likely to provide sterner opposition. 

The Falcons are widely acknowledged as being the top recreational team in the north west and were, in fact, originally set up as the official Blackburn second team when the rink first opened back in 1991. They have won numerous trophies and tournaments over the years and have provided an opportunity for former league players to continue playing at a relaxed but competitive level. 

However, the Cobras – who have only been in existence for just over a year - have built up their own impressive roster with a blend of young local talent and players with NIHL experience and they travel to Blackburn on the back of 8 consecutive victories, so Saturday’s game will be a fascinating test of the “old hands” versus the “new kids on the block”. 

The Cobras Summer Classic Cup game away to Blackburn Falcons takes place this Saturday 30th March at Blackburn Arena, face off 4.30pm. 

Match Report: Deeside Dragons 6 – Widnes Wild 1 (Moralee Division)

Jake Lowndes played his first full game in goal for Widnes – photo by Peter Sheffield / PSD Images

The Widnes Wild NIHL team rounded off their regular season league schedule with a 6-1 defeat away to Deeside Dragons on Sunday evening.

The prospect of finishing off the season with back to back derby games against local rivals Blackburn and Deeside might have looked quite appealing when the fixture list was being put together back in August but it has all become a bit of a nightmare for the Wild as they now find themselves on the wrong end of a 7-game losing streak.

They actually put up a good fight against the Dragons – at some times literally – but were unable to make the most of their chances when they arrived.

It took until the 5th minute of the game for the first goal and that fell to Deeside, who doubled their advantage on 13 minutes to take a 2-0 lead into the first period break.

A third Deeside goal on 25 minutes was followed by a fourth and the Dragons looked well in control by this stage. However, the home side started to pick up niggly penalties and Widnes had a number of powerplay opportunities - including a brief 5-on-3.  Unfortunately, they were unable to make any of them count and Deeside further extended their lead with a 5th goal on 36 minutes.

Former Wild player, now Dragon, Joe Greaves picked up a 5+game penalty for an incident at the end of the 2nd period and this handed the Wild a 5 minute powerplay at the start of the third but, here again, they were unable to make the extra man advantage count in front of goal.

The Widnes duck for the night was eventually broken 42 seconds after the end of the powerplay when Jonathan Williamson fired in a Joey Coulter pass to finally give the travelling Wild fans something to cheer about.

Shortly after this, some pressure was relieved around the rink as a couple of skirmishes broke out on the ice, which resulted in Wild’s Kyle Carruth and Owen Rae and a couple of Dragons sitting out fighting penalties in the sin bin.  

The game calmed down again after this and the match edged towards its inevitable conclusion.  A 6th goal for Deeside on 56 minutes by former Wild import Jakub Hajek rounded off the scoring for the game.

Following the final weekend of games in the Moralee Division, the final positions in the league table have now been established and the pairings for the Play Off quarter finals are all confirmed.

Solihull Barons finish as runners up in the table after a 5-3 victory over Blackburn Hawks who have to be content with finishing 3rd.  Deeside Dragons finish in a highly creditable 4th place. This is important because the playoff quarter finals match up the team finishing 1st with the team finishing 8th, 2nd playing 7th, 3rd playing 6th and 4th playing 5th.

With Widnes having finished in 7th place in the final Moralee Division table, they will now take on Solihull Barons in the quarter final which will be played over two legs this weekend – Saturday and Sunday 30th and 31st March.  The winners of the 4 quarter final ties will qualify for the Finals Weekend that is to be held at iceSheffield over the weekend of 6th and 7th April.

Match Report: DMUK Widnes Wild Women 1 – Telford Wrekin Raiders 5 (WNIHL Div2 N)

Karyn Cooper was the Wild women’s MVP against Telford – photo by Paul Breeze 

The DMUK Widnes Wild women’s team suffered a 1-5 defeat at the hands of play off contenders Telford Wrekin Raiders at Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday.

Following on from their comprehensive 3-15 away victory over Whitley Bay in their previous game, there were hopes that the Wild women might be able to launch a late charge to qualify for the play offs themselves but Telford proved to be a much tougher challenge altogether.  

