ROMFORD, UK – Romford returned home to RVW after a successful away day in Bristol, notching their biggest victory of the season in a 15-2 win over the Swindon Wildcats. The Raiders fired 79 shots at the Swindon goal on Sunday evening – 35 alone in the third period – in a game that was perhaps ten goals shy of where it should have been were it not for relief Wildcats netminder Kevin McGurk. McGurk was exceptional in the third period after replacing starter Jamie Thompson following the ninth Romford goal; highlight-reel glove saves and a selection of sprawling pad stops denied the home side far greater disparity than the scoreline suggests. The Raiders continued Saturday’s 11-0 offensive outburst early on Sunday, scoring six times in the opening period and a further six in the second. Anthony Leone, Frankie Harvey, Joe Allen, Juraj Huska, Jason Buckman and Julian Smith all scored in the first period as the Raiders dominated possession. Leone cut in from the right after just 90 seconds, beating Thompson with a rising wrist shot that seemed to go straight through the Wildcats goaltender. The second and third periods resembled a 40-minute power play for the Raiders such was Swindon’s inability to clear the zone. Romford moved the puck well, utilised their defenseman from the point and stepped in to a succession of slap shots in the slot. Huska, 3 goals to his name on Saturday, completed his second hat-trick of the weekend when he one-timed Danny Marshall’s cross-ice feed short-side into an open net. It was his second of the period after a move around the net went unchallenged leading to a wrister from in front that beat Thompson high over his glove. Buckman and Julian Smith each posted their second of the night as the Raiders threatened to rack up a cricket score in the second. Buckman one-timing Huska’s cross-crease pass and Smith blasting home from the blueline. Grant Baxter became the second of three Raiders to score their first of the season as he exchanged passes with Tom Davis and beat McGurk far side, whilst AJ Smith fired home from between the circles as the Raiders began to tee off on the Swindon goal. The third period was perhaps the Raiders’ most dominant as they registered a massive 35 shots on the Swindon goal. Joe Allen neatly deflected Julian Smith’s wrister beyond McGurk before player-coach Marshall netted his 500th Raider goal on successive weekends of personal celebration. Marshall tapped in a cross-ice pass from Huska off a 2-on-1 breakaway before JJ McGrath followed Baxter in scoring his first of the year, backhanding a loose puck past McGurk as it lay prone in the crease following a goalmouth scramble – cue mass celebration to a rather apt choice of music from the Raiders DJ. Even the most ardent of Raider fan must concede that this weekend has been little more than a glorified stat-padding exercise for the boys in gold and blue. These kind of games won’t win you a championship, but they can go some way toward losing you one; and to that end, job (very) well done for the Raiders. Contact the author – alex.nunn@prohockeynews.com
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