Spring Cup Week 5 Match Reports - 14/03/2021
By Lauryn Fuller
The Raiders found themselves at the end of a disappointing defeat to the Wildcats in Saturday’s fixture, after a successful victory against the Bees on Friday, they’d have expected to have been in better form. More points will allow the Wildcats to close the gap on the Tigers, who are above them in the table and lost to the Steeldogs yesterday.
A power play for the Raiders saw them take the lead halfway through the first period. The Wildcats were quick to reply with a goal from Matthew Myers to tie the game.
The second period saw goals from Balint Pakozdi, Jordan Kelsall and Tom Rutkis to put the Wildcats into a three-goal lead.
The third period saw more of the same from Swindon, as the Raiders struggled to push through the Wildcats defence. Goals from Ben Davies and Jack Goodchild put the Wildcats 6-1 up. Neither team could find any more goals and that’s how the score stayed at the final buzzer.
Five un-answered goals by the Raiders handed the win to the Wildcats, who complete their four-point weekend.
These two teams will meet again next weekend in their final matchup of the Spring Cup.
Sun Mar-14 Sheffield v Telford
Sheffield could extend their lead at the top of the Spring Cup table if the beat Telford for the second time this weekend. The Tigers will be wanting to take some points away from this fixture to keep pressure on the Steeldogs in the series table.
The Tigers were the first to strike on an early powerplay. Austin Mitchell-King converted and put the visitors in the lead. A turnover on a Tigers power play late on in the first saw Jason Hewitt score a Steeldogs equaliser, to tie both teams as they went into the first interval.
Alex Graham pushed the Steeldogs into the lead halfway through the second. With three seconds left in the second period, the Tigers found an equaliser through Jason Plant, who lit up the lamp almost on the end of the half buzzer.
The beginning of the third period saw the Steeldogs waste no time in re-taking the lead. They quickly followed this with Jason Spurr extending the Dogs lead.
They finished of the period with a final goal coming from Ben O’Connor. They squashed all the opportunities and plays the Tigers tried to make to find something in the game for themselves but couldn’t quite find the end product.
A four-point weekend for the Steeldogs sees them shoot into the lead of the Spring Cup table, four points ahead of Telford.
Telford play the Swindon Wildcats on Friday before facing the Bee’s on Sunday. Sheffield will travel to Slough to face the Bees next Saturday and then on Sunday they will be at home to the Raiders. These will prove to be crucial games for both teams that hold the top spots of the series table and neither team will want to drop points.