The game saw home debuts for Charlotte McAdam and Eleanor Johnson but Widnes were missing a couple of regular players and had to juggle their usual lines, meaning that it took them a while to get going.

Telford scored the first goal mid-way through the first period and then added a second on 17 minutes, taking full advantage of a powerplay for a Wild penalty. The score remained 0-2 to the Raiders at the first period break but, with them having outshot Widnes by 6 to 18, it could have been worse had Stephanie Drinkwater not been on form in the Wild goal.

The second period saw a tighter Widnes defensive performance and, while they were still heavily outshot, the resulting 0-0 period score gave rise to hopes that there might be a late rally in the final 30 minutes of play.

These hopes were dashed by a third Telford goal just 55 seconds into the period – before incoming netminder Ellie Green had time to settle – and further goals on 42 and 44 minutes put the game well beyond Widnes’ reach.

The Wild breakthrough finally came with 45.33 on the clock when Widnes captain Charlotte Cramp slotted the puck past the Telford netminder, rounding 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 Fiona Tyrer and went to Rebecca Craig for Telford and Karyn Cooper for Widnes.

The 1-5 result means that Telford remain in a good position to challenge for a top two spot and a place in the end of season play offs while Widnes look resigned to battling for the mid-table places.

The Wild women have two more home games left to play and await a league management decision regarding two outstanding away games for which no suitable replay date has been found.

The Wild Women are next in action on Sunday 28th April when they take on Sheffield Shadows at Planet Ice Widnes, 4.25pm face off.

Widnes Wild Academy Round Up - 23rd March

The Wild Academy juniors show support for World Down Syndrome day at their training session – photo by Widnes Wild Academy

The Widnes Wild Academy junior teams had a mixed weekend, winning one and losing one of the two games that were played across the age groups.

The Under 16 team beat Coventry U16s 6-3 at Planet Ice Widnes on Saturday, while the Under 18B team lost 4-8 to their Coventry counterparts straight afterwards.

This weekend sees Wild Academy Under 12 team away in Sheffield on Saturday 30th March – 2.35pm face off – and the Under 16s away in Leeds the same day, starting at 4.20pm.

The next home ice action for the Wild Academy teams is the weekend after when the U12s and U14s are both at home to Nottingham on Saturday 6th April at Planet Ice Widnes, 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.

*****

The Wild Academy players showed their support for World Down Syndrome day last week by wearing odd coloured socks at their training session on 21st March.

Match Preview: DMUK Widnes Wild Women at Home to Telford

DMUK Widnes Wild womens’ team (photo by Wil Evans)

The DMUK Widnes Wild women’s team are back in home action this Sunday 24th March when they take on the Telford Wrekin Raiders at Planet Ice Widnes, 4.25pm face off.

Because of the way that the fixture list has worked out this season, it is their first game since the beginning of February and morale in the camp is high following the women’s 3-15 trouncing of Whitley Bay Beacons in their away trip to the North East in their last game.

That was the Wild’s first away win of the season and, with an impressive 11 different players getting on the scoresheet, was good preparation for Sunday’s visit of Telford who are likely to offer stronger opposition.

The Raiders have been perennial title challengers in recent seasons but, this year - as with the Wild women – find themselves stuck in an uncharacteristic mid-table position.  Again, like the Wild women they have been narrowly beaten home and away by runaway league Caledonia Steel Queens, but they have won their last two games – at home against both Kingston and Sheffield - so may now feel that they are on a bit of a roll.

Both teams will be keen to improve on their current league positions so Sunday’s game is bound to be very fiercely contested.

*****

The Wild Women face a fixture backlog in the latter part of the season as they are waiting to hear about rearranging two away games.

The game away to Kingston Diamonds in Hull that was scheduled to be played on 27th January had to be postponed as the ice-time was required for the Hull Seahawks NIHL Cup semi final game that needed to be played on that particular weekend, and the game away at Grimsby on 24th February was abandoned after a home player got seriously injured during the first period.

The Women’s league season runs until the end of May and it is hoped that suitable dates can be arranged for both of these outstanding games to be played.

