For the second home game of
the weekend Widnes Wild met an exuberant Blackburn Eagles - fresh from their previous nights victory
over Nottingham. Eagles included former Wild forward, Joe Charlton. Greg Ruxton
was selected in goal for the North West derby and an enthusiastic crowd
welcomed the teams.
The game opened at a furious pace with Widnes shots raining in on Nick
Saxton in the Eagles net. Frustration spilled over in the 7th minute when a
challenge on Saxton led to an altercation and fists raised. Bez Hughes took a
two minute penalty.
It took until the 16th minute for relentless Wild pressure to bring a
goal. Ben Brown won the puck behind the net and fed Lee Pollitt who fired home.
In the final minute of the period, big Tom Jackson fired home from the blue
line to give the home side a two goal lead.
It took less than two minutes of the second period for Widnes to go 3 -
0 ahead, Bez Hughes firing in . Within three minutes they were 4 - 0 up when
Callum Ruddick thundered home a boomer from the blue line. Matt Wainwright was
the next scorer with a powerful angled shot from the left at 25.20. Ben Brown
made it six at 32.51 firing in from Lee Pollitts pass.
The flow was disrupted when a controversial tripping penalty in the
33rd minute saw the teams battling.
The final period saw two tiring
teams feeling the effects of a double fixture weekend. A series of niggling
penalties saw both sides defending short handed. The highlight for the home
crowd came from a trademark Filip Supa goal at 48.04. After the home team had
worked the puck around the zone , Supa got half a chance and lifted the puck
past Saxton and into the roof of the net - 7-0. Widnes , after 2 periods of
sustained attacking were feeling the effects
of two physical gamesnand as the final period drew to a close they found
themselves defending shorthanded.
This was a much improved
performance from the Wild with their controlled passing and creative attacking
play, a joy to watch. Greg Ruxton, in the Widnes net , took the home MVP for a
29 shot shut out. All the Wild players emerged with credit from the game.
Wild travel to near neighbours,
Deeside Dragons on Sunday night - hopefully encouraged by this convincing win.
Dick Gillingham
Photo by Geoff White - www.gw-images.co.uk
