Isle Of Wight 5 - 4 Cardiff Dragons

U14’s Dragons travelled all the way to IOW to face the Lightnings for the first time this season. IOW, seeded first at the table by two points from Dragons, were unbeaten to date and meant great challenge for the Cardiff team.

Although short benched, Dragons have put pressure on the Lightnings straight from the start and on much smaller ice pad were firing shots from blue line and even further. It was captain #10 Josh Galea who opened the score at 3.16, assisted by #7 Dan Mann . Though, 4 minutes later IOW equalized through power play goal just after 9 seconds into the 2 min penalty on Josh Galea for slashing (1-1). Cardiff players were pressing harder and harder but their netminder was on top form and covered shots from all the angles.

Second period saw excellent hockey from the Dragons, great team effort and disciplined performance which resulted in well deserved goal at 18.54, Josh Galea dribbled through the defence and wristed his second one. Unfortunately, a minute later, score line showed 2-2 draw again when IOW sneaked a goal in at back post after a fast break. Dragons had chances of scoring during their power play but IOW’s defence was strong and solid backed by awesome performance from netminder Elliot Powell. Dragons pushed forward to go up before the end of 2nd period but it was IOW who managed to make it 2-3 after another breakaway goal.

3rd and final 15 minutes were the most nail biting of all season. Fast and physical hockey was played on both sides with Dragons having puck in their possession most of time. #6 Matthew Thomas equalized at 37.08 (3-3) but didn’t hold that draw for long time as Dragons got caught in a breakaway again and IOW was up by a goal. Dragons digged deep and worked 120% hard to bring home at least one point. All the effort was rewarded at 39.37 when #8 Jordan Jefferies aka JJ scored a goal from a close range, assisted by #12 Josh Haslam. Lack of concentration during a face-off resulted in IOW finishing off with another goal from fast break (4-5) and although Cardiff’s coach pulled their netminder with a minute remaining, it was too late to turn the score around.

It was definitely the most exciting and nail biting game we have seen in long time, all the players deserve big tap on their backs, they worked hard to their limits and showed a fantastic team spirit and determination. They outshoot their opponents 55-19 and were the better team on the ice.

MOM #7 Daniel Mann
SOG #19 Luke Southwood

Statistics
Josh Galea 2+0
Jordan Jefferies 1+0
Matthew Thomas 1+0
Josh Haslam 0+2
Daniel Mann 0+1