Monday, 28 October 2024

Match Report: Widnes Wild 1 – Hull Jets 3 (NIHL Moralee Division)

Netminder Harry Campbell was the Wild MVP against Hull Jets (Photo by David Tattum)

Sunday 27th October 2024 – NIHL Moralee Division : Widnes Wild 1 – Hull Jets 3

The Widnes Wild NIHL team’s winless start to the season continued with a 1-3 defeat at home to high flying Hull Jets at Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday.

While a defeat is always disappointing, compared to the last league game - where the Wild conceded a record 16 goals at home to Blackburn - this was a much better all round performance and suggests that there may be light at the end of the tunnel.  

There was little to choose between the two teams in this game and Widnes were in with a shout until the very end. Hull took the lead on 5 minutes but Tomas Vyrostek equalised 7 minutes later and the score stood at a very respectable 1-1 at the first period break.

A goal from former Wild player coach Richard Haggar edged the Jets ahead once again at the midway point of the game but that was the only strike of the second period and there was still plenty for both sides to play for in the final 20 minutes.

The Jets extended their lead with a goal just 1 minute into the third period and try, as they might, Widnes were unable to find a way past the stubborn Hull defence. The clock ticked down and the score remained 1-3 at the final buzzer.

Having lost all 9 of their league games so far this season, the Wild will be hoping for a change of fortunes when they face fellow strugglers Sheffield Scimitars away at iceSheffield this Saturday 2nd November, 4.20pm face off.  They then face a long trip to the north east to face league leaders Billingham Stars on Sunday – 5.30pm start.

Widnes are next at home on Sunday 10th November when they will take on Whitley Warriors at Planet Ice Widnes, 5.30pm face off.


Match Report: Whitley Bay Beacons 6 - Widnes Wild Women 4 (WNIHL Div 2 N)

Amanda Armstrong scored against Whitley in her first game back for the Wild Women (Photo by Geoff White.)

Sunday 27th October 2024 – WNIHL Div 2 N: Whitley Bay Beacons 6 - Widnes Wild Women 4 

The Widnes Wild Women’s team suffered their first defeat of the season with 6-4 loss away to Whitley Bay Beacons on Sunday.

The Wild Women made the long trip to the North East with a strong squad and were boosted by the return of former player coach Amanda Armstrong, who has rejoined the club after 5 seasons away from playing.

Whitley opened the scoring on 2 minutes and were 2-0 up 5 minutes later.  Widnes pulled a goal back with a strike from Phoebe Patient on 15 minutes but Whitley restored the two-goal cushion heading into the last minute of the period.

A goal from Jemma Brown with just 6 seconds left on the clock narrowed the deficit again and the score stood at 3-2 at the first interval.

The Beacons made the score 4-2 with a goal 2 minutes into the second period but Widnes fought back and goals from returnee Amanda Armstrong and team captain Charlotte Cramp – on 25 and 28 minutes respectively - saw them level at the second period break.

Unfortunately, Widnes were unable to carry this momentum into the third period and two unanswered goals late in the game handed Whitley the 6-4 win.

The Wild Women are next in action on Sunday 24th November when they play their first home game of the season – again against Whitley Bay Beacons – at Planet Ice Widnes, 4.25pm face off.

*****

Amanda Armstrong (formerly Williams) is one of the original Wild Women players who moved to Widnes when the club was relocated from Altrincham in the wake of the Manchester Phoenix fiasco back in 2015, and went on to play for Widnes for 4 seasons until 2019. 

In an impressive career spanning over 20 years, including 13 seasons at Blackburn - she has played some 250 competitive games and has been Head Coach of the Manchester Storm Under16 girls’ team for the past 2 seasons. During her previous stint with Widnes, Amanda scored 15 goals and 13 assists in 39 games.


Match Report: Telford Tigers2 24 – Deeside Ducks 4 (NIHL Laidler Division)

Cody Ogden was the Ducks' MVP
at Telford (Photo by Andrea Petrie)
Saturday 26th October 2024 – NIHL Laidler Division: Telford Tigers2 24 – Deeside Ducks 4

The Deeside Ducks played their part in a 28-goal thriller but most of the goals went in at the wrong end as they lost 24-4 away to Telford Tigers on Saturday.

This away trip to face the reigning league champions - who have a strong line-up, including former Deeside import Filip Supa and also Dragons title winner Paul Davies - was always likely to be a difficult one and so it turned out.

