Wild ground Jets and keep Bulldogs leashed
WIDNES WILD stamped their authority on Saturday night’s game in Hull as early as the third minute with a goal from Nick Manning and they raced into a three goal lead by 6.51 with further efforts from Karl Niamatali and Kieran Strangeway.
With Hull seriously short-benched and only icing 10 skaters, the game could easily have turned into rout at this point but the hosts dug deep and pulled themselves back into contention with a goal on the 10 minute mark.
They pulled another back at the start of the second period and the Wild goal came under some heavy pressure as the Jets threw everything at it in search of an unlikely equaliser.
Matt Croyle – making his first competitive start in goal for Widnes after joining from Sheffield in the summer – performed heroically to keep the swooping Jets at bay during this crucial period and, once the storm had been weathered, the Wild were able to re-take the initiative.
Five unanswered goals in the latter half of the second period put the game beyond the reach of the battling Hull team – two from Will Barron and one each from Manning, Lee Kemp and captain Shaun Dippnall.
Two more strikes in the last period – from Will Barron again and then player/ coach Ollie Barron in the last minute – secured the points for Widnes. WIDNES WILD ........................................... 8 BRADFORD BULLDOGS .......................... 0 THE opening phase of Sunday’s game at Silver Blades Widnes was very closely contested and, despite being few in number, the visiting Bradford side looked well organised both in defence and attack.
However, the first Widnes strike came after four minutes when Kieran Strangeway hit home a Stuart Brittle pass and, just 39 seconds later, Nick Manning found the net again to double the lead.
Brittle himself then scored on 9.33 and then two more goals from – David Swanston (shorthanded) and Karl Niamatali – meant that the Wild left the ice at first buzzer with a five goal advantage.
The Bulldogs looked a changed team when they came out after the break – they held their own for much of the period and looked on top of the play for long spells.
Dogged defensive play from the Wild brought several penalties and they were often caught on the back foot as the Bulldogs charged forward in search of their first goal. With the Widnes side playing shorthanded for extended sessions, netminder Matt Croyle faced more shots in the second period than he did for whole of the rest of game but he pulled off a string of amazing saves and would go to pick up his first shut out for Widnes – in his first game on home ice.
An element of relief was felt when, just as it looked as if the period would finish goalless, Czech import Pavel Vales fired in an unstoppable slapshot from the blue line on 37.59 to make it 6-0.
Goals from Will Barron and Stuart Brittle rounded off the scoring in the third period and the Wild were able to celebrate their fourth consecutive league win of the season by moving two points clear at the top of the league table.
WIDNES are without a game this weekend but are in home action again on October 9 when they entertain Blackburn Eagles at Silver Blades Widnes. Doors open at 4.45pm and face-off is at 5.30pm.
THE Widnes Wild women’s team suffered heartbreak on the road at the Chelmsford Cobras as they lost out to a late rally in a 13-goal thriller.
The Wild women took a two-goal lead early in the first period but were gradually pegged back and found themselves 5-4 down after two periods.
Abi Culshaw hit her hat-trick goal on 53 minutes to pull the Wild level again. However, two unassisted goals from Chelmsford’s GB women’s international Bethany Hill – her third and fourth of the game – put the Cobras ahead 7-5.
A goal from Wild’s top scorer from last season, Katie Hills, in the last 30 seconds of the match was not enough to take a share of the spoils.