2024 Rob Craig Memorial Game At Blackburn

The White and Blue teams at the 2024 Rob Craig Memorial game (Photo by Steve Cunningham)

The annual Rob Craig Memorial match took place at Blackburn Arena on Sunday, featuring a wide range of current and former NIHL league players, along with recreational players from various north west clubs.

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.

A healthy crowd of over 600 cheered the teams on and they were treated to an entertaining goal fest worthy of the occasion.

The “Blue” team included current Widnes player Matty Barlow along with former Wild players Kieran Brown, Ian Thirkettle and Bobby Streetly while the “White” team featured Calum Ruddick, Mark Higson and Adam Barnes.

There were also a number of current and former Blackburn Hawks and Eagles players were spread across both teams as well as former team mates of Rob Craig from the Blackburn Falcons and Wyre Seagulls recreational teams. Manchester Storm’s Canadian import CJ Garcia also played on the White team.

The beneficiary of the 2024 Rob Craig Memorial game is 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.

Over £8000 has been raised so far from this year’s memorial game – with the total set to rise as player shirts are being sold off in an online auction.

For the record, the “Blue” team beat the “White” team 12-11 but, on this occasion, the taking part was certainly much more important than the winning.

You can find out more about the annual Rob Craig Memorial game HERE

and about Andy’s Man Club and their local groups via their website at andysmanclub.co.uk.

Wild Academy U12s At National Championship

The Widnes Wild Academy Under 12 team had a memorable weekend at the National Championships in Sheffield, losing all three of their games but making lots of new friends.

The competition saw the top two teams from each of the 4 regional Under 12 divisions come together to decide an overall national winner. Widnes - who had finished in second place in the North West Division – were joined by North West champions Solihull and Leeds and Sheffield from the North East Division, as well as Chelmsford and Streatham from the South East and Guildford and Slough from the South West. 

The teams were drawn into two groups of four that would play each other in a “round robin” format to decide who would proceed to the quarter finals.

The Wild lost their first game 9-1 to Leeds on the Saturday morning and then lost 8-0 to Guildford on Saturday evening. Sunday morning saw a much closer game where they narrowly lost out to Streatham 4-3 but they still finished bottom of the 4-team group.

Guildford beat Chelmsford 7-3 in the first semi final and Sheffield beat Leeds 8-0. The final saw Sheffield beat Guilford in a dramatic penalty shoot-out after the teams had drawn 2-2 in normal play.

Match Report: DMUK Widnes Wild Women 2 – Leeds Roses 3 (WNIHL Div2 N)

Team Captain for the day Laura Marcroft was the Wild Women’s MVP in the match against Leeds (Photo by Paul Breeze)

Sunday 12th May 2024 – WNIHL Div2 N: DMUK Widnes Wild Women 2 – Leeds Roses 3 

The DMUK Widnes Wild women’s team put in a battling performance but ended up on the wrong end of a 2-3 scoreline against Leeds Roses in their last game of the season at Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday.

The Wild Women had lost 8-2 in the away fixture against Leeds earlier in the season and then suffered a huge disappointment in their last home game against Sheffield when an equalising goal with just 27 seconds left to play robbed them of a win, so there was a lot of cross-Pennine pride at stake in this final league game.

The match started well for Widnes and they opened the scoring in the 7th minute with a well-taken goal from Preston Gennoe. There were numerous chances for both teams and the visitors had a slight edge in terms of shots on goal, but Stephanie Drinkwater water looked very composed in the Wild net and the score remained 1-0 at the first period break.

The second period was as closely contested as the first – with lots of end to end action - and Leeds eventually equalised with a goal on 25 minutes.   Widnes hit straight back, however, and a second goal from Gennoe on 29 minutes edged the home side back in front.

The score stood at a tantalisingly close 2-1 to Widnes at the second interval and the Wild Women just needed to carry on as they were and hang on for another 20 minutes to bring their season to a winning conclusion.

Having managed to keep penalty free during the first two periods, it all began to go wrong in the third as the clock ticked down and the game began to get niggly. Leeds pushed forward in an attempt to force an equaliser and Widnes were forced into conceding penalties to keep them at bay.

