Cardiff Junior Devils 2- 0 Bracknell

Saturday 15th, saw Cardiff Junior Devils U14's match up against The Bracknell Hummers at home, in a big Division One match up. The Hummers stood top of the division going into the game, with five wins from five so far this season, and also carried an unbeaten record that has stood for well over a year. Cardiff U14's are playing back in the top division after promotion from division two last season, and have started life back in top flight well, also going into this game without a loss to date. This match was going to be a tough test for Cardiff, and a great chance for them to see how they match up against a team, highly regarded as the strongest U14's team in the South.

The match really lived up to pre-game expectation, with both teams battling hard for every puck in the early exchanges, Cardiff managing to register the first shot of the game, with Ellis Price testing the Bracknell keeper who looked strong in the away net turning it away. Whilst the first period was even in terms of possession, Cardiff looked stronger defensively as a unit, and even though Bracknell had their share of pressure, the Devils protected James Whiting in goal well, only letting two shots get through to goal in this first period. Up front, Cardiff were having to work hard, and started to get a couple of good chances, with Captain Kieran Latchford ringing the post, and Tom Parkinson stealing the puck to go one on one with the Bracknell keeper, only to see his shot stopped with a good save. But at times the Devils were maybe guilty of trying to over do it, rather than keeping it simple, allowing the Bracknell defence to recover. The Devils still managed six shots on goal, but both netminders were looking very solid in this first session, Whiting saving a good wrap around attempt from Bracknell, with seconds ticking down in the period.

The second period was a reverse of the first, with Bracknell coming out on top after the re-start, with plenty of pressure in the Cardiff zone. The Devils were really being tested and had to defend for long periods, but stood strong, and Whiting in goal looked very capable again in net when tested, stopping all seven shots on goal and giving his defence confidence. Cardiff were getting chances on the break, but again were still trying to over play the puck at times, but were matching Bracknell physically, and growing in confidence at the game went on. Even so, the second period ended still tied 0-0, and keeping everyone on the edge of their seats.

The final period had everything to play for and both teams came out fighting. Bracknell had a strong spell in the early minutes and kept Cardiff pinned in their end, and got their best chance of the game when they worked the puck out to an open Ivan Antonov in front of goal, who's shot produced the save of the game from point blank range by James Whiting in the home net. Strong defence was required, and the forward line of Mat Thomas, Zak Shanahan, and Myles Chapman did some great work deep in their own end to clear the puck and take the pressure off Cardiff at this point. The Devils started to push forward, and were given the opportunity of a man advantage with Bracknell taking a two minute penalty with just under 10 minutes remaining. The Cardiff bench called a time-out and used it to settle the team down and explain what they wanted from this power-play, and the team responded. After some good work from Cardiff's Giacomo Raffealli down low the Devils worked the puck twice to Joe Morris on the point who got off two great shots both of which caused problems, but when the next shot came in from Callum Buglass, the puck bounced out at the back post and Kieran Latchford poked it home to break the deadlock on the Power-play, and give Cardiff a hard earned lead with seven minutes to go. Bracknell then came at the home team, and Cardiff were forced to battle hard, until with just over a minute left, Cardiff broke away two on one, this time Latchford being provider, passing to Ellis Price who finished with a great shot over the Bracknell keepers left shoulder, to all but finish the game. The last minute wound down, and Cardiff stood strong in front, and had to survive a goal mouth scramble but stood up for keeper Whiting and closed the game out, well deserved 2-0 winners, in what had been a fantastic match up of junior ice hockey.

Cardiff now look to continue their unbeaten start, home to Chelmsford next Saturday (22nd). Face-off 4.30pm.

Game Stats

Goal Scorers:	Assisted by:
Kieran Latchford 1+1 Ellis Price 1+0	Callum Buglass 0+1

Shots on Goal:	Man of the Match:	Spirit of the Game:
On Cardiff goal - 17 On Bracknell goal - 20	James Whiting	Jack Rees