BASINGSTOKE, UK – The John Cleighton-Hills Memorial Cup is fully underway, with most teams playing every weekend until the playoffs in August. So far the top of the table has been dominated by Chelmsford Nighthawks and Swindon Panthers who have maintained a 100% win record in their games.
Chelmsford opened their season with two wins over Basingstoke and Bristol and has since carried that form over to games against Peterborough Eagles, a match played on the 9th of May. The Eagles fell prey to the Nighthawks at Riverside ice rink 8-5. The Eagles made the trip down south with a large squad of 18 players, but were not able to skate away with the valuable two points.
On 16th of May, Chelmsford faced Solihull Wolves who travelled the distance to Chelmsford. The Wolves side was suffering from suspensions from its earlier games, fell to the Chelmsford side in a 13-2 game.
Swindon, meanwhile continue their dominance in the Cup after beating the Wolves at Swindon 9-1. Over the weekend of 16th of May, Swindon were enjoying a break from Cup games whilst team coach Paul O’Donovan was getting married.
Elsewhere in the Cup, Gosport have gotten off to a good start. After a close loss to Cardiff Bay Lightning, Solent and Gosport Scorpions beat Bristol Mad Dogs 8-3 at Gosport. The match was over shadowed by a severe injury to Bristol’s Matthew Wright, who is likely sidelined for the rest of the season. On Sunday 16th of May, the Scorpions faced Basingstoke Cougars for the battle of Hampshire. The Cougars were coming to the game with a big loss against Chelmsford on their backs looking to get their first points in the season, but fell to the Scorpions 11-6, in what was a close game till the start of the third period.
Peterborough Eagles continue their trip down south with matches against the Mad Dogs and Cardiff. The match in Cardiff brought points to the Eagles side after winning over the Lightning side 9-3. The game was closely contested, with only a goal separating the two teams by the start of the third period.
At the time of writing, the score from the Mad Dogs – Eagles game is not known.
The competition is tight at the top, but playoff spots are still open to all teams in what is shaping out to be a very interesting Summer Cup competition. Be sure to catch your local team in action over the summer for your ice hockey fix and be sure to keep an eye on the cup website and get involved in the conversation at: http://summercup.drover.ca
Contact Janne.Virtanen@prohockeynews.com
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