Oxford 3 - 7 Cardiff

After several frustrating weeks of snowed-off fixtures and difficult matches against top-of-the-league teams, 19 under 10s travelled to Oxford on Saturday 7th March and came away with a convincing win, and a hat-trick for both Carter Lloyd and Ella Nesic.

The Oxford under 10s team has struggled for players this season, and were only able to field a team of 8 outfield players plus a netminder. Several of Cardiff’s players showed their true sportsmanship by wearing an Oxford stars shirt over their Devils shirt, and playing on the Oxford side.

Special mention should go to Ryan Fearnley, who volunteered to play for Oxford for the whole match, and came home with the Oxford team’s Spirit of the Game award for his efforts – surely a Cardiff Junior Devils first.

The first period began with some excellent passing between Cael James, Eliot Randall and Jake Burt, and handy stickwork from Iwan Davies, whose strong shot on goal was well saved by the Oxford netminder, Courtney Newitt. The second line matched this with great passing between Iwan Williams, Lewis Davies, Ethan Jones and Ella Nesic, ending with another strong shot on the Oxford goal.

Oxford replied with their own breakaway, which was saved comfortably by Cardiff netminder Jake Roberts.

Cardiff’s Carter Lloyd created a great breakaway towards the end of the first period, for Cardiff’s first goal. Moments later, Oxford’s goalie had to work double time with back-to-back breakaways from Carter (who took an athletic dive into the net) and Ella.

Some great stick work from Oxford’s Max Florey gave Oxford their first goal just before the buzzer, and a great end to end period ended 1 all.

The second period began with long passes between the Cardiff first line leading to a shot on goal from Iwan Davies in the first minute. One minute later, Carter took the puck up the ice at speed for Cardiff’s second goal, assisted by Sam Smith in his very first competitive match for Cardiff. Cardiff’s first line matched this with a goal in the fourth minute from the stick of Eliot Randall, assisted by Iwan Davies.

Two more goals inside a minute followed, with Carter using his speed to gain another breakaway score, followed by some great passing and a first goal of the match for Ella Nesic.

Play wasn’t all one way, however. Cardiff’s first line defenders Cael James and Alex Ljungstrand-Byrne had to work hard as Oxford’s captain Brandon Finch replied with an excellent breakaway and a clear run to goal, but Jake Roberts stood up well to the pressure.

The puck was kept in play well by Ella Nesic who showed good control for another shot on goal. The puck was deflected by the Oxford goalie’s pads back into open ice, where it was scooped up by Ella for her second and Cardiff’s sixth goal.

A good attack by Oxford’s Max Florey was spoilt by his heavy check on Cardiff’s Eliot Randall, who was helped to the bench, but returned to the ice for his next shift. Max Florey showed his skill with two more smooth breakaways, but both shots were well saved by Jake.

Just before the period break, good team work and great finishing gave Ella her third and Cardiff’s seventh goal.

After some rearrangements, both teams came back strongly for the third period, this time with Carter, Ella, Riley Lulfs and Alex playing for Oxford. A first minute goal for Oxford’s Brandon Finch showed that they were still fighting.

New Cardiff team members Tom Dicker and Sam Smith worked well with James Parkin, Max Roberts and Tomos Decaux to create good chances for Cardiff.

Sam Smith managed a great run and strong shot on goal, which was well saved by Oxford’s goalie. Cardiff’s first line showed off excellent passing and puck control, finishing with a good chip at goal from Jake Burt, but were again denied.

A long pass created a scoring position for Alex Ljungstrand-Byrne (playing for Oxford) for Oxford’s third (and Alex’s first ever) goal to end an exciting match.

Well done to Carter Lloyd for his first Man of the Match award, to Sam Smith who won the Spirit of the Game award in his first match, and to Ryan Fearnley on his (unique?) Spirit of the Game award for the Oxford team.

 

Game Stats

Goal Scorers:	Assisted by:
Carter Lloyd	Unassisted
Carter Lloyd	Unassisted
Carter Lloyd	Sam Smith
Ella Nesic	Unassisted
Ella Nesic	Carter Lloyd
Ella Nesic	Unassisted
Eliot Randall	Iwan Davies

Shots on Goal:	Man of the Match:	Spirit of the Game:
Jake Roberts (Cardiff) - 14 Courtney Newitt (Oxford) - 31	Cardiff – Carter Lloyd Oxford – Kieran Hickman	Cardiff – Sam Smith Oxford – Ryan Fearnley (of Cardiff Junior Devils)

report by Leanne Roberts