Widnes Wild Academy Round Up - 16th March

There was only one game for the Wild Academy at the weekend after the Under 18B team’s game away at Grimsby was cancelled. The Academy Under 14s narrowly lost 4-3 away to their Solihull counterparts on Saturday.

The Academy Under 10 team took part in a 4-team cross ice tournament at Deeside but those games are played purely for fun and scores are not recorded.

This weekend sees Wild Academy Under 16 and Under 18B teams take on their counterparts from Coventry at Planet Ice Widnes on Saturday 23rd March – starting from 4.20pm. 

The Under 12 team are away in Blackburn the same day, 5pm 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.

Match Report: Widnes Wild 4 – Deeside Dragons 5 (Moralee Division)

Flynn Massie was the Wild MVP against Deeside (photo by Steve Cunningham)

Sunday 17th March 2024 – Moralee Division: Widnes Wild 4 – Deeside Dragons 5

The Widnes Wild NIHL team staged a battling fightback in their last home game of the regular season but narrowly lost out 4-5 to local rivals Deeside Dragons at Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday.

The game started badly for the Wild as the visitors took the lead on 4 minutes and then doubled the advantage just 20 seconds later.  8 minutes in, it was 0-3 to the Dragons as former Wild import Jakub Hajek scored a shorthanded goal and Widnes looked in serious trouble.  They were outshot by a massive 26 to 4 during this opening period but a combination of solid team defence and resilient netminding from Phil Pearson gradually came to grips with the onslaught and the score remained 0-3 at the first break.

The second period was a lot closer in terms of puck possession and shots on goal and it took until the 33rd minute for the next breakthrough.  This also fell Deeside’s way and they edged further ahead with another short handed goal to make the score 0-4. Widnes finally opened their own account on 35 minutes with a strike from Bailey Thomson and the score remained 1-4 at the second interval.

The third period saw the Wild visibly up their game and the home crowd responded creating a pressure cooker atmosphere around the packed rink. 

Deeside scored again on 45 minutes but Matty Barlow pulled a goal back for Widnes 30 seconds later and the fightback began.  Widnes outshot Deeside by 14 to 8 in this final period and the pressure eventually paid off and the Dragons started picking up niggly penalties.

Powerplay goals from Kyle Carruth on 49 minutes and Flynn Massie on 58 minutes pulled the Wild to within one goal but they ran out of time and the buzzer sounded with the score standing at a frustratingly close 4-5 to the visitors.

The result means that Widnes have set an unwanted record of losing 6 games in a row for the first time in their history, surpassing the 5 consecutive defeats earlier in the season and similar spells back in 2013 and 2019.

They will be keen to buck this unfortunate trend in their last game of the regular Moralee Division schedule this Sunday 24th March when they travel the short distance to North Wales to take on the Dragons again at Deeside Leisure Centre, 5.15pm face off.

Following Sunday’s league finale, the Wild will be in action in the quarter finals of the Moralee Play Offs the weekend after with home and away ties against whichever team finishes second in the league.  Depending on the outcome of the final league games this weekend, that will be either Blackburn Hawks - who are currently occupying the runners-up spot - or Solihull Barons.

Wild Players In Football Match For Halton Haven Hospice

Matty Barlow (#20) in football action for Mersey Town FC in the charity game in aid of Halton Haven Hospice (Photo by Sharon McLean)

With the Wild not having a match at the weekend, Widnes NIHL team players Matty Barlow and Andrew Hopkins swapped ice for grass and took part in a charity football match in aid of Halton Haven Hospice.

The game was between Mersey Town FC - who are a good causes football club set up to raise money and awareness for local charities - and “Team O’Neill” put together by prolific local fundraiser Paul O'Neill,  and was played on Saturday at Parklands Sports Club in Widnes.  The football match was part of a family fun day in aid of the Hospice that also had children’s activities, a raffle and an auction of sporting collectibles.

The game was thoroughly entertaining and closely fought throughout, finishing in a 4-3 victory for Mersey Town FC. The goalscorers were Jon McEvoy (2), Matty Barlow and James Griffiths for Mersey Town FC and Carl Williams, Simon Atkinson and Joe Willcay for Team O’Neill.

