Cardiff Dragons 1 – 1 Basingstoke Bison

Supporters cheered throughout the strongly fought match between Cardiff Dragons under 10s ice hockey team and Basingstoke Bison under 10s, played on Sunday 13th April at the Cardiff Bay rink, until the final whistle blew with the score at one goal apiece.

The away leg played in Basingstoke in January ended with the Dragons beaten 7-1, so this was a big step up for the young team.

Three Dragons team members – Mark Webley, Iwan Davies, and Rebecca Wood – were playing in their first competitive match, and three others were playing in only their second game - all gave a spirited display.

The match opened with a strong attack led by Dragons’ Andrew Gray and Owen Bradshaw, but the Basingstoke netminder was up to the challenge, saving both shots on goal in good style. Dragons netminder Ciaran Matthews also had no trouble dealing with Basingstoke’s early attack on the Cardiff goal.

Some good work in midfield from Connor Harris, and a promising attack led by Caleb Davies in the third line, supported by Mark and Jacob Burt, kept the puck mainly in the Basingstoke zone, so the Basingstoke goal scored at 9.35 was against the run of play.

Caleb kept up the Dragons’ momentum with a breakaway at 11.25, only stopped by a wild tackle which brought him crashing to the ice, and a two minute time out in the sin bin for the Basingstoke defender. Some excellent stopping and passing from Connor in midfield gave strength to Andrew, Matthew Palmer and Ellis Murphy’s attacks, but the Basingstoke netminder kept the Bisons’ head in front going into the first period break.

The second period began with Basingstoke on the attack, with good work in defence from Lewis Davies and Jake Roberts, and a clean save from Ciaran.

Excellent play from the first line saw a fantastic unassisted goal scored by Dragons’ Owen Bradshaw at 24.40 to equalise. A neat follow-up from Andrew fired into the attacking zone at 25.40 was just out of Matthew’s reach.

As so often, the opposition went for a score from the restart with a strong breakaway. Jake Roberts did well to get back to assist Ciaran in defence, and Ciaran continued his fine form with two strong one on one saves at 26.55 and 28.50.

Further attacks on the Basingstoke goal from Andrew, Matthew, Owen and Caleb, strong defence from Connor, Adam Hughes and Rebecca, and breakaway attacks from Jake Roberts and Ellis Pyman, were not enough to influence the result. A time out was called by Basingstoke at 39.20, but in spite of a rejuvenated Basingstoke attack in the final few seconds of the match, the whistle for full time was called before the puck crept into the Dragons net, and the score stood at 1-1.

The spirit of the game award went to Rebecca Wood, and Man of the Match to Ellis Murphy for good all round play.

Statistics: Owen Bradshaw (1 + 0)