Wild kickstart Cup campaign
THE YKK sponsored Widnes Wild picked up a sensational 8-9 victory with a dramatic over time win away to the Sheffield Scimitars in the Moralee Midlands Cup on Saturday.
This was the first meeting between the two teams since Widnes had beaten Sheffield in the National Division 1 Championship final and with both teams playing up in the higher division for the first time, it always seemed likely to be a closely fought game.
Sheffield took the lead after just 28 seconds of the game but Widnes equalised just 3 minutes later with a goal from Vlads Vulkanovs. A second Scimitars strike right at the end of the period handed them a narrow 2-1 lead heading into the break and a third goal three minutes from the restart edged them further ahead.
Keiron Furlong halved the deficit for Widnes on 28 minutes and 3 minutes later Kieran Beach fired home to level the scores. Two goals late in the second period saw Sheffield leading 5-3 heading into the final 20 minutes but Widnes were looking very strong and there was still plenty to play for.
The Scimitars got themselves into penalty trouble early in the third period and the Wild were quick to punish these infringements. A powerplay gaol from Vulkanovs in the 44th minute narrowed the gap to just one goal and then a second powerplay strike just 30 seconds later from Mikey Gilbert levelled the score once more.
Then just 21 seconds after that, Wild player coach Richard Haggar fired home to put Widnes into the lead for the first time in the game.
Sheffield fought back with two goals to retake the lead and when the Scimitars lost a man to the penalty box on 55 minutes, Widnes called a time-out to discuss tactics. Whatever was discussed obviously worked as the Wild’s former Sheffield player Nathan Britton fired in a powerplay goal just 36 seconds from the puck drop to level the score at 7-7.
The last few minutes were agonising to watch as the clock slowly ran down and both teams closed up to try and avoid making a costly last minute error.
Then with 40 seconds left in the game, Sheffield scored their 8th goal and looked as if they had done enough to secure the match. Widnes, undaunted, pushed forward and, with just 19 seconds to play, Vulkanovs fired in his hat-trick goal to force the game into over time.
With Tom Stubley in the box for interference, Widnes went into the 5 minute over time period with a man disadvantage but the tables were turned 90 seconds into extra time once Stubley had returned to the fray and the Scimitars were assessed a hooking penalty. The game was decided after 3 minutes 31 seconds of sudden death over time with a golden goal from Nathan Britton to hand Widnes a hard-fought and well deserved 8-9 victory
Despite the win, Widnes remain bottom of the Midlands Cup group table with one win from their two games to date, level on points with Blackburn Hawks, who have played one game more. Sheffield receive a point for the Over Time Loss and head the table with five points from three games.
The Wild have two more away games, both in the league before their next appearance at home on Sunday 10th October, when they will take on Sheffield in the Moralee Midlands Cup at Planet Ice Widnes.
On Sunday 3rd October they are away at Billingham Stars and a week later they are at Solway Sharks.