The Ducks actually took the lead with a goal from Cody Ogden after just 57 seconds of the match but Telford went on to hit 12 goals in the first period. A second Ogden strike just before the break narrowed the score to 12-2 but Telford were well in control by that stage.

The second period continued in similar vein and the score was 19-3 at the second interval, with the only real plus point for the Ducks being a first ever league goal for Jack Davies in the 35th minute.

Early in the third period, Ogden scored his hat trick goal to bring the score to 19-4 but 5 more unanswered goals sealed an emphatic win for the Tigers.

After the game, Ducks Head Coach Gary Shaw said:

“We always knew this was going to be a tough game in Telford, as they are the favourites to take the title again this year, with the depth and calibre of their squad.”

“Going into the game we really wanted to show what team we wanted to be, and felt we achieved this by playing for the whole game had and never gave up, and created some good opportunities to score.”

“The boys played with heart and earned the chances they took.”

“We were happy with the players’ attitude. They didn’t give up and never let their heads drop. We have big things that went right and a lot of things we can improve - and it is all baby steps towards our goal.”

The Ducks are away again - to the Bradford Bulldogs - this Saturday 3rd November and are next at home on Sunday 17th November when they take on Telford Tigers at Deeside Leisure Centre, 5pm face off.


Saturday, 26 October 2024

New Mayhem Collection By Blindside Trading Cards


Peter: We have a surprise for you, hopefully all will be revealed soon.

Me: I actually hate surprises…

Peter: lol I think you’ll like this!

And I have to say that I DO like it.  It is absolutely brilliant - a very pleasant surprise!

None of this scantily clad women leaping out of cakes mullarkey, either – I am proud to say that I have been featured on a TRADING CARD!  Yes - indeed, the new 2024 set of Manchester Mayhem cards has just been released by Blindside Trading Cards and I am on one of them.  Who would have thought?

It’s a proper set of cards that come in a proper box that you can - erm - trade… or, in my case, keep and show off about.

So this means that, in years to come, at conventions, swap-meets and fairs right across the globe, thousands - if not millions - of fans, collectors and dealers who would normally be keenly seeking out California Seals rarities, haggling over Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux doubles and discussing the merits of the famous Garry Unger Heineken beermat, will, instead, be staring at my Blindside card and wondering: “Who the hell is HE…?  

You can order your set of Manchester Mayhem 2024 cards from Blindside Trading Cards right now HERE

And if you want some different sets that don’t include ME, they have those as well. Check out their full online shop HERE

Monday, 21 October 2024

Match Report: Widnes Wild 2 – Blackburn Hawks 16 (NIHL Moralee Division)

Tomas Vyrostek
(Photo by Keith & Jenny Davies)
Sunday 20th October 2024 – NIHL Moralee Division : Widnes Wild 2 – Blackburn Hawks 16

The Widnes Wild NIHL team suffered a disappointing 2-16 defeat at the hands of North West rivals Blackburn Hawks at Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday.

Blackburn were the better team throughout this game and took the lead just 90 seconds into the first period. They led 0-5 at the first period break and scored three more goals before Widnes finally managed to find the net themselves.

A well taken strike in the top corner of the net from Bailey Thomson broke the Wild duck on 38 minutes and then a first goal for the club from Tomas Vyrostek just 90 seconds later sparked faint hopes of a Widnes fightback.   

However, that was as good as things got for the Wild fans and the score stubbornly remained 2-8 at the second interval. Eight unanswered goals for the Hawks piled on the misery in the third period and the Wild slumped to their heaviest defeat of the season.

Having lost all 8 of their league games so far this season, the Wild will be hoping for a change of fortune when they face high-flying Hull Jets in their next game this Sunday 27th October at Planet Ice Widnes, 5.30pm face off.

*****

The Widnes Wild Academy Junior teams had a mixed weekend, picking up 1 win, 1 draw and 2 defeats.

The Academy Under U18 team lost 2-8 at home to Sheffield on Saturday while the Under 16s drew 3-3 away at Nottingham.

On Sunday, the Academy Under 19 team won 0-7 away at Nottingham while the Under 12s lost 6-2 at Deeside.

The Under 10s also went to Deeside on Sunday to take part in a 4 team cross-ice tournament facing Blackburn, Manchester and the host club. These games are played with the emphasis on developing skills, rather than necessarily winning, and no scores or player stats are recorded.

