Lee Valley Lions

Bracknell Hornets

Goals

Penalties

Lee Valley Lions

Bracknell Hornets

Additional Comments:

Bracknell came to Lee Valley, having been very comfortable winners at their own rink in the first game of the season, confident that there was another two points to be added to their total. To say that their noses were put out of joint by the final result is somewhat of an understatement.

The Hornets were reeling within the first minute as the Lions came out firing on all cylinders. Their goalie hardly had a chance to settle as straight from the initial face-off the puck was taken into their zone, Stas Prokofiev crashed the net and forced the puck through his five-hole to open the scoring. The tempo didn’t decrease as Scott Beeson fired one straight at the netminder from close range.  Captain Scott Pollak came from his defensive zone and forced a good save, then defenceman Romanas Fedotovas neatly robbed a Bracknell forward and found Beeson, who again had his shot saved.

With just over nine minutes gone Hornets’ Graham Bellamy (a former Lee Valley player) received a Match penalty for pushes to the head of Nick Alley. During the resulting five-minute powerplay the Lions increased their lead as Nick Breigoos got a superb tip on a Scott Pollak slapshot to deflect the puck past the stranded Bracknell netminder.

Lee Valley continued to dominate as Bracknell lost some composure.  It seemed that they were shell-shocked to be in this position and were getting quite physical. Their woes were exacerbated with another two quick strikes: the Lions came out of their zone quickly, passing to Nick Alley on the far post, he drew their defence out of position leaving Scott Beeson alone at the near post to hammer home.

The roles were reversed two minutes later when Alley scored his first well-deserved goal with an assist going to Beeson. Lee Valley had more chances to score as on two or three occasions Beeson was clear chasing down the wing with another forward open crashing the net, but chose to shoot from the narrow angle with the goalie perfectly placed. The Hornets pulled one back with just under two minutes remaining.

The second session was more even and although the Hornets outshot the Lions comfortably, the Lee Valley team didn’t look like they were going to give up their lead. Bracknell got a second goal when a shot was redirected off the skate of a Lee Valley player, leaving George Alley stranded in the net.  The three-goal lead was re-established within a minute as Nick Alley added his second of the game. Bracknell went on the powerplay with three minutes to go, but the Lions penalty-kill unit performed well and ensured that the team went to the locker room for the break still in command.

The third period was really about attrition. Bracknell were in the ascendancy as their physical style took control, outshooting the Lions by three to two over the twenty minutes and they started to peg the Lions back. George Alley in the Lions’ goal was called on to make some fine saves, as the team from down the M3 pushed hard. Two goals in the first four minutes, compounded by a couple of injuries to key Lions’ players, left the teams separated by a single goal.

Lee Valley lost forward Nick Alley when he skipped past a Hornet player who left his leg trailing and caught Nick just above the knee. Shortly after Romanas Fedotovas limped off after being hit into the boards, although he did manage to return ten minutes later. The Lions got a break, as the “off a player’s skate” jinx hit the Hornets, when a trademark mighty slapshot from James Hatfull was redirected into their net with six minutes remaining.

Bracknell came at Lee Valley hard but were caught when a recovered Fedotovas wristed the Lions’ seventh goal with under four minutes left. Being confident of the win with a three-goal lead perhaps let the Lions relax a bit and Bracknell scored a softish goal near the end to leave the home team winners with a score of 7–5.

The Hornets with their wings clipped struggled home to the Hive through the traffic, leaving the Lions to taste the honey in Lea Bridge Road.

Officials were Dodsworth and Milton.

Thanks to Tony Boot for writing this match report.