Thursday, 21 June 2018

Halton Huskies and Blackburn Buccaneers in 12 Goal Thriller (Again!)



James Kelly was the Huskies' top scorer against the Buccaneers
with 3 goals (Photo by Geoff White - www.gw-images.com) 
Sunday 17th June 2018 – Challenge Match
Halton Huskies 6 - Blackburn Buccaneers 6
Period Scores: 1-1, 5-1, 0-4
Penalties In Minutes: Huskies 20 - Buccaneers 8
Shots on Goal (unofficial): Huskies 56 – Buccaneers 33 (19-9, 18-10, 19-14)
Match Officials: Fraley / Wang




The Halton Huskies played out a thrilling and closely fought 6-6 draw with the Blackburn Buccaneers in a challenge game at Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday.

The visitors scored first after just 2 minutes with a goal from Patrick Thompson but James Kelly equalised for the Huskies with a well taken short handed goal after 15 minutes for a score of 1-1 at the end of the first period.

Josh Grocutt fired the Huskies into the lead with another shorthanded goal just 43 seconds into the second period but Buccaneers’ Captain Michael Walsh equalised some 4 minutes later to tie the scores again at 2-2.

The Huskies moved up a gear after this and scored 4 unanswered goals – from Kelly (2), Grocutt and Jeff Chapman Watson – to lead 6-2 at the end of the second period.

The third period was very tense and remained goal-less until the 49th minute when the Buccaneers took advantage of a delayed penalty call and Raivis Apfelbaums scored to give them a lifeline back into the game. A second strike from Apfelbaums just 3 minutes later pulled the score back to 6-4 and the Buccaneers visibly upped their game.

The Huskies began to look tired in the latter stages and tried valiantly to defend their lead against the resurgent Buccaneers but goals from Michael McLoughlin on 55 minutes and Matthew Patterson on 56, tied the score at 6-6, setting up a nail biting finish.

As it was, there was no more scoring and the 6-6 result was a fair reflection of the game overall.


Full Line Ups & Player Stats:

Halton Huskies: Anna Barnett, Connor Cooper, Daniel Trust (4PIM), David Simonds, Eduards Savickis, James Kelly (3+0, 12PIM), James Behan, James Williams, Jeff Chapman-Watson (1+1, 2 PIM), Joel Clarke (NM), John Carter, Josh Grocutt (2+0), Michael Parkin, Miquel Smith (2PIM), Nathan Hewitt (0+1), Paul Barratt, Stephen Burns (NM), Stephen Hay


Blackburn Buccaneers:
Chris Beesley – A (2PIM), Dan Watson, Daniel Ewen, Glenn Rattray (NM), James Longworth, Mark Jenkins, Matthew Patterson (1+1), Michael Walsh – C (1+1, 2PIM) Michael McLoughlin (1+0), Patrick Thompson (1+2), Raivis Apfelbaums (2+1), Samuel Towse, Simon Pickering – A (0+1, 2PIM), Thomas Laurie (2PIM)


Netminders:
Stephen Burns (Huskies): 27.34, SA 12, GA2 = SA% 83.33%
Joel Clark (Huskies): 32.26, SA 21, GA4 = SA% 80.95%
Glenn Rattray (Buccaneers): 60mins SA 56, GA 6 = SA% 89.28%