The Wild Academy are always keen to recruit new players across all age groups from Under 10 to Under 18 and hold training sessions on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at Planet Ice Widnes.

Separate “Learn To Play” sessions are also available for anybody new who would like to take up the sport. For more information, contact Academy Head Coach mike.gilbert@wildacademy.co.uk


Match Report: Sheffield Titans 6 – Deeside Ducks 0 (NIHL Laidler Division)

Deeside Ducks in action away at Sheffield (Photo by Jake Renzi / @renzimedia)

Sunday 20th October 2024 – NIHL Laidler Division: Sheffield  Titans 6 – Deeside Ducks 0

The Deeside Ducks suffered a 6-0 defeat to the Sheffield Titans away in the Steel City on Sunday.

The game was very close in its early stages – with numerous chances for both sides – but remained goal-less until the Titans finally broke the deadlock on 17 minutes.

Paul Jones MVP
(Photo @renzimedia)
 
The hosts took a narrow 1-0 lead into the first interval but 4 more unanswered goals in the second period left the Ducks trailing 5-0 with 20 minutes left to play.

Deeside have struggled to score on their away trips so far this season and the only goal of the third period fell to Sheffield, handing them a 6-0 victory.

Despite the defeat, netminder Paul Jones put in a creditable display in goal and was named Most Valuable Player for the Ducks.

The Ducks travel to face last season’s league and cup champions Telford Tigers this Saturday 26th October, 5.30pm face off.

 

 


Widnes Wild Women Seeking Sponsors

Wild Women’s previous shirt sponsor DMUK (Photo by Paul Breeze) 

The Widnes Wild women’s team are looking for sponsors to support them during the 2024/25 Women's National Ice Hockey League season.

The Wild Women are a not-for-profit women’s ice hockey team with players ranging across from 14 years to 50+ years old, playing out of the Planet Ice rink in Widnes. They are playing this season in the women’s Division 2 North and are hoping to make it to play offs in May for promotion to the national Division 1 for next year.

The 2024/25 season runs until the end of May and sees the Wild women travelling far and wide across the country, facing opposition from Hull, Sheffield, Leeds, Telford, Whitley Bay and Edinburgh.

There are a number of sponsorship package options, which include company promotion such as: 

  • Company logo on playing jerseys
  • Ceremonial puck drops & MVP presentations
  • Regular social media coverage
  • Company announcements on match days

Another sponsorship option, which has been popular in previous years is an individual, player sponsorship. The benefits of Individual Player Sponsorship include: 

  • Company logo on the player’s home and away jerseys
  • Company name announcements at every home game, and when your player scores or is awarded MVP
  • Tagged in social media posts about the player

Interested parties are requested to contact the Wild Women’s team in the first instance via their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/widneswildwomen.

The Wild Women are away to Whitley Bay Beacons this Sunday 27th October, 5pm face off, and play their first home game of the season against the same opposition on Sunday 24th November at Planet Ice Widnes, 4.25pm face off.


Mayhem Players in World Women’s Challenge

Mayhem’s Emily McLean – photo by Blindside Trading Cards

Four members of the Mayhem sledge team are heading to Skien in Norway this week for the 2024 World Women's Challenge.

Felicity Gregory and Emily Mclean will be playing for the Great Britain women’s team while Mayhem manager and coach Peter Hagan will travel as Equipment Manager. Mayhem’s Canadian born player Peggy Assinck will play for the Canadian national team.

This is the third time that this event has take place and it currently acts as an unofficial World Championship for women’s international teams. There are, however, hopes that the World Women’s Challenge will help pave the way for ultimately creating a formal Women’s World Championships and, one day, adding the sport to the Paralympic Winter Games programme.

This year’s competition features five teams, with the USA, Canada and Great Britain national teams being joined by composite regional teams called “Team Europe” and “Team Pacific”.  Each team will play four round-robin games across four days of competition and Team GB’s fixtures are follows:

25 October - Canada v Great Britain

26 October – Great Britain v USA

27 October - Great Britain v Team Pacific

28 October - Great Britain v Team Europe

The tournament will take place at Skien Fritidspark, a multi-purpose stadium originally built in 1968 and redone in 2008 with indoor sports halls, an ice hockey rink, a large water park, and several out-door sports facilities. The venue also played host earlier this year to the World Para Ice Hockey Championships B-Pool.

