SIHA Round-Up - 3/4.1.2015

Sheffield’s Academy teams enjoyed a productive weekend, none more so than Senators enjoyed a four point weekend but were pushed all the way on both nights by a hardworking and spirited Blackburn Eagles which are the featured games from this weekend.

On Saturday in Blackburn, Senators were guilty of not making the most of the chances that they created, in particularly the first two periods; outshooting their opponents 64-25. Tom Humphries opened the scoring on 4.12 only for Eagles to equalise through James Riddoch at 5.49. Both teams had chances to take the lead but Sens eventually did so through Nathan Britton, assisted Sergevs Jegorovs timed 10.59. This was swiftly followed by a great goal from Ben Towler who outsmarted the Eagles defence with a well take effort on 11.17 with assists for Cam King & Martyn Gray. A short while later it was 4-1 when Sergevs Jegorovs scored from Josh Gent & Tom Humphries on 13.58. Eagles didn’t give up and pulled a nice goal back through Adam Lutkevitch to see them 4-2 down at the period break.

At the end of the second period it was 5-3 in Senators favour with Eagles very much still in the game although in fairness Senators should have been in a more comfortable position but some missed chances and solid defence from Eagles ensured there were just two goals difference between the teams. Tom Humphries scored for Sens on 20.31 assisted Nathan Britton & Sergevs Jegorovs whilst Steven Hetherington added one for Eagles timed 24.49.

Senators looked the more threatening of the two teams and made their pressure count to make it 6-3 on 43.24 through Arran Bell, assisted Sergevs Jegorovs & Tom Humphries. Their efforts yielded further reward when Josh Gent scored from Tom Humphries & Nathan Britton on 55.05 but as was the case all game Blackburn never gave up and pulled another well taken goal back through Harry Bolton which was the last real action of the game to see the points go back to Sheffield with Senators winning 7-4 in what was a good game of hockey for which both teams deserve credit for.

Sunday’s game was very much the same that in both teams were clearly up for it and in an end to end start to the game there was little between the two until Harry Bolton nipped in to score a nice goal for Blackburn on 12.54. Senators responded positively to finish the period the stronger team and deservedly equalised with a Tom Humphries powerplay goal timed 15.08, assisted Sergevs Jegorovs & Arran Bell.

The second period was a little scrappy with both teams taking needless penalties as the game had lost its flow from the first period but it was Senators who enjoyed the better of things playing a patient game to put themselves firmly in the driving seat with Nathan Britton scoring on 24.29, assisted Sergevs Jegorovs. A lovely pass from Jonny Bell found Josh Wheway who put his chance away nicely on 31.03 with Tom Humphries scoring again late in the period, assisted Arran Bell to see Sens in front 4-1 going into the final period.

The final period was scrappy with both teams trying to assert themselves with a goal from Lutkevitch giving Eagles some hope at 49.02 however, as in the last period, Senators patience and resilience paid off to see the game out to claim a valuable win and a four point weekend. The now free scoring Arran Bell finished off a nice move from Josh Gent on 54.12 with Tom Humphries quick fire hat-trick goal timed 54.2, again from some great play from Josh Gent making it 6-2 and putting the game beyond Blackburn as Tom Humphries scored in the last minute, assisted Callum Rawson to see Senators run out 7-2 winners and to consolidate their place in second position in the league table.

Spartans also faced Blackburn but it was the table topping Hawks for them and they almost caused an upset to come back from 2-0 down at the end of the first period to have victory snatched away with just 58 seconds left on the clock to draw 4-4. Luke Brittle had put Blackburn in front with two short-handed goals. Blackburn outshot Spartans in the second period by 22-4 but couldn’t get past an in form Brandon Stones and a stubborn defence with Spartans pulling it back to 2-2 with goals from Jonathan Kirk & Will Barron. It was a lot closer in the final period after Luke Brittle had put Hawks back in front in the opening few seconds of the period and it was Spartans who made the most of their chances to go in front with two Ollie Barron goals. They were denied victory when Adam Brittle equalised in the final minute but a defeat would have been harsh on Hawks. However this should not be allowed to undermine what was a fantastic result against the undefeated league leaders who dropped their first home point of the season with Brandon Stones picking up a deserved Man of the Match Award for his superb performance between the pipes.

Swampfrogs U12 D2 enjoyed success on the road too with a nice 3-2 win over Nottingham with a couple of goals for Archie Grayson & one for Danecko Michael whilst Lasers U12 D1 managed to come out on top with a 7-6 home win over Coventry.

This followed on from the previous weekend when the Rapiers won 2-1 on the road against top of the table Bradford which sees them 3^rd in the table with games in hand over Nottingham in second and Bradford who remained top.

A great start to the new year for SIHA and long may it continue!

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