Lewis treble helps the Raiders defeat Seagulls

RIVERSIDE RAIDERS 6 WYRE SEAGULLS 2 THE Riverside Raiders consolidated their position at the top of the Summer Classic League table with an impressive 6-2 triumph over the Blackburn-based Wyre Seagulls at Silver Blades Widnes on Sunday.

Following on from their 5-1 win at Sheffield the previous week, this gives them a 100% start to their campaign in the five-team league which also includes outfits from Sheffield, Grimsby and another side from Blackburn.

The Raiders made a flying start to the game, taking the lead after just one minute with a fine strike by Gez Lewis, assisted by teammate Sam Plant.

A little under two minutes later, it was 2-0 as Lewis, again, picked up a rebound off the Wyre netminder and slotted the puck home.

Once they had got over this initial setback, the Seagulls upped their game and put some impressive plays together themselves.

Both teams spent the remainder of the period trying not to give anything away and the score stayed at 2-0 at the first break.

The Seagulls looked much better all round in the second period and seemed the more likely to score until they started picking up penalties, which broke their momentum and left them shorthanded.

The Raiders scored their third goal at 32.38 – a well-taken individual effort by Owen Tennant – and the game looked to be gradually slipping away from the visitors.

The third period started off in much the same vein as the second with the Seagulls quickest out of the blocks.

They thought they had scored their opening goal just 19 seconds from the restart but the referee had already blown the whistle to halt the play before the puck crossed the line.

A fourth goal for the Raiders came at 44.55 as Tom Yates fired in his first for the team after some excellent skating around the net by Adam Murphy and it looked as if the home side had this game well and truly in the bag.

A powerplay opportunity on a slashing penalty against the Seagulls saw them push forward to try and extend their lead but they were caught out by a breakaway and the away side scored their first goal to pull the score back to 4-1.

If any nerves had begun to jangle on the home bench at this point, they were quickly dispelled when Lewis scored his hat-trick goal with just under 10 minutes left to play.

The Raiders thought they had scored again just two minutes later when the puck crossed the Wyre goalline. However, the Seagulls’ goaltender also went into the net and, with all the accompanying pushing and shoving around the goal crease, the goal was ruled out.

However, it was pretty much all over soon after when Sam Plant picked up on some great forward passing from Tennant and Elizabeth Wright to net number six.

The clock ticked down slowly towards the Raiders’ victory but much credit must go to the visitors who put up a battling performance and never gave up for a second.

Their tenacity eventually paid off – albeit too late to affect the result – when they scored their second goal with just two ticks left on the clock.

The Raiders are next in action on Saturday, May 13 when they travel to the Grimsby Stormers.

Their next home game is the following weekend – Sunday, May 21 – when they play Grimsby at Silver Blades Widnes.

Before that, however, the Widnes Wildcats team are in competitive action as they play their first home game in the Summer Cup competition on Sunday, May 7 against the Cleveland Comets at Silver Blades Widnes. Face-off is at 4.30pm and admission is free.