The previous two Women’s World Challenge tournaments were held at Green Bay in Wisconsin, USA. At the inaugural competition in 2022, Team USA went undefeated to win gold on home ice, Canada claimed silver and “Team World” took the bronze. In 2023, the USA went undefeated again to defend their title, with Canada once again taking silver and “Team World” skating to bronze.

The full Great Britain squad is:

 Players:

  • Alysha Atkinson - Peterborough Phantoms
  • Freya Levy - Peterborough Phantoms
  • Shannon Couch – Cardiff Huskies
  • Helen McGivern – GB Women
  • Dani Czernuszka-Watts – Cardiff Huskies
  • Emily McLean - Manchester Mayhem
  • Felicity Gregory – Manchester Mayhem
  • Stacey Quirk - Peterborough Phantoms
  • Davina Hall – Peterborough Phantoms
  • Nicola Terrell - GB Women
  • Jodi Hill – Cardiff Huskies
  • Jade Williams – Sheffield Steelstings

 

Peter Hagan, GB Equipment Manager – photo by Team GB Media

Team Staff:

  • Breanna Wagner – Head Coach
  • Louise Beresford – Asst Coach
  • Shirley Packwood – Team Manager / Medic
  • Peter Hagan – Equipment Manager


Tuesday, 15 October 2024

Deeside Ducks - Forthcoming Fixtures

The Deeside Ducks were without a game at the weekend and now face three tough trips on the road. They are away at Sheffield this Sunday 20th October and travel to face last season’s league and cup champions Telford Tigers the following Saturday 26th October. 

They cross the Pennines to take on the Bradford Bulldogs on Sunday 3rd November and then have their next home game - against Telford - on Sunday 17th November at Deeside Leisure Centre, 5pm face off.

These early season games against Bradford and Telford all count towards both the league standings and the cup qualification group, so the Ducks will be keen to get some more points on the board as they continue with their exciting debut season.

You can follow the progress of the new Deeside Ducks team on their Facebook page HERE


New Book Available: Widnes Review - Season 2023/24

It’s a bit later this year as I had to wait for the British Para Ice Hockey play offs to be completed, but here - once again - you can relive all the excitement of the 2023/24 ice hockey season with our in-depth coverage of the various Widnes-based teams. 

Crammed into one single volume we have player statistics, reports and final standings for the:

  • Widnes Wild NIHL team
  • Widnes Wild Women's team
  • Wild Academy Junior teams

Also includes the Mayhem sledge team's 2024 British Para Ice Hockey League campaign, the Riverside Raiders and Halton Huskies recreational teams - and lots more besides!

Illustrated throughout with superb photos.

Available by mail order via Amazon HERE


Monday, 14 October 2024

Match Report: Widnes Wild 3 – Solihull Barons 8 (NIHL Moralee Division)

Andrew Hopkins scored the Wild’s third goal against Solihull (Photo by Keith & Jenny Davies) 

Sunday 13th October 2024 – NIHL Moralee Division: Widnes Wild 3 – Solihull Barons 8

The Widnes Wild NIHL team put in a spirited performance against the Solihull Barons but it wasn’t enough to prevent them slumping to a 3-8 defeat at Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday.

The Wild started the game well and actually took the lead with a goal from Jonathan Williamson after 5 minutes but were pegged back and trailed 1-2 at the first period break. 

A third goal for Solihull just 31 seconds into the second period saw the visitors edge further ahead but Widnes struck back and a goal from Damarni James narrowed the deficit back to just one. A successfully converted penalty shot on 33 minutes saw the Barons re-establish their two-goal lead and the score stood at 2-4 at the second interval.

Two more goals for Solihull early in the third period effectively put paid to any hopes of a late Widnes fightback and a seventh goal on 50 minutes simply confirmed their superiority. 

Team Captain Andrew Hopkins fired in a third goal for Widnes just 25 seconds after that - but that was the last thing that the home fans got to cheer about and the Barons piled on the misery with an eighth goal of their own with just over a minute left to play.

The result extends the Wild’s losing streak to 7 defeats in a row for this Moralee Division season and you have to go right back to February for their last competitive win – when they beat Sheffield Scimitars in over time.

