Captain Evan McKinney was the Cobras MVP against Blackburn
14th April 2024 – Summer Classic Cup: Connah’s Quay Cobras 12 – Blackburn Falcons 8
The Connah’s Quay Cobras maintained their position at the top of the Summer Classic Cup table with a hard-fought 12-8 win over Blackburn Falcons at Deeside Leisure Centre on Sunday.
The visitors took the lead in the 6th minute but the Cobras hit back with an equaliser from Slavomir Sykora two minutes later. A goal from Martin Rybka put the Cobras into the lead on 10 minutes and the score remained 2-1 at the first period break.
The Falcons equalised just 61 seconds into the second period and then retook the lead themselves with a third goal on 23 minutes. Connah’s Quay levelled the scores again with a strike from Sam Plant but three more goals in a frantic few minutes saw Blackburn leading 3-6 at the mid point of the game.
The second period “goal-fest” continued with strikes from Cobras’ Louis Ellwood and Libor Krempasky to narrow the deficit to just 1 goal but Blackburn hit back with their 7th on 34 minutes.
The Cobras upped their game at this point and two unanswered goals – from Louie Bailey on 37 minutes and Rybka again on 38 – meant that the score was, remarkably, tied at 7-7 with one period left to play.
Connah’s Quay fired themselves back into the lead just 20 seconds into the third period with a goal from Stewart Cutting and then two more goals from Rybka handed them a 10-7 lead heading into the last 10 minutes.
A late rally saw another Blackburn strike on 52 minutes to keep things interesting, but goals from Martin Stolicny on 54 minutes and a 5th goal of the night from Rybka on 57 secured the victory for the Cobras.
This was their third win out of three starts in this year’s competition so far and 10th win in a row overall. They lead the group table with 6 points from their 3 games, ahead of Newcastle Predators who also have a 100% record with two wins from their two games to date.
The Connah’s Quay team have another game this Sunday 21st April when they take on the Blackburn Buccaneers in a challenge match at Deeside Leisure Centre – 8.30pm face off.
They then return to Summer Classic Cup action on Sunday 5th May when they take on Newcastle Predators at home, also 8.30 face off. Admission is free for spectators to all Cobras home games and they also offer a streaming service via their Facebook page for fans who aren’t able to attend in person.