Over £4.000 was raised for the Hospice on the day - with more money to come in - and there are a number of items still available to bid for in an online auction, which runs until the end of the month.

You can view the online auction items HERE   

Widnes Wild Qualify For Moralee Play Offs

The Widnes Wild NIHL team qualified for the Moralee Division end of season play offs at the weekend without even having to strike a puck.

The Wild need to finish in 8th place or better in the final league table to ensure post season hockey but that scenario was under threat from both Sheffield Scimitars and Nottingham Lions who were both trailing on points but had games in hand.  Had both teams secured maximum points from their remaining games, they could both have – mathematically – overtaken the Wild and taken the remaining playoff positions. 

However, results at the weekend went in Widnes’ favour with both the Scimitars and Lions losing their games, meaning that the Wild can no longer be overtaken for 7th place.

The match-ups for the play off quarter final ties are decided by final league positions with the team that ends up 1st playing the team that ends up 8th, 2nd v 7th and so on.

This means that Widnes will play whichever team finishes up as runners up in the Moralee Division – who are currently Solihull Barons, although they could still be overtaken for second spot by Blackburn Hawks who have more games yet to play to complete their regular season schedule.

The quarter-finals will be played over two legs – home and away – over the weekend of 30th /31st March, with the winners progressing to an NIHL North finals weekend in Sheffield on 6th and 7th April.

The timings for the quarter-final matches will be announced once the Wild’s opponents are confirmed.

The Wild play their last home game of the regular season this Sunday 17th March when they take on local rivals Deeside Dragons at Planet Ice Widnes, face off 5.30pm.

Widnes Wild Academy Round Up - 9th/10th March

The Widnes Wild Junior Academy had a mixed weekend with one win and two defeats from the three games played across the age groups. 

The Wild Academy Under 16 team won 4-7 away at Deeside on Saturday while the Under 18A team lost 0-4 at home to Manchester. On Sunday, the Under 18B team lost 10-2 away to Leeds U18s. 

This weekend sees the Wild Under 14 team away in Solihull on Saturday 16th March and the Under 18B team away in Grimsby the same day. Also on Saturday, the Academy Under 10 team play in a 4-team cross-ice tournament away at Deeside – 4.35pm start.

The next home action for the Wild Academy teams is on Saturday 23rd March when the Under16s and Under 18B team take on their counterparts from Coventry at Planet Ice Widnes – starting from 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: Whitley Bay Beacons 3 – DMUK Widnes Wild Women 15 (WNIHL Div2 N)

Ellen Tyrer scored a hat-trick at Whitley for the Wild women – photo by Wil Evans

Saturday 9th March 1014 – WNIHL Div2N: Whitley Bay Beacons 3 – DMUK Widnes Wild Women 15

The DMUK Widnes Wild women finally broke their road trip hoodoo with an emphatic 3-15 win away to Whitley Bay Beacons on Saturday.  

The Wild women had lost their first 4 away games of the season and then seen two more postponed or abandoned for various reasons, but everything fell into place for this potentially tricky visit to the North East.

Widnes took the lead with a goal from Katie Adshead on 3 minutes and then doubled the advantage with a Preston Gennoe strike just 40 seconds later.

Whitley hit back with two goals of their own to tie the score but further goals from Ellen Tyrer and Jennifer Hickey saw the Wild women leading 2-4 at the first period break.

Katie Fairclough edged the Wild further into the lead with a goal just 2 minutes into the second period and then the floodgates opened with 5 more unanswered goals – from Gennoe (2), Tyrer, Phoebe Patient and Tyrer again – to put the game well out of reach of the home side at 2-10 after 40 minutes of play.

The third period saw Widnes keep the pressure up and 5 more goals followed – from Fairclough (2) Sophie Hill (2, her first for the club) and Preston Gennoe for her fourth of the game.

The resulting 3-15 victory is the Wild women’s biggest win of the season so far and their highest score since their 15-2 home win over Kingston in March 2023.

They are next in action Sunday 24th March when they take on Telford Wrekin Raiders at Planet Ice Widnes, 4.25pm face off.

