Saturday night, Solent Devils set out to defend their newly won position in the league, while Invicta Dynamos wanted revenge for the 8-2 defeat they suffered during their last trip to Gosport.
Christian Cole stopping the puck in the Devils goal
Right from the off, this was going to be a physical game, both teams pushing hard, but despite a pair of penalties for both team, neither managed to make much headway.
While the Devils had created a few chances, Christian Cole had needed to stop twenty one shots, something he managed well, and the end of the period came with the score still 0-0.
Both teams came back out in the second, and continued in the same manner, until, almost half way through the period, Ashley Jackson took the puck from the Invicta zone, sending it on to Adam Rehak, who, for the first time in the game, managed to beat the Devils net minder.
The Devils rallied, and with the puck going round the Dynamo goal, Mark Pitt’s shot was knocked away, Alex Murray picked up the rebound, but his shot was also knocked away. Matt Lawday then picked up the puck, his change of direction causing him to overbalance and topple over in front of the crease, but keeping his composure, as he went down, managed to flick the puck in to the net, levelling the score.
The puck dropped, and both teams got back to it, with the puck taken in to the Devils zone, from where it was intercepted by Alex Cole. The captain sent it over to Richard Facey, who took it all the way to the Dynamos goal, under pressure and with John Dibble getting larger by the second. Just before the net minder completely blocked Facey’s view, Facey slipped the puck back to Aiden Doughty, following up in support, and with Dibble concentrating so hard on blocking Facey, the net was wide open for Doughty, who made the score 2-1 to the Devils less than five minutes after Invicta had started the scoring.
With barely ninety seconds left in the second period, Pitts’ passed to Murray in the centre of the goal, but with no clear path between the pipes Murray passed out to Lawday who had appeared at the post, it didn’t take much for Lawday to knock the puck in, and the two teams went to their changing rooms with the Devils 3-1 in the lead.
Mark Pitts
Half way through the third period, Lawday was sent to the penalty box for slashing, then, seconds later, Ben Lock was sent to join him following a high stick call behind the Devils goal.
Invicta found themselves with a two man advantage, and made the most of it, Callum Fowler firing a shot which Cole dived to block, and with the rebound skittering back out on to the ice, Arran Strawson lifted it over the prone net minder and put it in to the roof of the goal.
The Devils lead now cut to just one goal, meant that the Dynamos fought harder for the last ten minutes of the game than they had for the previous fifty, but, somehow, the Devils held the score until the final buzzer, earning themselves two points and holding their position in the league, despite Milton Keynes Thunder beating the Bracknell Hornets 6-4 in Bracknell.
The weekend wasn’t don’t though, and Sunday the Devils travelled to play fifth place London Raiders with five points separating the two teams.
The game started well for the Devils, Alex Murray getting the assist on Matt Lawday’s goal, just twenty five seconds in to the game.
A smattering of penalties throughout the first period, but no more goals meant the Devils headed in to the break in the lead, and obviously happy about it.
The second period started well for the Devils too, not quite as quickly as the first, but just three minutes in saw Murray get another assist, this time with Richard Facey, as Aiden Doughty beat Euan King to make the score 2-0.
Raiders didn’t like this, and with the home crowd cheering them on, just three minutes later with Luke Tull sat in the Devils penalty box, Alan Lack got the scoring off to a start, assists coming from Andrew Munroe and John Connolly.
The second period went end to end, with each net minder getting in front of fifteen shots, but the score at the end of the period was 2-1 to the traveling Devils.
The third period, was more end to end hockey, with Raiders getting the first goal in the period, six minutes in when captain Tom Davis knocked it past Cole, Lack getting an assist to go with his earlier goal, Sam Roberts joining him.
The Devils pushed hard, not content with a tie, and while it took time, their third goal of the game – with just one minute and fifteen second left of play – was celebrated as much as if had been scored earlier.
Head Coach Alex Murray with Saturday’s Man of the Match, Christian Cole
Raiders, not wanting a loss, pulled King from his net in the last minute, in favour of getting another skater on the ice. The plan didn’t work too well for them, and while they were attacking, Christian Cole earned his second assist of the season, getting the puck to Drew Campbell, who sent it on to Facey. Facey’s shot was true, and with no net minder to stop it, the puck sailed through the crease and in to the goal, with just five seconds left.
This win closed the gap between the two teams to three points, and elsewhere in the league, Milton Keynes Thunder’s loss to Invicta Dynamos means that the Devils cant be caught in sixth place.
This coming weekend, the Devils will host Oxford City Stars for their last home game of the season, followed by their last regular game of the season, on the road to face the Dynamos.
All photos are courtesy of Dave Chapman
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