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