A surprise win at the weekend for the struggling Scimitars away at early season league leaders Hull Jets saw them leapfrog the Wild off the bottom of the league table, leaving Widnes as the only team without a point so far this season.

Widnes will be hoping to bounce straight back from this latest setback when they take on fierce rivals Blackburn Hawks in their next game – a tantalising north west derby - this Sunday 20th October at Planet Ice Widnes, 5.30pm face off. 

*****

There were two matches for the Wild Academy Junior teams at the weekend.  The Academy Under 19 team beat Nottingham U19s 4-1 at Planet Ice Widnes on Saturday while the Under 16 team won 0-4 away to Solihull on Sunday.

The Academy Under 10 team took part in a 4 team cross-ice tournament at Blackburn on Saturday taking on Deeside, Manchester and the host club. These games are played with the emphasis on developing skills, rather than necessarily winning, and no scores or player stats are recorded.

The Wild Academy are always keen to recruit new players across all age groups from Under 10 to Under 18 and hold training sessions on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at Planet Ice Widnes.

Separate “Learn To Play” sessions are also available for anybody new who would like to take up the sport. For more information, contact Academy Head Coach mike.gilbert@wildacademy.co.uk


Match Report: Sheffield Shadows 1 – Widnes Wild Women 2 (WNIHL Div2N)

Stephanie Drinkwater was the
Wild Women's MVP at Sheffield
(Photo by Wild Women IHC) 
Saturday 12th October 2024 – WNIHL Div2N: Sheffield Shadows 1 – Widnes Wild Women 2

The Widnes Wild women’s team continued their unbeaten start to the new season with a 1-2 win away to Sheffield Shadows on Saturday.

As the score suggests, this was a very close game and the result could have gone either way until the very last seconds. 

Sheffield took the lead in the 5th minute but Widnes drew level on 10 minutes with a goal from former Belgium international player Leen de Decker. The Wild Women went ahead on 15 minutes with another de Decker strike, this time a powerplay goal punishing a Sheffield stick-holding penalty.

The score remained 1-2 at the first period break and, despite numerous chances for both sides, it also ended up as the final score.

Sheffield upped the pressure as the game progressed, looking for an equaliser forcing Widnes into taking a few defensive penalties as they battled to keep them at bay. Wild netminder Stephanie Drinkwater put in a superb performance in front of goal keeping out 32 of the 33 shots that she faced - and was named MVP for the Wild women.

The Wild Women have another away fixture - at Whitley Bay on 27th October - before their first home game of the season against Whitley Bay Beacons on Sunday 24th November at Planet Ice Widnes, 4.25pm face off.

*****

Leen de Decker
(Photo by Paul Breeze)
Leen De Decker is one of the original Wild Women players who moved to Widnes when the club was relocated from Altrincham in the wake of the Manchester Phoenix fiasco back in 2015, and had previously played 8 seasons for Kingston Diamonds before arriving at Widnes via Altrincham. 

She was, until recently, the most capped player for her native Belgium with 52 World Championship games under her belt, along with 3 WC bronze medals and 1 silver medal.

Leen has played in 7 of the Wild Women’s 8 seasons – having been behind the scenes in a coaching capacity last season – and in that time, scored 86 goals and 34 assists in 72 competitive matches.  She was an important member of the Wild women’s team that won the Division 1 North league title in the 2019/20 season and was team captain for the 2022/23 season when they were league runners up.


Friday, 11 October 2024

Nostalgia : Peterborough Pirates Top Of The League! (1989)


(Source: Ice Hockey News Review, 14th October 1989)

  • 7th October 1989: Nottingham Panthers 6 – Peterborough Pirates 7
  • 8th October 1989: Whitley Warriors 7 – Peterborough Pirates 9

Yes – this really did happen. Just the once, and it lasted for just one week or so. But for this brief period in their 20 year history, the Peterborough Pirates were officially the top ice hockey team in the whole country.

True – it was a bit of a fluke, mainly down to a combination of two, rather unexpected, wins over a single weekend and other teams not having played as many games – but it was certainly fun to be a supporter of the Heineken League Premier Division leaders for a short while. 

The Peterborough Herald and Post newspaper – which had just been introduced to replace the long running weekly Peterborough Standard – dated 12th October 1989 “heralded” (pardon the pun...) the achievement as follows: 

“Pirates made a sensational start to their Heineken League campaign after just three wins in 12 challenge and cup matches as Heineken Champions Nottingham were dispatched 7-6 and tough North East outfit Whitley 9-7.”

