Wild’s gem of a victory
● KINGSTON DIAMONDS ........................... 2 WIDNES WILD WOMEN ........................... 3 two minutes by Kingston top scorer Reagan Downing – who is a Team GB international and also plays for the Diamonds’ Elite League team – who fired in a long-range shot through a crowd of players which crept past the possibly unsighted netminder Lavery.
Kingston adopted a rather physical approach to this game and there were quite a few penalties handed out to both teams.
The first Widnes goal came as a result of a powerplay for a 2+2 penalty for roughing on the Diamonds’ Clara Ashton and Wild’s Katie Hills fired in the equaliser in the 18th minute.
The Wild then took the lead – albeit in rather fortunate circumstances – in the dying seconds of the period after Belgian international player Leen de Decker found the loose puck at her feet after a mêlée in the Kingston goal crease and duly poked it into the net.
With several players of both sides clearly encroaching and the Diamonds’ netminder left flailing on the ice, it was open to question as to whether the goal should have been allowed to stand but the referee was in a perfect position to see and Widnes left the ice leading 2-1 at the first break.
The home side’s robust play continued in the second period and included a 2+10 penalty for a check from behind but it was the Diamonds who scored the next goal – Downing again, on 29 minutes – to tie the score at 2-2 with 30 minutes of the game remaining.
There was no more scoring in the second period and the game was on a knife edge when the teams came back out for the third period with the players all keyed up for the challenge.
Within seconds of the restart, Hills was banished to the box on 2+2 penalty for roughing plus 10 minutes for misconduct, brought on by a clash with the Kingston captain Bethany Barwell.
In the aftermath of these penalties, Wild’s Megan Bowen-Fell was handed a match penalty for a kick, leaving the Widnes bench somewhat short for the rest of the period.
Despite this, with a little over 10 minutes to go, Widnes re-took the lead with a fine strike from Amanda Williams who picked up the puck outside the Kingston blue line and skated past several defenders to fire it into the roof of the home team’s net.
The tension was unbelievable around the Hull Arena as the clock slowly ticked down and the Wild women hung on for a well-earned victory – and a place in the WPL play offs.
Speaking post-game, coach Owen Tennant said: “It was a tough game that could have gone either way.
“Some debatable calls were/were not made, all of which I will be reviewing personally. That aside, I guess in the end it just came down to who wanted it more.
“Knowing that the win would take us to the playoffs definitely played a big part in us coming away with the win.
“Being able to say that we have made the playoffs is a great feeling and the girls should be very proud of themselves.
“The work they put in week in week out is the reason that they have the chance to compete in the playoffs.
“I believe that the girls can put in a great performance over the weekend and I see no reason why we shouldn’t be aiming to win the competition.”
The Wild women will be now be taking part in the WPL Play Offs as part of the EIHA Women’s Trophy Weekend at iceSheffield this weekend where they will have the somewhat daunting prospect of playing league champions Streatham Storm for a place in the WPL final.
The Wild women lost to Streatham at the same stage of competition last season and lost to the home and away in the league this season as well, albeit with a team depleted by injuries and player availability.
However, their recent form – three away wins in their last three games – plus the return to the team of some of the missing players suggests that they may have every chance in a one-off game on neutral ice.