Additional Comments:

Lee Valley Lions were missing at least five players for their first encounter against Swindon ENL Wildcats but the team was able to prove once again that a short bench does not dampen their enthusiasm or determination.

Both teams came out blazing and seemed fairly evenly matched. Plenty of shots rained on each netminder but the stalemate wasn’t broken until 15:29 when Swindon’s Andrew Coakley scored on a powerplay. The goal was unfortunate, the puck being stopped initially then knocked in before Andrew Boot realised he didn’t have hold of it.

The Lions had many opportunities to score in the period but were thwarted each time by the ever-agile Jamie Thompson in the Wildcats’ net who put a stop to breakaways by Ashley Curtin and Stas Prokofiev. Romanas Fedotovas also showed admirable skill in taking the puck from one end of the ice to the other, skating behind the goal and attempting to wrap the puck around into the goal mouth but his effort was also unsuccessful.

The second period was as action-packed, fast and frenetic as the first but although the Lions continued to unload the puck from the Swindon side with apparent ease no goals were scored by either side.

As Lee Valley continued their battle to get on the scoresheet the Wildcats stepped up their game in the final period. Ashlee Cave saw off one attack on the Lions’ goal but with no-one there to help him he was out of position and completely unable to stop the unmarked forward to his left. With Andrew Boot left wide open it was relatively simple for Scott Gough to hit home at 44:23.

Despite being 2-0 down the Lions weren’t going to give up and began to intensify their attack on the Swindon net, continuing to shoot on target more than the home team. Their efforts eventually proved fruitful when Ashley Curtin scored at 47:06, assisted by Michael Jacobs and Romanas Fedotovas.

The pressure mounted as the minutes counted down to the end of the game and coach Sergei Smolenko called a time-out for his team at 58:08. Tempers flared between Swindon’s Ian Clark and the Lions’ James Hatfull at 59:03, the result being a 2-mins roughing penalty for Hatfull while Clark was ejected from the game. With Lee Burden already sitting out 2-mins for hooking this left Lee Valley on a power play. Stas Prokofiev seized the moment and scored the equaliser with just 26 seconds left on the clock.

With such sterling effort displayed by everyone on the team the Lions deserved to have won the game but were nonetheless pleased to have pulled back a draw. A win may have been possible were it not for the solid performance of Swindon’s netminder but it was nonetheless good to see improvement in the Lions’ defence in what was a very entertaining game.

Referee was Hames and Linesmen were Gillingham and Fusco.