“In 24 hours Pirates scored more away wins than in their three previous Premier Division years (one apiece in 1985-86 1987-88 1988-89) It was the first time Pirates scored consecutive top-flight away victories and in one weekend matched their away points haul of 1987-88 and 1988-89.”

“Saturday’s success was Pirates’ first in Nottingham and Sunday’s win was the first at Whitley for Peter Smith since leaving his native North East.”

Interestingly enough, the win away at Nottingham was the first Pirates appearance for new import Gary Stewart  

He had been brought in by head coach John Griffith to replace Wayne Crawford who had been controversially released the week before, as the coach had decided to play with two import defencemen to bring more stability to the team and offer more attacking options for home-grown players. 

With summer signing - and former NHLer - Michael Dark and returning long term favourite Todd Bidner filling the other import berths, this strategy appeared to be paying off – at least in the first few games of the league season.    

They actually won their next game as well – 9-7 at home to Ayr Raiders (a game that I was at) – on Sunday 15th October - but were caught up in the league standings as other teams played more games that weekend. 

The Pirates’ amazing start to the HBLP season came to an abrupt end the following weekend when they lost 10-6 away to Ayr and 9-3 away to Murrayfield on consecutive nights and they only won 4 more league games all season after that.

But it was good while it lasted!


Monday, 7 October 2024

Mayhem Players Off To GB Training Camp

Felicity Gregory on GB duty (Photo by Peter Hagan)

Four Mayhem sledge players will be travelling to Finland later this week to take part in a special international training camp.

Mark Colquitt, Felicity Gregory and Karl Nicholson have all been selected for the Great Britain Para Ice Hockey national team that will attend the 4-day event in Vierumäki – some 30 Km north of Helsinki where they will play exhibition matches against Sweden and the host nation.

Mayhem's Canadian player Peggy Assinck also travels as Head Coach while Peterborough Phantoms coach Ian Offers is Assistant Coach and Media Manager.

The Full GB squad for the trip is: 

  • Damien Barker – Sheffield Steelkings
  • Jon Le Galloudec – Cardiff Huskies 
  • Tyler Christopher – Cardiff Huskies
  • John Mellor – Cape Breton Sledgehammers
  • Josh Davies – Cardiff Huskies
  • Mark Colquitt – Manchester Mayhem 
  • Felicity Gregory – Manchester Mayhem
  • Karl Nicholson – Manchester Mayhem 
  • Ben O’Brien – Sheffield Steelkings
  • Stacey Quirk – Peterborough Phantoms
  • Callum Shakespeare – Peterborough Phantoms
  • Jodi Hill (NM) – Cardiff Huskies  
  • Bryan Hackworth (NM) – Sheffield Steelstings


Widnes Wild NIHL Weekend Round Up - 5th & 6th October

Mikey Gilbert scored both Wild goals away at Whitley (Photo by Geoff White).

Saturday 5th October:  Leeds Knights 5 – Widnes Wild 2

Sunday 6th October: Whitley Warriors 9 – Widnes Wild 2

The Widnes Wild NIHL team’s disappointing start to the season continued with back to back away defeats – 5-2 at Leeds Knights on Saturday and 9-2 away to Whitley Warriors on Sunday.

The weekend saw a Widnes debut for 16 year old Tomas Vyrostek, who is a Solway Sharks junior player with Scottish international honours, and the return of a number of 2-way players to the team, but this – sadly – it wasn’t enough to change the fortunes of the struggling Wild side.

In the game in Leeds on Saturday, Widnes actually took the lead with a goal from Bailey Thomson in the 6th minute but they were then pegged back to 1-1 at the first period break.  Two unanswered goals in the second period saw the Knights edge into the lead and two more goals early in the third put them well in control.

Matt Tarpey pulled a goal back for the Wild with just 62 seconds left on the clock but it was too late in the game to spark a fightback and the match ended 5-2 to Leeds.

Away games in the north east are always tough affairs but Widnes fared quite well in the early stages of the match at Whitley on Sunday and the score was 1-1 after the first period, courtesy of a Wild goal from Mikey Gilbert. 

