ROMFORD, UK – Danny Marshall’s men returned home to RVW after a significant road win over Wightlink on Saturday, dropping the Cardiff Devils 6-2 in a fiery ENL encounter. Romford did an unusual thing on Saturday and put 5 past Wightlink Raiders in a resounding 5-2 win on the Isle of Wight.
The Raiders scored three goals in four minutes toward the end of the first period, breaking open a game that’d previously been fragmented by broken plays and quick whistles. Captain Anthony Leone – back after missing Saturday’s game on the island – got his team on the board first, shifting his way in front before pulling his wrister inside Mike Brabon’s near post during a 4-on-4 situation.
The Raiders would follow Leone’s strike with a quickfire pair; player/coach Marshall netted after a slick passing move involving AJ Smith and Pierre Wilhelmsson, before Smith himself picked up the third a minute later on the power play, shelfing a rebound after Jason Buckman’s shot had been stopped.
It was a rapid-fire spell that threatened a hiding for the Welsh visitors, and though Adam Wood’s early second period power play strike briefly held up the Raiders surge for the points, Wilhelmsson and Smith would both tally goals to put clear daylight between the two teams once more.
Frankie Harvey had a reasonably quite night by his high-flying standards, registering a single assist on Marshall’s second goal when he fed the player/coach to snap a wrist shot past Devils’ goaltender Brabon. In comparison, Swedish import Wilhelmsson and the hard-working Smith each notched four points on the night, whilst Buckman and Joe Allen each tallied helpers.
Both sides were involved in sizeable scraps as the contest became one of bad blood as opposed to great hockey; the Raiders’ Tom Davis and JJ McGrath were involved in a pair of fights that had the home crowd up on their feet, Davis dropping them with the Devils’ Lee Duance and McGrath with Phill Manny. Stuart Low had already been sent to the box on a roughing call after he floored his Cardiff counterpart with a wild punch.
It was the kind of spirited encounter that’d been lacking from the Raiders home games so far this season. The wins over Bristol and Milton Keynes had been relatively straight-forward, yet as the 35-28 shot count was to indicate, Cardiff were to be a slightly tougher nut to crack. The Raiders took their chances when they came, capitalising three times with the extra man as Wilhelmsson, Smith and Marshall drove home the mounting scoreline on the backend of an excellent weekend for the team.
Brabon made a couple of sprawling pad saves that denied the Raiders a far larger lead early in the third, whilst Michal Gray again looked composed in stopping 26 of 28 Cardiff shots. Danny Marshall will doubtless be pleased with his teams clinical work in front of net and though they at times looked a little sloppy in their own end – particularly early in the second period – the Raiders were always fairly comfortable on this night.
Romford head back to Cardiff next Saturday for the third meeting between the two teams this year before welcoming Wightlink to Rom Valley Way the following evening. As with this weekend, four points and a physical edge would be an extremely welcome outcome for Marshall and Co. Contact the author Comment@Prohockeynews.com
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