Cardiff Dragons 3 - 1 Lee Valley Lions

Cardiff Dragons are still in the running for promotion to the under 14’s league division I after beating Lee Valley Lions 3-1 in exciting and nail biting game played at the Cardiff Arena on Sunday night.

After a long 4 weeks away the under 14’s took to the ice in what promised to be a tough encounter. Lee Valley is a side with a few key individuals who are backed by a first class girl-net-minder and Cardiff boast a big skilful squad so both sets of supporters were in for some great hockey.

The u14’s started with different lines than usual but that proved to be a good tactic and played a big part in Sunday’s successful win. The Dragons were in possession of the puck for most of the time and kept the Lions under pressure for most of the game. However a defensive error early on led to the Dragons going 1-0 down.

This didn’t stop the Dragons who fought to out shot the Lions by 29 goals to 10 after 2 periods and at 28 minutes into the game they managed to score the all important equalizer, scored after an awesome slap shot from defender #16 Giovanni Raffaelli, assisted by #17 Kieran Latchford. All three lines icing pushed forward to take the lead but Lee Valley’s net-minder made it almost impossible for the Dragons to score again, Alexandra was just on top form!

In the third period tiredness started to show in Lee Valley and Cardiff made the most of this and kept playing end to end hockey.

Again Cardiff out shot the Lions 12-1 in the final period but could not get the final touch and gave away many chances. Finally though luck was on their side and at 38.02 Cardiff’s #9 Giacomo Raffaelli positioned himself behind Lee Valley’s net to set up Joseff Lawrence with a comfortably pass to score the Dragons 2nd goal.

A loss of concentration from Lee Valley led to a quick goal for the Dragons scored at 38.18 by #15 Myles Chapman. He skated through the defence and managed to push the puck behind the net-minders back. That moment was crucial and gave the Dragons a comfortable 3-1 lead and the win they were looking for.

The Dragons are still aiming for promotion to division I, hopefully as a result of being crowned winner of division II, but we will have to wait until the April 27th when the Cardiff side face their biggest league rival Isle of Wight.

So please come and cheer the u14s Dragons and give them big support.

Statistics
Giovanni Raffaelli 1+0
Myles Chapman 1+0
Joseff Lawrence 1+0
Giacomo Rafaelli 0+1
Kieran Latchford 0+1
Shots on goal Cardiff 41 - Lee Valley 11

MOM: #10 Josh Galea
SOG: #8 Jordan Jefferies