The Junior Report - Edition 11

Welcome to the Junior Report again, this time it's a look back at Tuesday night's game at the Arena against Dundee Stars in the Challenge Cup quarter-final second leg.

A Tuesday night at the arena saw the Steelers take on a stars side who have never really got going in the campaign so far. The Steelers and Stars have played each other 6 times now this season, Steelers winning all 6 of the clashes, two of them being the challenge cup.

It was the Challenge Cup second leg on Tuesday at the arena, and the crowd was expectant. After a goalless and action-less first period, the second came to life around 10 minutes in, when a check from behind by Robert Dowd caused a fight between him and the stars player, who had every right to have a pop at Dowd for the hit. Dowd won the fight pretty easily, not expected. He reminded me of a peaky blinder in the way he went about the fight, he accepted he was in the wrong, but absolutely battered the person for starting with the wrong person. Best thing was, it was right under my nose, as I was sat on row one of the away block, and let me tell you, I’ve never been as scared in my life, and I’m behind the glass!

The first goal was a great solo effort from new boy Miika Franssila. Excellent hands resulting in a goal past the off form Fullerton opened the scoring, something to cheer for the 3500 Steelers fans in attendance. Nearer the end of the period the Steelers scored again and doubled the advantage, a backhand goal from Marquardt was what separated the two teams by an even further margin.

In the third period the Steelers were absolutely relentless, everything they shot turned to a goal, and it seemed as though we were on a constant powerplay with the way we were going about it. What I liked about the performance was how we were getting shots low to high and high to low, constantly confusing the already disgruntled defence. Matt Marquardt converted a breakaway, Zack Fitzgerald whiffled a one timer passed Fullerton, Mathieu Roy scored a very nice tip goal out in front, and Ben O’Connor also got on the score sheet. What also impressed me was how many points Jonas Westerling got on the night, he is certainly a very underrated player, who deserves more credit for the effort he puts into his play. No matter his size he is constantly finishing his checks, and letting people know he is a nuisance.

The Stars got a consolation goal for their excellent travelling support, which is also who I need to credit because they travelled all the way down to Sheffield to see their team lose heavily, but it shows true passion for their team, and they have my respect for that. Final score, Steelers 6 Stars 1.

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