The game changing moment came when the Wild women were 35 seconds into a slashing call and Leeds were able to make the most of their player advantage to level the score with 12 minutes still to play. This gave the Roses a huge boost and they went on to take the lead 3 minutes later.

The Wild women pushed hard to try and find a way back into the game but they were unable to make any headway against the stubborn Leeds defence in the last 10 minutes and the game ended in a narrow 2-3 victory for the visitors.

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 Emma Allender for Leeds and Laura Marcroft for Widnes.

*****

The Wild Women finish the season in a mid-table position in WNIHL Division 2 North.  Their final placing is not yet confirmed as other teams still have games left to play.

There is also the situation regarding two unresolved away games - at Grimsby and Hull – which were supposed to be re-arranged but have not been due to ice availability issues. The League Management Committee will make a decision on these games and allocate league points accordingly.

Match Report: Connah's Quay Cobras 5 - Shropshire Huskies 6 (PS) - Challenge Match

Saturday 11th May 2024 - Challenge Match:  Connah's Quay Cobras 5 - Shropshire Huskies 6 (PS)

The Connah’s Quay Cobras put in a battling performance in their Challenge Match against the Shropshire Huskies at Deeside Leisure Centre on Saturday, drawing 5-5 in normal time before losing out on a Penalty Shootout for the second time in successive games.

The Cobras opened the scoring in the 7th minute with a goal from Martin Rybka but the visitors hit back with two goals of their own to lead 1-2 at the first period break. 

Shropshire further extended their lead with the only goal in a tight second period, on 35 minutes and then went 1-4 ahead with another strike 3 minutes into the third period.

This seemed to gee up the Cobras a bit and two unanswered goals quickly followed from Rybka to complete his hat-trick for the game and drag the home side back to within one goal on the Huskies.  The fightback was completed when a goal from Mike Filek drew the two sides level with 10 minutes left to play.

Connah’s Quay edged back into the lead when Brad Commins fired in with just 2 ½ minutes left on the clock but the Cobras were denied a hard-earned victory by a late goal from the Huskies, which tied the score at 5-5. A Penalty Shootout was then held to decide an overall winner and this went the way of the Huskies by 2 strikes to 1.

A group of visitors from the charity Conwy Connect were VIP guests at Saturday’s game.  The Charity helps promote the rights of people with a learning disability living in North Wales and they have a special Sing and Sign Choir which incorporates Makaton signing language into their musical  performances.

In the run up to the game, the Cobras players learned some basic Makaton signs and worked with the charity to produce a joint music video performing the Guns N Roses song “Sweet Child O’ Mine”, which was then played in public for the first time on the big screen at the ice rink during the match.

The Connah’s Quay Cobras are next in action on Sunday 26th May when they take on rink-rivals Flintshire Phantoms in the Summer Classic Cup at Deeside Leisure.  The game faces off at 8.30pm and admission is free for all spectators.

Match Report: Connah’s Quay Cobras 6 – Newcastle Predators 7 (PS) – Summer Classic Cup

Connah's Quay Cobras and Newcastle Predators played out a thrilling draw in the Summer Classic Cup (Photo by James New / @snapshotdev)

Sunday 5th May 2024 – Summer Classic Cup: Connah’s Quay Cobras 6 – Newcastle Predators 7 (PS)

The Connah’s Quay Cobras played out a highly entertaining 6-6 draw before losing out in a dramatic penalty shoot out to the Newcastle Predators in the Summer Classic Cup at Deeside Leisure Centre on Sunday.

The Cobras had been unbeaten in the competition so far and the Predators arrived from the North East with a similar record, so this was always going to be an extremely close game.

The visitors were quickest out of the blocks and opened the scoring just 90 seconds into the game. They were 0-2 up by the time former Deeside Dragons NIHL player Chris Keating found the back of the net for the Cobras but then two more goals late in the period saw the Predators leading 1-4 at the first interval.

