ICE HOCKEY
WIGHTLINK Raiders enjoyed a comfortable victory over Streatham Redskins on Saturday — but slipped up on Sunday with a draw at Bracknell Hornets.
The results mean Raiders keep the top spot in Division 1 South of the National Ice Hockey League, but only just as Chelmsford Chieftains are one point behind.
On Saturday, Raiders had a pedestrian 7-1 win over the London side Streatham, whose pre-season signings had promised to make them much more of a challenge.
Instead, the goals came at steady intervals for the Raiders, who should have scored far more than the seven they recorded.
They opened the scoring through Richard Facey in the third minute and then doubled their advantage four minutes later through Craig Tribe — an increasingly influential player in the Raiders’ line up. Jiri Hanzal got into the scoring at 15.10 but his effort was cancelled out just 50 seconds later when former Raider Dominic Hopkins scored for his new side.
Hanzal scored the only goal of the second period, at 36.38, before third-period goals for Jeremy Cornish, Tribe on the powerplay, and Cornish again, sealed the win.
On Sunday, at Bracknell, Raiders put in a lacklustre performance to scrape a draw at Bracknell, coming from 3-1 down in the third period to take a point.
Hornets took the lead in the fourth minute of the game and Raiders were unable to equalise until the 32nd minute, when Hanzal netted. Two minutes later, however, Hornets regained the lead with a penalty shot, and they made it 3-1 just two minutes into the final session.
Thankfully, goals from Hanzal at 43.34, and Facey at 46.54, while on the powerplay, kept their unbeaten league form going.
Tomorrow (Saturday), Raiders host Invicta Dynamos at Ryde Arena, face off 6pm, before travelling to Milton Keynes Thunder on Sunday.