Riverside Raiders Conquer Mt Snowdon

The Riverside Raiders team at the top of Mt Snowdon on their charity hike.

The Widnes based Riverside Raiders ice hockey team have hiked to the top of Mt Snowdon in aid of a mental health charity.

The Raiders had won the Summer Classic Cup competition twice in recent years but this was an altogether different type of challenge as they set out to conquer the 1085 meters of the highest mountain in England and Wales, battling against the wintry weather as well as the steep incline itself.

It is thought that this is the first time that an ice hockey team has undertaken  the walk –especially wearing full ice hockey gear - and Raiders coach Ben Donkin planned to go the whole way wearing ice hockey skates, which if you have ever tried walking in them, you will know is difficult enough on the flat surfaces around an ice rink, let alone on the rocky slopes of a mountain.

The idea came about the Raiders wanted to do something unusual and dramatic to mark their 10th anniversary as a club and also to support a worthy cause, so they decided to do the walk to help 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.

The walk to the top of the mountain and back down again took 6 hours to complete and coach Donkin managed to do the whole route in his skates. Afterwards he commented: 

“It was amazingly not as bad as I was expecting in skates.  An absolutely amazing effort by the boys. We smashed it - even in the snow”!

The Raiders had originally set themselves the target of raising £1000 for Rethink Mental Illness but have already doubled that through online donations and are keen to keep the tally rising.

For anybody who would like to sponsor the Raiders’ walk up Mount Snowdon, they have 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

Widnes Wild Academy Round Up - 2nd March

The Widnes Wild Junior Academy had a mixed weekend with two wins and two defeats from the four games played across the age groups. 

The Wild Academy Under 12 team beat Deeside Under 12s 4-1 away in North Wales on Saturday while the Under 14s narrowly lost out 2-1 away to the Dragons U14s.

On the same day, in a Widnes v Solihull double bill at Planet Ice Widnes, the Wild Academy Under 16s lost 3-4 and the Under 18B team won 10-2. 

This weekend sees the Wild Under 12 team away in Coventry on Saturday 9th March and the Under 18B team away in Leeds on Sunday 10th March.

The Under 16s are at home to Deeside on Saturday at Planet Ice Widnes, 4.20pm face off and the Under 18A team face Manchester 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 - Blackburn Hawks 7 (Moralee Division)

Joey Coulter was the Wild MVP against Blackburn (photo by Steve Cunningham)

Sunday 3rd March – Moralee Division: Widnes Wild 3 - Blackburn Hawks 7

The Widnes Wild NIHL team had a disappointing weekend, suffering back to back defeats at the hands of north west rivals Blackburn Hawks - losing 10-3 away on Saturday and 3-7 at home at Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday. 

The home game on Sunday saw a much grittier and determined performance from the Wild team but the end result still came out pretty much the same. Blackburn opened the scoring after 90 seconds and were, once again, 0-4 up by the end of the first period.

A fifth goal for the visitors just 64 seconds into the second period looked to have already put the game past the reach of the Wild but a powerplay strike by Owen Rae gave them some hope.

Widnes noticeably upped their game after this and were battling to reduce the deficit when they were caught out by another Blackburn goal on 31 minutes. 

A goal from Wild player coach Joey Coulter just 16 seconds after that pulled the score back to 6-2 but another Hawks strike two minutes later saw the visitors leading 2-7 at the second period break.

Widnes kept plugging away in the third period but Blackburn shut up shop and it took until the 54th minute before the Wild were rewarded with another goal for their efforts. This came from the stick of Damarni James – scoring against his former club – but was to be the last goal of the night and the match ended up as a 3-7 win for the Hawks. 

These weekend results mean that the Wild have now lost 5 games in a row for the second time this season – a sequence they will be keen to break with two games coming up against Deeside Dragons in the coming weeks.

They remain 7th in the Moralee Division table – a distant 12 points behind 6th place Hull Jets – but are not yet guaranteed a place in the end of season play offs and could still – mathematically, at least – be overtaken by Nottingham Lions or Sheffield Scimitars for that coveted top 8 spot.

