ROMFORD, UK – The Raiders rebounded from last weekend’s tough 6-3 loss in Cardiff as they rode Frankie Harvey’s 6-point night to a comfortable 8-2 win over the MK Thunder at RVW.
Harvey, back at Rom Valley Way for a second season, looked a class apart as he registered a pair of goals and four assists on the night. The youngster dangled his way through traffic time and time again and was only denied a hat-trick when he lifted a backhand over the bar when it seemed easier to score. Player/coach Danny Marshall chimed in with four assists including a gorgeous give-and-go with Harvey for the Raiders fifth and a neat cross-crease setup for defenceman Pierre Wilhelmsson to give the veteran leader his one thousand two hundredth career point.
The Raiders’ strong forecheck formed the basis of an offensive outburst that saw multi-point games for five players, including two-goal scorers Wilhelmsson and captain Anthony Leone. Leone notched the Raiders only powerplay tally after neat work from Harvey and Marshall and then picked up his second of the night when he banked home a loose puck from the top of the crease. Thunder goaltender Mark Woolf rarely offered the kind of resistance that the Raiders faced from Bristol’s John Dibble two weeks earlier, making routine saves but looking vulnerable to anything in tight.
Credit must go to the Thunder for the way they continued to push forward even in spite of a lopsided scoreline. Bereft of a host of players due to injury and suspension, it would have been reasonable to expect a damage limitation gameplan from the visitors, but that was not to be the case. They finally got on the board when Ross Bowers poked home a rebound after a frenetic scramble in front of the Raiders’ Michael Gray and then got their second in questionable circumstances when Lewis Clifford’s shot was deemed to have crossed the goal-line despite mass protest from those in blue and gold.
The Raiders quickly answered the Thunder’s second with a pair of their own, Wilhelmsson and Marshall notching respective goals 6 seconds apart as the third period wore down. But spread-scoring aside, the night belonged to Frankie Harvey. The youngster dazzled more and more with each passing shift, gliding through the neutral zone and creating opportunity with each and every touch of the puck. Rom Valley Way’s brightest star continues to shine yet brighter. Romford return to action on Saturday when they travel to reigning play-off champions Bracknell Hornets. Contact the author Comment@Prohockeynews.com
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