Wild boost league bid with perfect weekend
BLACKBURN EAGLES .............................. 1 WIDNES WILD ........................................... 3
THE RTL-sponsored Widnes Wild climbed to third place in the Laidler Conference table after two superb wins over the weekend.
On Saturday night they picked up a dramatic 3-1 win at league leaders Blackburn Eagles and followed that up with an emphatic 9-2 home victory over bottom team Coventry Blaze at Silver Blades Widnes on Sunday.
The game at Blackburn on Saturday started off following a similar pattern to recent Wild performances with lots of possession but few chances being taken and an early five on three powerplay being squandered.
After a goalless first period, the breakthrough finally came as the game approached its mid-point.
Andrew Turner kept a Blackburn faceoff clearance inside the blue zone and Stuart Brittle fed a killer pass to player/ coach Ollie Barron who fired home to give the Wild the lead.
The rest of the period remained goalless and the Eagles began to pick up silly penalties.
Their lightning counterattacks which had proved so successful in the two previous games at Widnes did not pay off and Matt Croyle also performed heroics in the Wild goal.
Widnes doubled their lead just 21 seconds after the restart when Brittle slotted home a Barron pass.
The game was effectively over three minutes later when Brittle hit his second and Wild’s third goal of the night.
The game became scrappier as the Eagles saw the two points slipping away and things came to a head with an altercation on the boards between Widnes’s Kieran Strangeway and Eagles’ Aaron Jordan which drew other players in and, at one point, saw both match officials dumped onto the ice as well.
Jordan was given a 2+2+10 penalty, Strangeway 2+2 and Wild’s Tom Ratcliffe a 10 minute misconduct penalty.
Blackburn finally picked up a consolation goal in the 57th minute when the Wild lost possession while pushing for a fourth and former Widnes player Sam Dunford raced the length of the ice to fire past Croyle and deny him what would otherwise have been a well-earned shutout. ● WIDNES WILD ........................................... 9 COVENTRY BLAZE ................................... 2 BEFORE the game on Sunday, the Wild’s new signing Simon Offord was presented to the home crowd.
A veteran of more than 300 NIHL games with both Sheffield Spartans and Sutton Sting – where he was team captain last season – the 31 year old 6ft 5in defenceman looks to be a good acquisition and put in some impressive shifts on the ice, even though he hasn’t been playing competitively this season.
Having despatched the league leaders on Saturday night, the visit of the league’s bottom team Coventry Blaze to Silver Blades Widnes 24 hours later might have seemed a mere formality but that was to be far from the case.
Despite Widnes having the best of the early exchanges, the away side actually scored first.
It came in the sixth minute when the Wild were pushing up to make the most of a five on three powerplay.
Unfortunately for the home side, they lost possession of the puck at the very same moment that the first Coventry player emerged from the penalty box and he was in the perfect position to zip down the ice and slot past the despairing Tom McDonald in the Widnes goal.
The lead last barely three minutes, however, as Stuart Brittle fired in from Nick Manning.
Then, in the 11th minute, Widnes edged ahead with a goal from Ken Armstrong – albeit only after a lengthy dis- ● cussion between the three match officials and then with the goal judge as to whether the puck had actually crossed the line before bouncing back out.
By the time David Swanston turned in a fierce Danny Bullock slapshot after 14 minutes, to give Widnes a 3-1 lead going into the first break, it certainly looked as if a home win was going to be on the cards.
Two more Widnes goals came in the second period – from Ollie Barron and Brittle – but then just as you might have expected Coventry heads to drop, they popped in a second goal for themselves with just 15 seconds left on the clock.
Widnes then took the puck straight from the restart and thought they had it in the net themselves with seven seconds left on the clock but this time, after another lengthy discussion, the match officials decided there was no goal.
The third period passed with very little incident and goals from Barron – his second of the night – and two from Bullock to make his hat-trick finishing off the scoring.
With the other in-form team of the moment, Sheffield Senators, only picking up one point from their two games at the weekend, and Nottingham Lions being without a game, things are now a lot closer at the top of the table.
Widnes are now just six points behind the leaders and three points adrift of second place Sheffield with games in hand over both teams.
Looking back at the two weekend games, player/coach Barron said: “Sat- urday’s away game in Blackburn was a big game for us.
“Our preparation started in practice on Thursday as we knew we were going to be short on numbers going into the game with just two forward lines with three blocks of D pairings.
“We had a strict game plan which we executed perfectly, and we took our goal scoring chances when we had them.
“I was so pleased with the team’s togetherness and work ethic on Saturday – it was a much needed win.
“Sunday’s game was the first time we have played Coventry this season.
“It was disappointing to go a goal behind but, overall, a solid performance, and great to put some goals on the board as the game went on – with some good individual player performances.
“Credit to Coventry – they did not stop working for each other all night.
“I was also pleased to welcome Simon Offord into the team on Sunday. He will be a big player for us going forward for the rest of season.”
Widnes are at home again this Sunday when they host Nottingham Lions at Silver Blades Widnes.
Looking ahead to that game, Barron said: “Sunday’s game is a big game for us.
“We were not at our best when we played Nottingham away and we will be looking to build on this weekend’s momentum and take it into Sunday in front of our fans.” ● The home game against Nottingham Lions on Sunday faces-off at 5.30pm and doors open at 4.45pm.