Swindon Flames Match Reports
SASH LEAGUE RESULTS 21/10/07
SWINDON FLAMES JUNIORS 2 v OXFORD HURRICANES 5
The Swindon Flames Junior team faced off on Sunday morning for their last SASH league fixture of 2007 against top of the table Oxford Hurricanes. With the Hurricanes leading the league by only one point, closely followed by Shene Youngbloods , who they face on the last day of the season, a win for the Oxford side was vital and would close the door on Shene’s title challenge. The Flames, in third place and out of contention, went into the game determined to deny the Oxford side the opportunity to lift the league championship a week early and also saw the game as a chance to secure an advantage over their rivals ahead of next month’s British National Championships.
Having been defeated by the Oxford side twice this season (9-1 in April and 7-3 in June) The Flames were fired up for the game right from the start and in the opening minutes they hit both the crossbar and the post and despite conceding an early goal, against the run of play, The Flames persisted with an exciting, all attack game-plan. Although one goal to the good, Oxford were clearly rattled by the rampant Flames and when the Hurricanes were reduced to 3 outfield players through a penalty it seemed inevitable that they would concede the equaliser. The Hurricanes defence stood firm and effectively killed the penalty but the Flames efforts were rewarded within seconds of the Oxford team’s return to full strength when Swindon forward Chris Adamson found the back of the net with a scorching shot that drew to two sides level seconds before the half-time whistle.
The Hurricanes, having recomposed themselves during the break, sought to wrestle the initiative away from the Flames and a goal in the opening seconds of the second period restored them to a 2-1 lead. Immediately the Flames responded and unleashed a blistering attack on the Oxford goals. The turning point of the game came when a scorching shot from the Flames cruelly ricocheted off the Hurricanes goalpost with enough force to find Oxford’s unmarked point-man who drove the ball past the Flames netminder to increase their lead to 3-1. As the pace of the game began to tell, both teams began to concede unnecessary penalties and with The Flames reduced to two outfield players, three-man Oxford seized the advantage to score their fourth goal.
The Flames continued to battle on bravely and with a little under three minutes of game time left team Captain, Shaun Davies, fired a shot past the Oxford goalie to give The Flames a second goal. Again the Flames committed men forward in an attempt to squeeze another goal from the game but with only 23 seconds remaining the Hurricanes managed to breakout of their half and score again to give them a hard-fought 5-2 victory over The Flames.
After the game Flames Junior manager, Nina Hawkins, said, “ This was our last game of the season before the Nationals and it was best performance against Oxford this year and I’m confident that with our current form we’ll be able to hold our own in the Championships next month”.
The Junior Flames next see action in the 2007 BISHA British National Championships to be held in Bisley, Surrey on the weekend of 10th/11th November where they will be competing against the best teams in the country, not only for the National Title but also for the honour of representing Great Britain in next year’s IISHF European Championships.
SWINDON FLAMES JUNIOR REDS 2 v HEATHROW REAPERS 5
Also facing-off for their last game of this year’s season, Swindon Skater Hockey Club’s junior development team “The Reds” took on league leaders, and this year’s “B” league champions, Heathrow Reapers. In their final face-off of the season The Reds were looking to avenge the 16-4 and 11- 4 hidings dished out by the Reapers in their previous meetings.
Having secured a top three league finish with the their highest points tally ever, The Reds took to the rink with a new-found confidence and rode out a determined opening spell from the Reapers without conceding to the “B” league champions. A little short of half way through the first period The Reapers were, at last, able to convert one of their opportunities to take a 1-0 lead, however the Reds refused to buckle and two minutes from the break they were rewarded for their dogged determination when Flames forward Jamie Baker managed to squeeze the ball into the back of the Reapers’ net following a goalmouth scramble.
The second period started with a flurry of early goals with the Reds conceding three times in quick succession to give the team from Heathrow a 4-1 lead but again the Swindon side refused to be bowed and when Red’s forward, Matthew Baxter, struck a cannonball of a shot from the half way line to score The Reds second goal it was clear that the Swindon side were not going to cave in and that even with a two goal advantage The Reapers were going to have to battle to the last whistle to secure the win. However, despite the best efforts of the Junior Reds the game was settled with two minutes left on the clock as the Reapers managed to beat both the Red’s defence and netminder to score their 5th and final goal to finish the game 5-2 winners.
SWINDON FLAMES YOUTH 7 v ASH AVALANCHE THUNDER 1
Having already secured third place in the 2007 SASH Youth league and with no prospect of closing the gap on either leaders Oxford Tornadoes or second placed Reading Rhinos, The Flames Youth team closed their 2007 season by facing-off against Ash Avalanche Thunder. Having defeated Ash on both their previous league meetings (8-2 and 4-3) The Flames were seeking to end their season by completing a clean sweep against their opponents from Surrey. The Youth team started the game brightly from the first face-off with forward Jamie Baker getting on to the score-card within the first 60 second of the game to give the Flames an early 1-0 advantage. Although The Flames continued to dominate throughout the first period it wasn’t until three minutes from the break that they managed to convert their possession and territorial advantage into points when Flames forward, Chris Weymouth rifled a shot past the Ash keeper and into the net to take the team into half-time 2-0 up.
In an almost identical restart to the game, Jamie Baker, again slotted the ball pass the Ash netminder in the opening seconds of the second period to give the Flames a three-goal advantage. Ash managed to pull a goal back several minutes later when The Flames conceded a penalty which left them short handed but the contest was effectively finished when, first, Connor Mackenzie, and then, Terry Silvester, scored goals four and five for the Swindon side. As the game drew to a close, Flames forward Chris Weymouth was again on target as he scored his second of the match to give the Flames a 6-1 lead. With less than a minute remaining Flames Captain Hannah Archer sealed the victory with a blistering shot to give the Swindon Flames Youth side a well deserved 7-1 win.
Chris Rose the Youth manager said after the game “ This was our last regular game of the season and we’re now looking forward to the National Championship. The team have worked hard and performed well throughout the season and we’re off to Rotherham confident in our own abilities and eager to compete against the UK’s best teams.”
This year’s BISHA British National Youth Championships take place in Rotherham, Yorkshire on the 3rd and 4th of November, where The Flames will join 11 other teams from all over the country to compete not only for the National Title but also, for the winners, the honour of representing Great Britain at next year’s IISHF European Youth Championships.