BRISTOL, UK – Following a week of preparation and the draw achieved against Basingstoke, The Bristol Pitbulls ENL2 went back to work against Romford Fury. Earlier in the season Romford were a better team at Rom Valley with a score-line of 3-1. The crowd at Frogmore Street were eager to see whether the Bristol teams could muster two wins as a day before the ENL2 match, the Pitbulls ENL1 side had rewarded the spectators with a win against Bracknell Hornets.
Adi Smith screens the goalie. Courtesy of Flyfifer.co.uk
The first period was filled with both teams trying to get offence going and test the goalies. The Pitbulls were the first to score with a short-handed tally from Adi Smith. Romford however, struck back after a sloppy clearance attempt at Bristol’s home end. Before the horn sounded the end to the first period, Pitbulls’ Adi Smith struck again giving Bristol 2-1 lead to end the period. The second period saw the Pitbulls ENL 2 side fall foul to their mid period curse and soon found themselves trailing on the scoreboard. The Pitbulls got themselves into penalty trouble and the Romford side quickly equalised the game on a power play goal to make it 2-2.
Craig Sutherland tracks the puck. Courtesy of Flyfifer.co.uk
It wasn’t long that Fury took advantage of the game to make it 3-2. Though the Pitbulls were quick to respond with a goal that was eventually waived off, as the net was knocked off its moorings just as the puck crossed the line. However, the Pitbulls soon got a break on a power play. It didn’t take long before Ian Clark thanked Romford for the penalty and hammered home a goal from the blue line to make it 3-3. Soon after Pitbulls took control of the game as Liam Williams broke through the Romford defence to put the puck top shelf to give the Pitbulls a 4-3 lead.
Liam Williams celebrates his goal. Courtesy of Flyfifer.co.uk
However before the end of the second Romford equalised the game leaving the clincher for the 3
rd period after the score was tied at 4-4. The Pitbulls ENL2 side regained the lead after Adi Smith rounding off his hat-trick. Smith was trying to pass the puck into the slot, but the puck took a deflection and trickled into the net. Romford were far from finished and put pressure on the Pitbulls to try and tie the game. The efforts from the Fury side paid off as before the half-way marker of the third, the game was tied once again. The Pitbulls got their final break from Adam Young who made his return to the line-up following his concussion. Young fired a wrist shot past the Romford netminder to make it 6-5 for the Pitbulls.
Adi Smith screens the goalie. Courtesy of Flyfifer.co.uk
Romford were desperately trying to get the equaliser and pulled their goalie for an extra attacker. Despite the pressure mounted by the Romford side, Pitbulls were able to chip the puck out of their zone for Paul ‘Sakic’ Davies to jump on the lose puck in the neutral zone and get the empty net goal to finish the game at 7-5. The win helped the Pitbulls ENL2 to climb out of the last place in the league and will now look to gain further points with a visit to Lee Valley this week. Contact the author:
janne.virtanen@prohockeynews.com Related
