Monday, 17 November 2014

SIHA Round-up - 15/16.11.2014


SIHA juniors have enjoyed a productive and successful weekend with all teams in action recording wins.

They were sent on their way with a gutsy 5-4 win for Sheffield Sabres 14’s B over local rivals Sutton on Thursday evening. It didn’t seem likely at one point as Sutton were leading 3-0 in the first period after Sheffield had dominated but they couldn’t get past a stubborn Sutton rear guard who looked dangerous on the break and took their chances with two nice goals from Jayden Garcin. A defensive mix up then let in Jacob Frost who took his chance well to make it 3-0 to Sutton. Sabres piled on the pressure and it eventually paid off when Luke Watson fired in with just over a minute left of the period.

Sabres had the better of the second period and a great shot from Josh Cope followed by a Ben O’Brien goal pulled it back to 3-3. Sutton fought back to score a good goal through Callum Russell to give them the edge at 4-3 going into the final period.
Sabres started the final period well and Dylan Abbett levelled as they started to dominate again and once again some sustained pressure brought dividends when Ethan Mockford put Sabres in front for the first time in the game. Sutton responded well and it was end to end stuff and in the closing stages Sutton pulled their netminder but couldn’t make their numerical advantage count to see Sabres claim what was in the end a deserved victory. Both sets of players deserve praise for providing those watching with a great game of hockey.

On Saturday, Sheffield Greyhounds 16’s B faced Solihull Barons and once again the spectators in attendance were treated to an exciting game of hockey although I imagine coaches from both teams may have viewed it differently.

Solihull had the better of the early exchanges but Greyhounds found their skating legs to gradually get on top to end the first period 2-0 in front. Callum McNeil was denied by a great save from the Barons netminder but Luke Allen was on hand to fire in the rebound. Gabriel Grzibovskis made it 2-0 after further pressure on the Solihull goal to give Greyhounds a good lead to build on.

Barons seemed to be in determined mood and it was a close game which swung further in Sheffield’s favour when James Abel fired in a great shot to make it 3-0 with Greyhounds clearly offside but Barons failure to play to the whistle allowed James the time and space to get put his shot away. From the face off a defensive mix up allowed Jack Brain in who was unlucky not to make it four but from that point the game became a little scrappy which seemed to suit Solihull who went on to enjoy the better of the period but sensible hockey saw Greyhounds see the period out and to go into the break 3-0 up.

The best chance of the final period arguably fell to Greyhounds but a terrific save from Barons netminder denied the goal with the post coming to the rescue from the rebound. Barons countered and saw a good shot saved, a good save too but Sheffield’s netminder couldn’t quite hold onto it as Kai Gennoe slotted the puck home to pull one back for Barons. Sheffield should have wrapped things up but saw one effort hit the post and they didn’t make a couple of two on one plays really count, going for goal when a pass may have been the better option. They paid the price when Solihull went down the other end to score and pull back the deficit to one goal. The finish to the game was an exciting one with end to end hockey. Whilst under pressure a Sheffield player tried to clear the puck but in doing so nearly scored in his own net but was saved by the pipes but a counter attack was just kept out by Solihull to ensure they were still in the game. Solihull pulled their netminder in the closing stages but Greyhounds hung on to claim the victory in another good game of junior hockey. Spirit of the Game Awards went to Marcus Neil for Sheffield and for Solihull Barons the award went to Kai Gennoe.

On Sunday Sheffield Lasers 12’s A scored in the first few seconds of their game against Telford Tigers 12’s at Ice Sheffield. Tigers almost equalised straight after that with what was their only serious effort on goal as Sheffield totally dominated the game from that point to see them winning 7-0 at the end of the first, 15-0 at the end of the second to go on and win the game 19-0. Telford deserve credit for their attitude and never gave up and went onto too play some good hockey in the final period but they were no match for a dominant Sheffield. Ross Macpherson, Callum Field & Luke Clare all grabbed hat-tricks with Will Szollosy, Isaac Tae, Michael Colbourne & Tate Shudra amongst the goals too.

Sheffield Scorpions claimed a 15-3 victory over Grimsby Redwings in what were farcical circumstances which do neither the sport nor the development of players any good what so ever. A number of Grimsby players had been held up in congested traffic after a manhole had collapsed on the motorway. The referee took the decision to start the game with Grimsby having only 7 skaters and no netminder which saw Scorpions 9-0 in front of the first period???

Gradually one by one, the Grimsby players arrived to have 3 lines and a netminder for the final period with the game ending in a somewhat hollow victory for Scorpions.

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