u 12s stung by Bracknell Bumble Bees

Cardiff junior Devils under 12s faced Bracknell Bumble Bees on Sunday 9th November for their toughest match of the season so far.

Playing with an almost full team, the under 12s withstood the onslaught bravely. The Bracknell attack started after just 10 seconds, and the first points for the away team went on the board at 3 minutes with a great break and passing by Bracknell’s Ivan Antonov, setting up a simple chip into the net behind Cardiff’s netminder Ciaran Matthews.

The next goal followed at 8 minutes after some excellent saves by Ciaran. The score remained at 2-0 until 15.01, thanks to brave defending by Lewis Docherty, Bryony Roberts, Sam Edmunds and Connor Harris.

Cardiff played very well defensively as a team, as well as managing some great breakaways by Nat Schmidtke, Owen Bradshaw and Matty Palmer. Time after time, though, Bracknell’s defenders took possession of the puck before Cardiff’s forwards could take a shot on goal.

A bemused Ellis Murphy retrieved the puck from inside his shorts for a brief moment of amusement which lightened the mood a little – but by the end of the first period Bracknell led 6 goals to nil. This was a good first period performance by the young Devils, however, as Bracknell are renowned for quickly racking up statistics which might look more appropriate on the cricket scoreboard.

Owen managed a great breakaway at 24 minutes which took him right to the Bracknell net, but sadly was unable to find the back of the net. Back at the other end of the rink, Ciaran continued to work hard between the pipes, holding his own against the fierce attack, while Owen and Lewis repeatedly threw themselves to the ice to make sliding saves.

Cardiff’s second netminder Caleb Davies took to the ice at 29 minutes, with the score standing at 11 nil. Twenty seconds later, the score had risen to 13 nil.

Cardiff failed to capitalise on a 5 on 3 man advantage after the Bracknell team were hit by penalties. Consistently good defensive work by Connor, Sam and Bryony weren’t enough to stop Bracknell racking up the goals. The match ended 21 nil.

The young Devils should take some comfort from the knowledge that the Bumble Bees have scored 89 goals in 4 games this season, with only 1 goal scored against netminder Nathan Gregory.

Well done to all the team for surviving the attack. The under 12s travel away to Peterborough on 22nd November, battered and bruised, but a more experienced, and hopefully stronger, team.

Game Stats

Goal Scorers:	Assisted by:
n/a	n/a

Shots on Goal:	Man of the Match:	Spirit of the Game:
Ciaran Matthews – 37 Caleb Davies - 14	Owen Bradshaw	Connor Harris