The match opened at a furious pace with Blackburn's big
physical presence disrupting the smooth flow of the Widnes attack. It was the
visitors who opened the scoring at 5.18 with Filip Supa and Lee Pollitt
combining well on the right and allowing Shaun Dipnall to score from close in.
Minor penalties against the home side gave the visitors numerical advantage,
but the final pass or inaccurate shooting prevented them extending their lead.
In the 10th minute extended Eagles pressure saw Greg Ruxton make a couple of
excellent low saves. The pressure paid off and a defensive error on the right
saw Wild disposessed and Jordan Ashington skating across the face of goal and
beating Greg Ruxton with a reverse shot for the equaliser at 11.32. Wild
stepped up a gear with Crosby making good saves from Brown and Supa. In a
soradic Eagles attack Aaron Jordan hit a fierce shot from the left which crashed
off the bar to safety. The period ended in controversy with Widnes finding the
net on the buzzer, as the period ended. The 'goal' was ruled out, referee
Andrew Miller ruling that the puck had entered the net after tbe buzzer had
sounded.
The second period saw both netminders in early action with
Supa and Vales prominent for the visitors. The home side stepped up the action,
outshooting the visitors by two to one. Captain Matt Wainwright skated
elusively through the Eagles defence at 36.40 but his shot was well saved. Two
minutes later a Shaun Dipnall effort was well blocked by Crosby. As the period
closed, some frustration was setting in for Widnes with solo efforts replacing
a passing game as the team pressed for the lead.
The third period opened in sensational style - a speculative
cross from the right taking a bizarre deflection off Greg Ruxton to give the
home side the lead at 40.39. This spurred the Widnes fans, making up the
majority of the crowd , into action and their ongoing support seemed to lift
the team. A great break out from Filip Supa down the right, led to Tom Jackson
firing in a powerful shot from inside the blue line.An apparent high elbow to
the head led to further Wild frustration and Bez Hughes sitting a misconduct
penalty at 43.10. Despite constant pressure from the visitors, Crosby made a
series of vital stops. In an attempt to take something from the game, Wild
called a time out at 52.19.
Desperate defence from the Eagles and minor
penalties for charging and tripping saw Wild pressing and the equaliser came at
56.18 - a powerplay goal. Matt Wainwright and Shaun Dipnall combined for Filip
Supa to find the net through a crowd of players around the net. Both sides
seemed keen to retain a point but with just over half a minute remaining,
sensationally, a penalty shot was awarded. With Crosby beaten, a defenceman
prevented the puck crossing the line. After some confusion and a delay, Filip
Supa, stepped up and as he veered to Phil Crosby's right the puck stopped in
snow by the crease allowing the netminder to make a block.
Honours even then
and it will be weeks before we can decide whether this was a point gained or a
point lost ! Kieran Strangeway took the MVP for Wild and the team left the ice
to rousing encouragement from the travelling support. The final period saw Wild
outshoot the home side by 36 -14.
Report by Dick Gillingham
Photo by Steve Pollitt
