SWINDON FLAMES MATCH REPORTS - 27/04/08

 

SWINDON FLAMES SENIORS 5 v ASH AVALANCHE 5 

The Swindon Flames Senior team were forced to dig deep to defend their unbeaten run this weekend as they faced off against Ash Avalanche at the Farnborough Leisure Centre on Sunday morning. Going into the game as league leaders, and having beaten every other team in the league, the Flames were looking for a fifth straight win over the only remaining side they had yet to play.

The Flames confidently took to the rink but the Swindon side soon found themselves under the cosh as Ash Avalanche pressured the Flames goalmouth from the off and put themselves ahead with a power-play goal in the third minute. A determined fight back saw the Flames claim the equaliser three minutes later when Dan King’s shot beat the Ash netminder. Again the Avalanche threw everything into attack and they were rewarded with another power-play goal to edge back in front. Undeterred, the Flames rallied and equalised less than a minute later through a Jim Grey goal but in this end-to-end, see-saw encounter it was only a matter of minutes before the Flames found themselves trailing again as the Ash forwards struck to claim a 3-2 lead. With four minutes left on the clock the Flames launched a determined assault on the Avalanche defences in an effort to wrestle the initiative from their opponents and an equaliser from Craig Davies brought the Flames within sight of the period-break with the sides level at 3 all. As both teams looked to halftime, the Flames managed to exploit a lapse of concentration by the Ash defence and Dan King capitalised by scoring his second of the game to take the Flames to the break leading, for the first time in the game, 4-3.

The second period began with the Flames defence determined to stonewall the Avalanche attack and keep their one goal advantage and, for the first ten minutes of the second half, the Swindon defence held firm as the two sides engaged in a nail-biting battle for control of the game. With eight minutes of time left it was Ash Avalanche who first managed to break the deadlock by unlocking the Flames defence to draw level at 4 all. Not to be outdone, the Flames launched another furious attack and a goal from Matthew Baxter saw the Swindon side snatch back the lead with only five minutes of left to play. Not to be denied the Avalanche launched an all out assault on the Flames and as the pressure mounted and the Swindon side’s defence became more desperate Ash were handed an opportunity to claw themselves back into the game when the Flames conceded a minor penalty and were reduced to three outfield players. With three minutes left on the clock the Avalanche managed to make their one man advantage count and found the back of the Flames net to tie the game at 5 all. As the clock ticked down both teams furiously tried to snatch the winner with shots at both ends of the pitch but the final whistle saw the Flames cling on to their unbeaten record and share the points with a 5-5 draw.

Speaking after the game, Nigel Davies, Senior Flames manager, said “ Hats of to Ash Avalanche, who obviously came into the game intent on a win. They gave us a really tough game and although we’re disappointed that we didn’t take all the points a draw is probably a fair result. We’ve now played against all our league opponents and remain unbeaten, with 9 out of a possible 10 points in 5 games, which is to the credit of every member of the entire squad and I’m sure that as a team we will continue to improve as we grow in experience”.

 

SWINDON FLAMES PEEWEE REDS 1 v BANBURY BULLDOGS 15 

The Flames Peewee development side “The Reds” were also in action over the weekend when they faced of against the leagues second placed team the Banbury Bulldogs. The Reds, made up of novice skaters in their first year of competitive hockey, took to the rink eager to put last week’s mauling by the Farnborough Arrows behind them. The first period saw the Reds valiantly restrict the Bulldogs to a very creditable 6 goal lead while at the same time creating chances of their own. However, as the demands of the game began to take it’s toll on little legs through the second half the more experienced and physically bigger Bulldogs began to pull away and eventually scored another 9 goals and despite a second half goal by Reds captain Jake Latham the Bulldogs ran out comfortable 15 – 1 winners.

Peewee Reds manager, Mark Lane, said after the game “ I’m really proud of the whole team who showed a lot of spirit and kept on trying right up to the final whistle. As a development side we’re up against a lot of older, bigger and more experienced players and I’m really impressed by the guts and determination shown by the team and I’m sure that we will continue to improve but the most important thing is that the team continue to enjoy the sport and have fun – the results will come in time”.

 

SWINDON FLAMES PEEWEES 14 v ASH AVALANCHE RAGE 0 

The final game of the day saw the Peewee Flames take on Ash Avalanche Rage in a one sided match that saw the Peewees reach the halfway point 6 nil up with five goals from Sam Nobbs and one from Will Harding. The second half saw the Flames cruise to a 14 nil victory with another three goals each for Nobbs and Harding and goals for Megan Salisbury and Anthony Bayliss.