A fifth goal in the 24th minute looked to have put the Newcastle team well in control but a second goal from Keating shortly after that and a strike from Martin Rybka on 26 minutes narrowed the deficit.  Despite numerous chances for both teams, the rest of the second period played out goal-less and the score stood at a tantalisingly close 3-5 with 20 minutes left to play.

The Predators scored again early in the third period to make the score 3-6 but the Cobras were far from finished and began to fight back.  A hat-trick goal from Keating just 59 seconds later narrowed the gap and three minutes after that he scored his fourth goal of the game to cut the Newcastle lead down to just 1 goal.

Former Deeside Dragon Chris Keating
scored 4 goals against the Predators
(photo by James New / @snapshotdev) 

The Cobras put the Predators goal under immense pressure in the closing stages  – outshooting them by 15–4 in the period – and they were rewarded with an equalising powerplay goal from Rybka with just 86 seconds left.   Had the game gone on for another 5 minutes, Connah’s Quay might have gone on to snatch a late winner but time ran out and the match finished as a 6-6 draw.

The result was then decided by a tense penalty shoot out, which went the way of the visitors.  That means that the Predators take the two points for the win while the Cobras get one point for an Overtime Loss.

The Cobras are in action again this Saturday 11th May then they take on the Shropshire Huskies in a challenge match at Deeside Leisure Centre, 4.30m face off.

The game will have guests from the charity Conwy Connect, who help promote the rights of people with a learning disability living in North Wales. 

Admission is free for all spectators. 

Widnes Wild Academy Round Up - 4th & 5th May

The Widnes Wild Academy rounded off the regular junior league season with three wins and one defeat from the four competitive games that were played at the weekend.

The Under 16 team beat Leeds Under 16s 4-1 at Planet Ice Widnes on Saturday while the Under 18B team lost 3-6, also to Leeds.

On Sunday, the Under 18B team beat Sutton Sting 5-4 and the Under 10 team hosted a 4-team cross ice tournament.  The Under 12s won 0-8 away at Coventry on the same day.

The Wild Under 12 team have finished in second place in the U12s league and have qualified for the Play Offs, which are being held this weekend at Sheffield. They will play round robin group games against Leeds and Guildford on Saturday and Streatham on Sunday. 

Halton Huskies in 20 Goal Thriller

Dave Priestley (#70) found the back of the net in the 10 -10 draw at Blackburn (Photo by Lydia Turner / lydiaturnerphotography.co.uk )

Saturday 4th May 2024 – Challenge Match: Blackburn Renegades 10 – Halton Huskies 10

The Halton Huskies played out a thrilling 10-10 draw in their Challenge Match against the Blackburn  Renegades away in East Lancashire on Saturday.

This was, overall, an excellent advertisement for recreational ice hockey with plenty of end to action, lots of goals and it was an especially spirited performance by the Huskies who found themselves up against a number of former league players in the Renegades team.

The first period alone saw seven goals – more than are often scored in total in a higher division game these days – and strikes from Jake Berry, Jack Davies and Matt Kohler ensured that the Huskies remained well in contention with their hosts with the score at 4-3 at the first break. 

Blackburn visibly upped their game in the second period and scored 4 unanswered goals to open up a 7-3 lead but then an extended powerplay on a fighting penalty gave the Huskies a 5 on 3 player advantage and they were able to pull back deficit with goals from Berry, Kohler and Reid Ryan to leave the score standing at a finely balanced 7-6 with one period left to play.

The Renegades scored early in the third period to briefly double their advantage but this was short lived as a dazzling spell from Halton saw them draw level - with hat-trick goals from both Kohler and Berry.  They then took the lead themselves with a strike from Dave Priestley and edged further ahead with a fourth goal of the night from Berry to lead 8-10. 

Blackburn were not finished, however, and fought back again to tie the game at 10-10.  Unfortunately, by this time, the game had over-run its allocated amount of ice time and had to be cut short with 4.40 remaining on the clock.

Talking afterwards, Huskies manager Ste Hay said:  “It was a standard game against a team from Blackburn - fiery and exciting throughout. I am looking forward to the return game on home ice.”

The Huskies are next in action on Saturday 25th May when they play the return game against the Renegades at Planet Ice Widnes, 4.15pm face off.  

