Spring Cup Week 5 Match Reports - 12/03/2021 - 13/03/2021
By Lauryn Fuller
Fri Mar-12 Bees v Raiders
Friday evening provided us with some more fierce hockey to get the weekend underway. The Bee’s hosted the Raiders in the reverse of last Friday’s fixture, where the Bees won 5-3.
The first period saw goals from both sides. The Raiders got the scoring started but were in the lead for only a short while. Lewis Hook and Juha Lindgren scored in quick succession for the Bees to fire them into the lead. The Raiders replied with a goal from Erik Piatak to tie the game at the end of the first period.
The Raiders started of the second period with a powerplay goal from Ashley Jackson to put them back into the lead. They scored one more in this period to put themselves two goals ahead of the Bees going into the third.
Early in the third period the Raiders extended their lead even further. With the score line at 5-2 the bees had left themselves with a lot to do. They managed to find a goal through Joshua Daniel Smith to cut the Raiders lead to just two goals.
Unfortunately, they couldn’t find anything more and the visitors took the 5-3 victory.
This was the only fixture the Bees had in store this weekend, giving them time to prepare for their match up with the Sheffield Steeldogs. The Raiders face the Swindon Wildcats in their other weekend fixtures, starting with an away trip.
Sat Mar-13 Telford v Sheffield 15:00
The Tigers and the Steeldogs went into their Saturday fixture having not dropped any points so far in the series. With both teams not wanting to break their unbeaten one, this match up was looking like the clash of the series.
The Tigers were the first to get on the score board, with Ross Venus shooting into an open net after sending the netminder in the opposite direction. Sheffield managed to fine an equaliser through Alex Peter Graham. Before the end of the period, the Steeldogs managed to take the lead into the first interval, with a goal from Ben O’Connor.
A power play opportunity four minutes into the second period saw the Steeldogs extend their lead, with Hull pirates loanee Jason Hewitt. Richard Plant got one back for the Tigers. The score line stayed at 3-2 at the end of the second, leaving a close game for both teams to play out in the third.
An equaliser came for the Tigers through a powerplay chance from Venus, who scored his second of the game. As the clocked ticked down both teams were looking for a winner.
The Steeldogs were the team to do so. A rebound shot from Jonathan Phillips saw them re-take the lead. The Tigers tried to push for another equaliser and came close on a couple occasions but ultimately ran out of time.
The Steeldogs kept their winning streak with the 4-3 victory against the Tigers. Both teams will play again on Sunday. Sheffield will be looking to push their winning streak further, whilst Telford will want to get some points back and close the gap between them in the series table.
Sat Mar-13 Swindon v Raiders 18:30
Saturdays second fixture saw the Swindon Wildcats host the Raiders. Last weekend the Wildcats were defeated twice by the Telford Tigers. The Raiders were going into the fixture having just beaten the Bees the previous night.
The home team got on the score board within the first few minutes of the first. The rest of the period saw the Raiders struggling to compete against the Wildcats, who found three more goals before the end of the first to put them 4-0 up at the first interval.
The perfect start to the game was continued in the second period, as the Wildcats found their fifth goal through a power play advantage that saw Chris Jones convert.
A turnover on the Wildcats next power play saw Brandon Ayliffe score from a shorthanded opportunity to finally get the raiders on the score sheet. It took less than a minute for the Wildcats to find their sixth goal of the game, with Jordan Kelsall getting in on the goal scoring action.
Towards the end of the second, the Harry Gulliver produced a well worked solo goal to make the score 6-2 going into the third period.
The Raiders managed to close the Wildcats lead to three goals in the third. However, they had a lot of work to do if they wanted to make anything of the game.
The Wildcats all but sealed their victory when Balint Pakozdi scored the final goal of the fixture and the wildcats took the 7-3 victory.
Sunday’s fixture for both of these team could see the Raiders get one back against the Wildcats, as they showed many good quality plays in their fixtures so far in the weekend. Swindon will be aiming to complete another 4-point weekend.