Widnes Wildcats 2 – Blackburn Falcons 8
Period Scores: 1-4, 1-3, 0-1
Penalties In Minutes: tba
Widnes Scoring: tba
The Widnes Wildcats
put in a battling performance in their Summer Cup game at Silver Blades Widnes
on Sunday but unfortunately ended up on the wrong end of a 2-8 scoreline at the
hands of the Blackburn Falcons.
While the defeat may be disappointing, the Wildcats can take
heart from the fact that they were up against a team bristling with former Blackburn
Hawks and Blackburn Eagles / Lancashire Raptors national league players and
that, despite the eventual scoreline, they actually matched them play for play
for extended periods of the game.
As it turned out, the Wildcats actually took the lead after
just 80 seconds of play after the puck took an unfortunate deflection off a Blackburn
player’s skate and looped past the netminder into the goal.
The lead lasted until the 9th minute when the Falcons’
mounting pressure eventually paid off and they went on to score two more quick
goals to lead 1-3 by the 12th minute.
The Wildcats called a 30-second time out following this and it
helped break up the Falcons momentum and give the home side chance to reorganise.
They held firm for a good five minutes and were only caught out at the back
when pushing up for a second goal while on a powerplay, leaving the score at
the end of the first period at 1-4 to the visitors.
The second period started badly for the Wildcats and three more goals put the Falcons 1-7 ahead by the mid-point of the game. Things began to get a bit physical and a Falcons’ player was sent to the penalty box. The Wildcats were pushing forward to make the most of their man advantage when the puck took an unfortunate ricochet off a player’s stick and flew into the crowd. The match officials – who, otherwise, did a very good job all game – mysteriously decided to call the Wildcats’ player for “delaying the game”.
It was somewhat unclear as to why they might have thought
that a player from a team that was losing 1-7 and was on the attack on a
powerplay might suddenly choose the delay the game but he was duly banished to the
penalty box, thus denying the home team the man advantage.
This incident provoked a notable phase of the game where the
Wildcats were constantly under pressure and kept picking up minor penalties
while trying to keep the Falcons at bay. They were forced to play 3 against 5
for the next 5 minutes or so and actually seemed to fare better while sitting
back and concentrating on defending.
The Falcons thought they had scored again on 32 minutes but the
goal was disallowed as it had come from a high stick and, once the various Widnes
penalties had elapsed, they managed to get on the scoresheet again themselves to
make the score 2-7.
The last 5 minutes of the second period were goalless and it
took right up until the 55th minute of the game before the goal lamp
was lit again – with Blackburn scoring their first goal since the 28th
minute and rounding off the action for the match.
The Widnes Wildcats’
next game is on Sunday 28th May when they face Solihull Vikings at
Silver Blades Widnes. It is a later than
normal face off time – 8.30pm – because of the Riverside Raiders game against
Sheffield beforehand which faces off at 4.30pm. Admission to both games is free
so why not make an evening of it and enjoy some great competitive ice hockey…?