Mayhem Sledge Weekend

Mayhem sledge team with sponsors Fletchers Solicitors (Photo by @haganovaphoto)

The Mayhem Sledge team are marking the start of the 2024 Para Ice Hockey season with a special weekend at the Planet Ice rink in Widnes on 18th & 19th May.

On Saturday 18th May from 4.15 to 8.15pm there is a 3v3 tournament with mixed squads made up of players from around the country competing in short format cross-ice games to decide an overall winner.

On the Sunday, there is a free taster session from 4.15 to 6.15pm where people can go along and give the sport a try, with equipment and guidance all provided, followed by a match between the Mayhem and the Great Britain women’s team. 

The whole weekend is free for spectators to go along and watch and anybody interested in taking part in the taster session is asked to contact the Mayhem team in advance via email to info@manchestermayhem.co.uk. 

The Mayhem’s first league game of the 2024 season is against the Peterborough Phantoms on Saturday 1st June at Planet Ice Widnes, 4.25pm face off. 

Wild Players To Take Part in Rob Craig Memorial Game

Widnes Wild players past and present will be joining players from many other clubs in this year’s Rob Craig memorial game which will be played this Sunday 12th May at Blackburn.

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.  

Alongside Matty Barlow, it has been announced that former Widnes players Bobby Streetly and Adam Barnes, Calum Ruddick - all 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.

Hawks player James Riddoch, Blackburn Head Coach Dominic Osman – a former Elite League player with Hull – and Manchester Storm’s Canadian import CJ Garcia are also due to play, and the bigger name players 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.”

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 at £3 for adults  and £1 for Under 16s  HERE  – or you can pay on the door.    

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

Wild Women Face Leeds in Pennine Derby

Natalie Buckles was the Wild Women’s MVP in their last match (Photo by Paul Breeze)

The DMUK Widnes Wild women’s team will be looking to end their season on a winning note when they play their last game of the season against Leeds Roses this Sunday 12th May at Planet Ice Widnes, 4.25pm face off.

Widnes had their slim outside chance of reaching the end of season play offs dashed when they only managed a draw in their previous home game against Sheffield Shadows while Leeds’ 6-2 defeat away to Telford at the weekend means they are now unable to qualify for the Sheffield finale weekend either.

However, both teams are jockeying for the mid-table positions in the league and, with all-important cross-Pennine pride at stake, there is still plenty to play for in Sunday’s game.

Widnes Wild NIHL Team Presentation Evening

All smiles at a previous Wild Presentation Evening (Photo by Geoff White)

The Widnes Wild NIHL team have announced that their end of season Presentation Evening will take place at The Venue, Widnes Old Town Hall, on Saturday 18th May from 7pm.

The evening will give the opportunity for fans to mix with players and coaching staff and see the annual player awards presented.

Supporters who have sponsored “own and loan” players’ shirts for the season will also have them presented to them and have the chance to have photos taken with their favourite players.

Tickets for the evening cost £15 for adults and £12 for children and the price includes a hot and cold buffet. Tickets are only available via the Wild club shop website – HERE - and must be booked by 10pm on Friday 10th May at the latest so that catering requirements can be confirmed.

Cobras Face Predators In Top Of The Table Clash

The Connah’s Quay Cobras have a top of the table clash this Sunday 5th May when they take on the Newcastle Predators in the Summer Classic Cup at Deeside Leisure Centre, 8.30pm face off.

Both teams go into Sunday’s match with an unbeaten record – with the Cobras having won all three of their cup games to date and Newcastle winning two out of two – so there is a lot at stake.

Talking about the game, Cobras’ manager Scott Dutton said:

“We are all looking forward to the top of the table clash with the Predators. We've not had the chance to play these guys yet and, judging from their track record so far, it will be a good test for us.” 

“Newcastle Predators are a bit of an unknown team as they were in the East Conference last year, and given the distance between us we have not played common teams either. It will be a great test for us.”

The game on Sunday faces off at 8.30pm at Deeside Leisure Centre and admission is free for all spectators.