Unfortunately, 6 unanswered goals in the second period put paid to any hopes of the Wild bringing any points home from this lengthy road trip - and a second Gilbert goal in the third period was pretty much the only other thing for the travelling fans to cheer about in the resulting 9-2 defeat.

The weekend results mean that the Wild are still looking for their first league win of the season, with 6 straight defeats under their belts. They are joined at the bottom of the Moralee Division table by Sheffield Scimitars who also have “nul –points” after having lost 8 from 8 starts.   

Widnes will be hoping to kick-start their season with a win this Sunday 13th October when they take on Solihull Barons at Planet Ice Widnes, 5.30pm face off. 

*****

There were two matches for the Wild Academy Junior teams at the weekend.  The Academy Under 14 team beat Manchester Storm U14s 8-3 at Planet Ice Widnes while the Under 16 team lost 4-3 away to Leeds.

The Wild Academy are always keen to recruit new players across all age groups from Under 10 to Under 18 and hold training sessions on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at Planet Ice Widnes.

Separate “Learn To Play” sessions are also available for anybody new who would like to take up the sport. For more information, contact Academy Head Coach mike.gilbert@wildacademy.co.uk


Sunday, 6 October 2024

Match Report: Deeside Ducks 3 - Bradford Bulldogs 4 (NIHL Laidler Division)

Josh Jones (#73) was the MVP for Deeside Ducks against Bradford (Photo by Paul Breeze)

5th October 2024 – Laidler Division: Deeside Ducks 3 – Bradford Bulldogs 4

The Deeside Ducks narrowly lost out in a highly entertaining and closely fought 3-4 defeat to the Bradford Bulldogs at Deeside Leisure Centre on Saturday.

The game started well for Deeside as Michael Speare fired them into the lead after just 36 seconds but Bradford struck back and were level 4 minutes later. Deeside edged ahead once again on 15 minutes with a goal from Josh Jones but the visitors again had an answer and equalised just 24 seconds later to leave the score standing at 2-2 at the first period break.

The second period was very close - with chances for both teams - but produced no goals, and the score remained at a finely balanced 2-2 with just 20 minutes left to play.

The Bulldogs were fastest out of the traps for the third period and finally got their snouts in front with a goal 31 seconds in. 

Despite having outshot the visitors by some margin over the course of the game, the Ducks were finding it difficult to break down the stubborn Bradford defence – but they got a helping hand with just over 6 minutes left to play.

A Bulldogs player was banished from the ice for a dangerous cross check, for which he was handed a 5 plus game penalty by the match officials. This meant that the Ducks would have a man advantage for pretty much the rest of the third period.

Charlie Spridgeon pulled Deeside back level with a powerplay goal two minutes later and the Ducks pushed forward to try and force a late winner. Unfortunately, they got caught out at the back and Bradford fired in a shorthanded goal to retake the lead with just 3 minutes left to play.

Deeside were unable to bounce back from this – even with their continued man advantage - and they even withdrew their netminder in favour of an extra attacker for the last 30 seconds, but the game finished 3-4 to Bradford.

The Ducks are without a game this weekend and then have three away trips in a row – away to Sheffield on 20th October, Telford on 26th October and Bradford on 3rd November – before their next home match, which will be against Telford Tigers on Sunday 17th November at Deeside Leisure Centre.

 

Coach’s Comments

After the game, Ducks Head Coach Gary Shaw said: 

The team went into the game open minded as both clubs are building, with Bradford a little ahead of us because they have had a more stable junior setup.

With a bit more confidence after the first win of the season, the team started well bringing some of the work we had done in training. We moved the puck well and broke out of our own defensive zone easily, but our offensive play still needs work gaining the zone to make different decisions and gain better possession.

Once we got into the zone, we made some good progress and we went ahead - only for Bradford to come back and take advantage of our indecision in the defensive zone.

So, the conversation between the periods was to make the right decisions and play the puck low in the zone and take the opportunity to shoot in good areas.

The game was back and forth with both netminders making some good saves. We applied some good pressure but came up empty handed for most of our efforts.

We focused on telling the team to be patient and do the right things, at the start of the period Bradford had stepped up their game and for the first five minutes we struggled to get into our game.

The game was still to and fro and we scored to equalise as the game progressed it was down to who would make the fewer mistakes that would take the spoils. So Bradford took the lead with us making a mistake on the half way line, they chipped the puck out and then went on to score.

