Wild U15s beaten in first game

Blackburn U15 11 Widnes Wild U15 2 WIDNES ice hockey history was made on Saturday when players from the Wild Academy played the first-ever competitive league fixture by a junior team from the town.

The Wild U15 team are playing in the EIHA North U15 League this season for the first time and they travelled to Blackburn to play their opening match.

The Blackburn outfit can boast numerous players who already have several seasons of competitive hockey under their belts so this was always going to be a difficult first game for the new Wild team.

The home side took the lead in the fourth minute and then the first Widnes goal was scored by team captain Jack Davies with 6.18 on the clock.

The second Wild goal was netted by Joel Bark in the 44th minute, although Blackburn had scored nine more by then and went on to win the encounter 11-2.

Despite the rather one-sided scoreline at the end, the game was very closely-fought throughout and the Wild actually out-shot the hosts by 9-6 in the first period.

Possession and goal chances were fairly even for much of the game and the Wild team are sure to come on in leaps and bounds as their debut season progresses.

The Wild line up was: Luke Mullarkey, Finlay Wood, Rory Sillery, Reid Ryan, Joel Bark, Adam Vigh-Yecsey, Nicholas Highcock, Jack Davies, Jamie-Lee Houghton and Jake Meehan.

The Wild U15 team are away to Deeside on Saturday, October 6 (4.45pm face-off) and then play their first home game on Saturday, November 3 when they entertain Nottingham at Planet Ice Widnes. That clash has a 6.50pm face-off time. ● The Wild U9 team played their first competitive EIHA games on Sunday when they hosted a ‘cross ice’ tournament featuring teams from Deeside, Telford, Blackburn and Manchester Storm.