The Wild NIHL team are without a game next weekend and are back in action on Sunday 17th March when they take on local rivals Deeside Dragons at Planet Ice Widnes, 5.30pm face off.

Following that, they play their last game of the regular season away to Deeside on Sunday 24th March, with two-legged quarter final ties in the Moralee Play Offs scheduled to take place the weekend after.

Match Report: Trafford Thunder 6 – Halton Huskies 5 (Challenge Match)

Nathan Hewitt opened the scoring for the Huskies away at Trafford (photo by David Tattum)

Saturday 2nd March 2024 – Challenge Match: Trafford Thunder 6 – Halton Huskies 5

The Halton Huskies put in a battling performance in their first match of the new recreational season but narrowly lost out 6-5 away to Trafford Thunder at Altrincham on Saturday.

The Huskies opened the scoring in the 4th minute with a goal from Nathan Hewitt and then doubled the lead with a Matt Kohler strike 3 minutes later

Trafford pulled a goal back just 23 seconds after that and then drew level on 12 minutes. A third goal for the hosts saw them take the lead with just 90 seconds to play in the first period and they led 3-2 at the first interval.

This was a very closely fought and entertaining encounter and, while the Huskies actually outshot their hosts by 2 to 1 over the course of the game, it was the Thunder that retained the narrow advantage  that they had carried over from the first period.

Trafford scored again on 28 minutes to lead 4-2 but the Huskies pulled a goal back through Edward Ridding at the half way mark. Halton then drew level on 37 minutes with a goal from Jon Lomax but the Thunder cancelled that out with a strike with 33 seconds left on the clock to lead 5-4 after 40 minutes of play.

The third period played out in similar vein with Trafford extending their lead again on 46 minutes and the Huskies pulling a goal back again through Jack Berry with a superb short-handed effort on 52 minutes. That rounded off the scoring for the game and the Thunder were able to hold on to record a narrow 6-5 victory.

The Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards went to former Altrincham Aces league netminder Aran Fox for Trafford – who kept out 55 of the 60 shots that he faced - and Jack Berry for Halton.

The Halton Huskies are next in action on Saturday 30th March when they travel across the Pennines to face the Leeds Warriors in a 9.45pm face off.

Further match dates are:

Sunday 21st April: home v Sheffield Ice Tigers

Saturday 4th May: away @ Blackburn Renegades

Saturday 25th May: home v Blackburn Renegades

Saturday 8th June: home v Manchester Swarm

Sunday 7th July: home v Bradford Cannibals

Saturday 3rd August: home v Leeds Warriors

Match Report: Blackburn Hawks 10 - Widnes Wild 3 (Moralee Division)

Photo by Luke Riley / lrileystudio

Saturday 2nd March – Moralee Division: Blackburn Hawks 10 – Widnes Wild 3 

The Widnes Wild NIHL team had a disappointing weekend, suffering back to back defeats at the hands of north west rivals Blackburn Hawks - losing 10-3 away on Saturday and 3-7 at home at Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday. 

The Wild came into the weekend’s games on the back of a 3-match losing streak, while Blackburn were on a high following their 21-6 two leg demolition of league leaders Billingham Stars the previous weekend in the Moralee Cup final.

Unfortunately for Widnes, the away game on Saturday went pretty much to current form and Blackburn raced to a 4-0 lead by the first interval.

Widnes eventually found the back of the net themselves with a powerplay goal from Matty Barlow in the 23rd minute punishing a Blackburn interference call but the Hawks hit back 90 seconds later with a shorthanded goal to restore the 4-goal cushion.

Gregor Donaldson fired in his first ever goal for Widnes on 26 minutes to raise hopes of a Wild fightback but these were soon quashed by a disastrous spell that saw Blackburn score 4 more goals to lead 9-2 at the second interval.

The Hawks edged further ahead on 43 minutes with their 10th goal of the game and Matty Barlow scored his second of the night 53 seconds later for Widnes to round off the scoring.  Tempers boiled over after this as Bailey Thomson took exception to an overly robust challenge from former Wild player Calum Ruddick and was handed a 2+2 penalty for roughing plus a 10 minute misconduct call while Ruddick just got 2 minutes for roughing.