Then Bradford took a five minute penalty in the last six minutes of the game and we had a lot of chances but shot the puck high and wide, with three minutes of the game left we scored the equaliser, still having the advantage of the penalty we pushed for the winner. But, as before we lost the puck on half way and they went on to score the winning goal.

After the final whistle, we spoke about the mistakes that had lost us the game – and also about shot variety, because we had shot the puck high a lot and quite a lot missed the net and ended up with an easy exit from the zone for the opponents.

Although we had lost right and fair, we had a lot of positives to take out of the game, and as a coaching team have again identified where we need to work on to improve their game and hopefully make us stronger and harder to beat.

As we move on, the players can hold their heads up high as they are getting better with each game and their bond with each other is growing."

You can follow the progress of the new Deeside Ducks team as they continue on their debut season in the NIHL Laidler Division on their Facebook page HERE

 

Tuesday, 1 October 2024

Match Report: Deeside Ducks 4 – Sheffield Titans 3 (NIHL Laidler Division)

Ducks' MVP against Sheffield Rory Sillery (Photo by Chris Jones)

Sunday 29th September – NIHL Laidler Division: Deeside Ducks 4 – Sheffield Titans 3

The Deeside Ducks picked up their first ever win with a 4-3 victory over Sheffield Titans at Deeside Leisure Centre on Sunday

Two goals from Kieran Clarkson, one from Cody Ogden and a short-handed winner from captain Chris Jones with 14 minutes left to play secured the historic first league win for the Ducks.

Ducks’ Head Coach Gary Shaw said of the game:

“The team went into this game with a line less then we have playing to see if it would benefit the players as we had run 4 lines before to get everyone ice time.”

“The game was a very close affair and Sheffield went 2 goals up capitalising on mistakes made by our players. The team rallied and pulled a goal back before the end of the period.”

“With a tight second period and end to end plays the period ended goal less. So the first goal in the 3rd period was a big factor and we instructed the team to compete in Sheffield's zones and to keep the puck low and only shoot if a good opportunity arose.”

“And doing this Kieran Clarkson came around the net and banked the puck in off the goalie into the roof of the net to tie the game short-handed. A few minutes later, another short-handed goal from Cody Ogden put us in front.”

“Having spoken to Chris Jones about shooting more in-between the periods he took a speculative shot from our on blue line and, with the netminder not ready, the puck ended in the net. Sheffield scored again to draw it to a one goal advantage but we managed to hold out for the first win for the Ducks.”

The Deeside Ducks are next in action this Saturday 5th October when they take on the Bradford Bulldogs at Deeside Leisure Centre – 5pm face off.

Match Report: Kingston Sharks – Deeside Ducks (Abandoned after 20 mins) NIHL Laidler Division

Players discuss the damaged ice surface at Hull (Photo by Maxine Roscoe)

Saturday 28th September – NIHL Laidler Division: Kingston Sharks – Deeside Ducks (Abandoned after 20 mins)

The Deeside Ducks Laidler Division game away to Kingston Sharks was abandoned after a single 20 minute period had been played on Saturday evening at Hull Arena.

The home side had taken the lead 1m17 into the game and led 5-0 by the first period break.  However, the surface of the ice was damaged during the routine ice cleaning operation between periods and it took over an hour for the rink staff to plug up the resulting hole and get the ice to freeze properly again.

With the amount of time lost - and concerns about player safety - the match was called off at that point and the remaining two periods were not played.

Ducks’ Lead Coach Peter Bleackley commented:

“We expressed concerns regarding player safety - but rules apparently state that both coaches have to agree that the surface is unsafe. Their coach would not as they don’t have any available dates to replay and they didn’t want to forfeit. I decided player safety was more important after the team sitting for more than an hour. The ref agreed.”

The sport’s governing body – England Ice Hockey - will now have to decide whether the game should be replayed, although that will depend on ice time being available for an alternative date that suits both teams.

Depending on the outcome of the Association’s investigation into the matter, other possible scenarios include:

1)    allowing the result to stand as a 5-0 win to the Sharks, in which case the players’ appearances and match stats for the game will be included in their records,

2)    awarding it as an unplayed “no fault” draw with one league point being given to each team - in which case player stats are not recorded - or

3)    awarding it as a 5-0 forfeit win, with one or the other of the teams possibly being subject to further disciplinary action by way of a fine or points deduction.