NEWCASTLE, UK – Newcastle Vipers began their Play Off Quarter Final 2nd leg with the hope that they could overturn the 4-1 defeat they had suffered in Belfast on Saturday night. However the Giants flew out of the blocks and took the lead on the night through Jeff Szwez after only 6 minutes of action at Hillheads.
The home crowd continued to get behind Coach Wilson’s men and Jerramie Domish rewarded the supporters faith when he fired the equaliser in with just under 10 minutes on the clock. With the game all square on the night, Vipers once again had a 3 goal deficit to claw back which seemed a possibility given the spirited showing Newcastle put up during the games early exchanges.
Any realistic hope of a Vipers come back was extinguished 2 minutes later though when sharp shooter Evan Cheverie lit the lamp to make the aggregate score 6-2 to the Giants at the 1st intermission. Newcastle continued to show spirit and fight at the start of the 2nd period and Matic Kralj levelled the game at 2-2 with a smart finish from the Slovenian forward.
The final blow to the Vipers Play Off aspirations came after 35 minutes of action when Giants player coach Steve Thornton fired in a short handed marker to take the game out of sight for the home side. To their credit Newcastle came out fighting once again in the third period and the Vipers had a few opportunities to tie the game up early in the final stanza however the puck wasn’t just falling for any of the home sides forwards.
Belfast looked in control of the game throughout the majority of the third period however it does have to be said that Giants were handed one of their late goals on a plate as the Vipers bench took the bizarre decision to withdraw the net minder for an extra skater after around 50 minutes of action when Newcastle were already on the power play. This decision backfired almost immediately when the Elite League’s top scorer Colin Shields was able to fire into an unguarded net.
Vipers gave some ice time to back up net minder Richie Lawson and youngsters Dan Pye and Ross Hanlon late in the game as any chance Newcastle had of making Play Off weekend at the NIC had long since gone. Giants skated away with a 6-2 victory on the night and a 10-3 aggregate win which will no doubt boost the confidence in the Belfast camp ahead of next weekend.
Outgoing Vipers Coach Rob Wilson thanked the fans for the support he has received during his time on Tyneside as player/coach/owner of the Newcastle based side throughout the last few years. Wilson may not have been the best player or coach we have seen on these shores over the last decade or so however there will few other individuals who have contributed as much to one hockey club and for that reason Wilson should be held in the highest regard by all hockey fans in the north east. Contact the author Chris.MacKenzie@Prohockeynews.com
