ISLE OF WIGHT, UK – The Wightlink Raiders recent good form deserted them as they slumped to a 4-1 home defeat against second in the table Bracknell Hornets. This was always going to be a tough task against the Berkshire outfit, who had lost only once in the previous 20 games but the Raiders produced possibly their poorest performance of the season to date allowing the Hornets a more comfortable win than the scoreline suggests.
Wightlink, who were icing without import John Sarno who was back home in America due to a family bereavement, were dealt an early blow when D man Dan Scott was checked into the boards by the Hornets Bradley Watchorn and fractured his ankle as a result. Despite this the Raiders held their own in what was a fairly even period of hockey. Midway through the period the Raiders took the lead through a fluke goal by Luke Reynolds. The Raiders D man dumped the puck on net from close to the halfway line but the Bracknell Keeper David Wride made a hash of it and allowed the puck to sneak past him.
In the second period the Hornets looked much more assured and dominated proceedings before equalising through Ben Duggan on 30:49. The home teams heads seemed to drop and from that point onwards the Hornets were in complete control out shooting the home team 18-7 during the period.
The Raiders play continued to deteriorate through the final period and the Hornets sealed a comfortable victory with two strikes within 2 minutes from Mark Galazzi and a second from Duggan midway through the period. The Hornets then easily saw out the remaining time to complete a sweep of all four fixtures against the Raiders on the season.
The Raiders weekend did not get any better the following day when they travelled to
Contact the author Dave.Logan@Prohockeynews.com
