Cardiff Dragons 2 – 2 Swindon Cubs

The Cardiff Dragons under 10s played Swindon Cubs at the Cardiff Bay ice rink on Saturday 22nd March in a thrilling game which hung in the balance to the last minute..

Three of the Cardiff Dragons team were playing in their first competitive match – Jacob Burt, Ellis Pyman and 5 year old Max Roberts – and all played with gusto, showing considerable promise for future matches.

The first period went mainly Swindon’s way, with 16 attacks on the Cardiff goal compared to 10 on Swindon’s net. The match kicked off with some fine passing between the Dragons’ first line, but Andrew Gray’s shot was wide. An immediate counter attack from Swindon spelt danger but Dragons netminder Ciaran Matthews was once again on fine form, making some first class saves.

The 6th minute saw a promising solo attack from Dragons’ Connor Harris, and two further shots on goal from Owen Bradshaw in quick succession at 8 minutes. Swindon responded with a sustained attack leading up to 10 minutes without managing to break through the Dragons’ defence.

Finally, a Swindon breakaway at 15.35 broke the deadlock, with a goal angled past Ciaran. Caleb Davies responded with a break supported by Jake Roberts, followed by an attack from Andrew in the first line set up by some fine passing from Owen and Matthew Palmer, but it was Swindon who added to the score right on the 20th minute, and closed the first period two goals up.

With the Dragons team two players short of a full bench, the second line players doubled up in the third line and gave some fine performances. Particularly notable was Ellis Pyman in his first match, who gave strength to the third line in both attack and defence, and combined very well with Jake Roberts for the pair to provide some excellent attacks throughout the match. Jake also had a fine game in defence, and was repeatedly first man back.

Swindon kept up their attack as the second period began, but with some good work by Lewis Davies and Iwan Williams in mid field and Adam Hughes in defence, and a fine defensive clearance by Jacob Burt in his first match, the stage was set for Owen Bradshaw’s excellent unassisted goal at 24.50.

At 2-1 down, fine play by Ellis Pyman and Jake Roberts resulted in an attacking opportunity, and at 29.25 Jake Roberts was determined to find the equaliser, using lightning speed to beat the opposition and crash the puck into the back of the net, assisted by Jacob Burt in his first match and Tomos Decaux, for a fine score.

A time out was called by Swindon immediately following the goal, but in spite of a breakaway by Swindon forcing a one-on-one save by Ciaran and some desperate work by Owen in defence, and hard work by Andrew, Caleb and Iwan in attack, there were no further goals and the final score remained 2-2.

The Spirit of the Game award went to the very promising Ellis Pyman, and Man of the Match was awarded to Andrew Gray.

Statistics:
Owen Bradsaw (1 + 0)
Jake Roberts (1 + 0)
Jacob Burt (0 + 1)
Tomos Decaux (0 + 1)