The Dragons are now two points ahead of previous leaders
Nottingham Lions – who didn’t play at the weekend and who have played a game
more.
The other Laidler games of the weekend saw 3rd
and 4th place Widnes Wild and Blackburn Eagles meet home and away in
two bruising that saw the Wild victorious on both occasions.
On Saturday night they beat the Eagles 2-7 away in Blackburn
in a game that saw an unsavoury incident that required import defenceman Pavel
Vales to be rushed to hospital for emergency dental surgery. The Wild were leading 5-0 by the time the
Eagles scored their first in the 42nd minute.
24 hours later on Merseyside, the game was a much closer
affair. Blackburn scored first and actually led 1-2 at the first break. At the second break it was a seat-edge 4-4
and the Eagles were looking much the better team but then another unsavoury
incident changed the face of the game.
Eagles’ normally well-mannered Bobby Caunce picked up a2+10
penalty for checking from behind on Widnes coach Scott McKenzie after the
buzzer had sounded for the end of the period and Eagles player coach Scott
Barnett also got a 10 minute penalty at the same time.
Widnes scored two goals while the errant pair were
unavailable including a penalty shot for a challenge on McKenzie and the game
was lost. A couple more Wild strikes
towards the end of the period made the score flattering the home side. The
weekend put to an end the Eagles impressive run of 5 straight wins and also
elevated Widnes to second in the table, level on points with Nottingham Lions
but with a better playing record.
Photos - top: a moving minute's silence in memory of Widnes rec player Antony Morris
Bottom: "Air The Bear" teddy toss at Widnes in aid of local children's charities
