SWINDON, UK –
The week started with Wildcats coach Ryan Aldridge (GBR)(F) announcing he was happy with the team’s performance against the Bees and Jets at the weekend and still feels his team is in with a chance of securing the final playoff spot, especially as their next opponents, the Flames, are on a losing streak of three. Their second of their two home games this coming weekend is against the Jets, who they were unlucky to lose to last weekend.
Manchester’s player-coach Tony Hand (GBR)(F) hit the 100-point mark following a weekend haul of two goals and eight assists adding to last season’s milestone of four thousand career points and making a mockery of the few comments that he should give up skating just because the team’s results have taken a bashing recently. But dishing out a bashing was
Claude Dumas (CAN)(F), boss of the Bees, said he is speechless following Saturday’s game against the Wildcats in which his side got thrashed in an eight goal shutout, but despite his speechlessness he did manage to gasp that he had no idea what happened.
Bison player-coach Steve Moira (Can)(F) said the coming weekend’s games against the Jets and Lightning will be the deciding factors that determine where the Basingstoke team finish in the EPL league this season, hopefully third. So with a four-one win at Slough, who have a best winning streak at home of nine games, Moira must be feeling his plan is panning out nicely especially as the Bison jumped the Flames in the league.
Guildford Flames go into weekend with a run of three losses, one of their poorest performance runs of the season having only matched a three game losing streak early in the season. It was for this reason, and the up-beat weekend against Bees and Jets last weekend that gave the Wildcats the scent of points in the air, according to the local press. And rightly so, as it turned out, because for the first time in six meetings the Wildcats collected the points.
In a blitz of fifteen goals on Saturday the Bees saw off the Romford Raiders and in doing so maintained the two point advantage over the Wildcats, despite their win, in the battle for a playoff place.
Meanwhile the Lightning go on their merry way with a win at home to the Phantoms, and with the Phoenix winning against the Scimitars, it means the Manchester team are back on an equal points footing with Guildford.
And then came Sunday, and another defeat for the Jets by struggling
And it did, almost, because the Flames lost again in overtime this time to the Scimitars taking their tally to five games without a win, the worst losing run this season. The Flames opened the scoring and peppered the Scimitars with almost double the shots on goal but the Sheffield side equalised in the second and although the Flames pulled away again with a pair, the Scimitars put in two goals within twenty seconds in the dying minutes to force the overtime, where they came out on top after a minute-plus.
Steve Moira (Can)(F), the Bison player-coach’s plan to end third in the league took a dent with a defeat by the visiting Lightning who improved on their penalty loss last encounter eleven days ago with a solid win making the Milton Keynes side pretty much safe at the top unless everyone goes down with some debilitating illness in the next week.
So the top of the table is now looking like a one-horse race, with the Jets falling by the wayside this weekend, whereas the supporting positions involving the Bison, Flames and
For more EPL facts, figures and news try my website – www.iceman-epl.com
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