Bracknell 17 - 0 Cardiff Junior Devils

 

The junior Devils under 10s took their second road trip of the season on 24th January, travelling to play top-of-the-league Bracknell.

With over half the Cardiff team new this season, this was never going to be a winning opportunity. Bracknell is a well-drilled, professional team, at all the age groups. It is not unusual for Bracknell under 10s to win by 30 goals or more. So, the junior Devils were simply looking for experience against a classy team - and plenty of team spirit from their young players.

And Welsh team spirit was delivered in droves. The first line, consisting of Eliot Randall, Iwan Davies and Lewis Davies on offense, and Jake Burt and Alex Ljungstrand-Byrne guarding the blue line, stood up well to the Bracknell attack, and managed to create their own attacking chances.

For ten minutes, all three lines held firm, limiting Bracknell’s opportunities on goal, while netminder Jake Roberts stood on his head to stop every effort fired at him.

Second line forwards Iwan Williams, Tom Francis and Ethan Jones combined well to take the puck into the attacking zone. But by the first period break, all the scoring – as expected – was going Bracknell’s way and the Devils were 5-0 down.

New Devil Ryan Fearnley, playing in just his second match, and brother and sister Ethan and Ella Nesic, cleared the puck from their own zone time after time, showing a lot of courage and commitment. All the outfield players rotated between the lines, and between positions, giving them plenty of ice time and lots of experience in different roles.

Jake Roberts, who also plays as a centre for the under 12s Devils team, stopped all but 17 of the 69 shots on goal. All the young Devils – playing 60 full minutes of hockey – finished the match very tired, but with their heads held high.

Man of the Match went to centre Eliot Randall, who played for Bracknell last year, while the Spirit of the Game award went to Ryan Fearnley for his plucky display.

Well done to all the players for their hard work and effort. You should be proud of yourselves.

Game Stats

Goal Scorers:	Assisted by:
None

Shots on Goal:	Man of the Match:	Spirit of the Game:
Jake Roberts – 69 Bracknell - 10	Eliot Randa	Ryan Fearnley