Joel Bark was the Wild MVP in the home game against Telford on Saturday (Photo by Steve Cunningham)
Saturday 7th September – Challenge Match: Widnes Wild 3 – Telford Tigers 5
Sunday 8th September – Challenge Match: Telford Tigers 4 - Widnes Wild 1
The Widnes Wild NIHL team had a disappointing weekend with back to back defeats at the hands of last season’s Laidler Division champions Telford Tigers, losing 3-5 at home on Saturday and 4-1 away on Sunday.
The home game on Saturday saw a rather depleted Wild line up compared with the three full lines that had battered Bradford Bulldogs the week before but they managed to take a 2-0 lead in the first 10 minutes with goals from new team captain Andrew Hopkins and former Solway Sharks and Edinburgh Capitals player Andrew Craik, who joined the Wild during the summer.
Telford pulled a goal back to bring the score to 2-1 at the first break and then scored two unanswered goals in the second period to lead 2-3 after 40 minutes of play.
Outstanding Wild youngster Jared Knowles equalised two minutes into the third period with his third goal in two games for Widnes but two more goals – including an empty net strike after netminder Charlie Henry had been taken off in favour of an extra attacker - secured the win for the Tigers.
The away game on Sunday was pretty close in its early stages but Telford eventually took the lead on 15 minutes. They doubled the advantage 90 seconds into the second period and Widnes finally opened their own account with a Damarni James goal on 26 minutes.
A penalty shot early in the third period edged the Tigers further ahead again and a goal from former Wild import Filip Supa rounded off the scoring for the game with 10 minutes left to play.
The NIHL season proper starts this weekend with a road trip to Hull and back this Saturday 14th September when the Wild play Hull Jets in their first league fixture of the season. They are home on Sunday when they take on last season’s league champions Billingham Stars at Planet Ice Widnes, 5.30pm face off.
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The Widnes Wild Junior Academy had their first games of the new season at the weekend.
The Under 19 team won 3-9 away at Solihull on Saturday and the Under 18 team lost 1-8 away to Kingston (Hull) on Sunday.
The Wild Academy runs teams in all age groups - ie Under 10s, Under 12s Under 14s, Under 16s and Under 18s - and also has a team in the Under 19 league that has been newly formed for this season.
The Academy are always keen to recruit new players across all age groups 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
