Swindon Flames Match Reports 02/03/08

PEEWEE REDS 3 v BANBURY BULLDOGS 19

Swindon Skater Hockey Club’s newest team were in action for the first time this weekend when they faced off against Banbury Bulldogs. The Peewee Reds are the club’s newly formed U-12’s development side and as such this game was the first experience of competitive league hockey for many of the team’s youngsters. Facing off against a much more experienced, and physically larger, side the youngsters from Swindon appeared completely unfazed and hit the rink eager to show off the skills they’ve learnt through hours of practice at training and the club’s Saturday morning beginners sessions. Despite their obvious enthusiasm, however, the difference between the two teams was underlined when the Bulldogs found the back of the net within the first couple of minutes and despite the best efforts of the Peewee Reds the Bulldogs racked up four unanswered goals before team captain Jake Latham managed to beat the Banbury keeper to score his and the team’s first ever league goal. The Bulldogs responded by firing in another three quick goals before Charlie Browning, the Reds Assistant Captain, got his name on the score sheet for the first time when he netted a power-play goal. Restored to full strength the Bulldogs scored the last goal of the first period to claim an 8-2 lead going into the break.

The second period followed with the determined Peewee Reds bravely battling their more experienced opponents but despite a second strike from Jake Latham, as little legs began to tire the gap between the two teams increased as the Bulldogs powered their way to a 19-3 victory.

After the game Mark Lane, the Reds manager, said “ I’m really, really proud of the team and there was a real buzz on the bench, all the kids were smiling and having a great time and as a development side this is what it’s really all about and if the kids are enjoying it and having fun then the results are almost irrelevant. That said, the team showed a lot of determination and character and I’m sure that, as we improve through our first season the season, the results will follow.” 

JUNIOR REDS 0 v OXFORD HURRICANES 12

Sunday also saw action for the Junior Reds, the club’s U-18’s development side. As a result of the amalgamation of last year’s “A” and “B” leagues, The Reds faced the somewhat daunting task of kicking off their season with a face off against last year’s “A” League champions, Oxford Hurricanes.

The Junior Reds began well, despite conceding an early goal, and for the first ten minutes the Oxford side struggled to stamp any authority on the game. However, as the effort of foiling the Hurricanes repeated attacks began to tell the cracks began to appear and in a three minute flurry the Oxford side managed to add four more goals to their tally. When the Flames were reduced to three outfield players through a minor penalty call the Hurricanes took advantage to score again and end the first period 6 goals to the good.

Period two followed a similar pattern with the Flames defence holding out for  long periods and, even though Oxford added goals 7 and 8 in the first few minutes of the second period, it was not until the last five minutes that they again managed to score a flurry of goals to run out 12 – 0 victors.

Speaking after the match Russell Weymouth, the Junior Reds manager, said “ This was a difficult opening game for us and we have to remember that whilst we were competing in the “B” league last year, Hurricanes were “A” league Champions and National runners-up. With that in mind, I was really pleased with the effort and determination shown by the team and think that we gave a creditable performance against one of the better teams in our league”.

 

PEEWEE FLAMES 11 v KSF VIPERS 0

The Peewee Flames (U-12’s) were looking to kick-start their season after suffering a heavy defeat on the opening day of the league as they faced off against KSF Vipers in the final game of the day. Buoyed by the return of players who were last week unavailable the Peewees took to the rink determined to bounce back and show the kind of form that enabled them to finish as last year’s league runners –up. The Flames were lead from the front by captain Sam Nobbs who opened the scoring in the third minute. Goals by Ryan Walters and Anthony Bayliss followed before Nobbs struck twice more to complete a hat-trick take his team to the halftime whistle 5-0 up.

Facing off for the second period The Flames began to add to their tally almost immediately with goals from James Kilby, another from Sam Nobbs and one from Will Harding. With the contest over, the pace slowed a little but before the final whistle Harding again found the back of the net and Nobbs competed a double hat-trick by bagging two more to bring the final score to 11-0

Ian Walters, Peewee manager said after the game “ What a difference a week makes, last week the whole team were pretty dejected but with the return of some missing players and a determined, positive attitude from all the players the team’s performance was 100% improved, hopefully we can now put last week behind us and look to the rest of the season with renewed confidence”.