It was a battle of two 'potential' contenders of the League title on Saturday evening, as the Hawks welcomed Sutton to the Arena. Both sides were missing several key players, but those absent from the Blackburn bench were especially noticeable. The likes of defencemen Chris Arnone, Rick Ravey, and Scott Robson, along with the strong-skating trio of Ivo Dimitrijevs, Sam Dunford, and Jordan Ashington, meant that the home side were only able to ice two full lines.
The first period started at a furious pace, with the Hawks straight onto the offensive. Aaron Davies tested Zimozdra in the Sting net, and this was quickly followed by a 'bullet' from Adam Brittle, which brought the best out of the visiting keeper. Not to be outdone, however, Sutton then went straight up to the other end with a 3-on-1 rush, but Danny Brittle produced a solid save. Ollie Lomax set off on one of his trademark 'mazy' runs from his own zone, and found the stick of Davies, but his shot fizzed over the bar. Miles Dacres and Danny Mackriel also had good chances, in what was a frenetic opening 10 minutes, but the closest that the home side came to a goal, was a ferocious Craig Rogers slapshot, which pinged off the upright. The game continued to ebb and flow throughout, thanks to some 'sensible' officiating, as both sides took it in turns to attack, but the netminders were on top form, to keep the scores even, going into the break.
The second 20 minutes was still in it's infancy, when the first goal of the evening arrived. Davies did well to rescue a loose puck, as it was heading out of the offensive zone, and found Mackriel. His initial shot was saved, but Brittle was on-hand to fire in the rebound. The lead was only to last for 3 minutes, however, as Sutton drew level, thanks to some good passing around the net - drawing the defence out of position, and a neat finish at the far post. The game was more reminiscent of a tennis rally, as the puck zipped up and down the ice, but it wasn't long before it was nestled in the back of the Sting net, once again. Brittle got his second of the match, seizing on a deflected shot from David Miekle, which Zimozdra couldn't hold on to. With the clock just passing the halfway mark, parity was restored for a second time - a 2-on-1 break allowing Oliver time in front of the Hawks goal, and he made no mistake, with a classy finish into the top corner. With the end of the period looming, Mackriel tried his luck from wide on the right, and was unfortunate to strike the post, and bounce back into play.
2-2, and all to play for, as the game entered it's final period. However, an agonising couple of minutes saw the visitors register twice in quick succession - both of which the Blackburn goalkeeper would normally have dealt with, with ease. This prompted a time-out for the Hawks, but to no avail, as within a minute, the Sting got their 5th of the evening. The lack of bodies was beginning to show, but the home side refused to give up - continually pouring forward, searching for a way back into the tie. With 8 minutes remaining, the deficit was reduced to just two, when Jared Owen put a pin-point pass across the goal, right onto the waiting stick of Rick Hughes, and he fired home. With nothing to lose, the hosts pushed forward relentlessly, but were cruelly undone by a breakout by Ashton, and the Sting player made no mistake. This ended the scoring for the evening, as the visitors ran out deserving winners. It was a highly enjoyable match, played in a great spirit by both teams - indicated by the fact that there wasn't a single penalty called all evening.
MVP went to Craig Rogers.
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