There was a 'War of the Roses' clash at the Arena on Sunday evening, as the Hawks welcomed the Sheffield Spartans. With the visitors still harbouring thoughts of a top four finish, it promised to be an epic encounter. Ironically, there was a family get-together on the ice, as Stuart Brittle 'faced-off' against his two brothers, Adam and Danny.
The first period began with a nervy moment for Blackburn, when, after only 2 minutes, Will Barron broke through the defensive ranks, giving Craig Rogers no choice but to slash him, and take a penalty. However, the Spartans were unable to create any openings with their man-advantage. This was closely followed by a 'delay of game' penalty for each team, which resulted in a 4-on-4, although Stones, the visiting keeper, was the only one to be tested, when Adam 'Addy' Brittle latched onto a pass from Matt Viney with a ferocious one-timer. As the intensity began to increase, two big hits, by Reece Cairney-Witter and Ollie Lomax, had the crowd on their feet, and the Sheffield players flat-out on the ice. With the visiting players still recovering, Ivo Dimitrijevs was able to open the scoring, by shooting a pin-point effort through traffic. A couple of minutes later, and Lomax was heading for the showers, when he stepped into an altercation between Dimitrijevs and Weeks. He was clearly infuriated, to the point of being ejected from the game by the officials for two 'ten minute' penalties - incitement, and then misconduct. A holding call for the Spartans gave the Hawks a powerplay, but they were stunned by a short-handed goal from Barron. He collected a lobbed pass from Stuart Brittle, and had plenty of time to pick his spot, with a cool backhand finish. However, parity didn't last for long, as Arnone benefited from some good interplay from Addy and Aaron Davies, to smash a slapshot past the netminder, and restore the Hawks lead. With only a couple of seconds remaining in the period, Jake Nurse was the second Hawk to leave the game, when he was involved in the first fight of the evening. Blackburn's Rick Ravey and Jones had 'words' in the corner, but when the Spartan refused to accept an invitation to 'dance', Nurse challenged him, and wasn't taking "No" for an answer, earning him a lengthy penalty, and a 'game misconduct'.
The second period began with Sheffield having a two-man advantage, and they made the most of it, by scoring two rapid-fire goals - both carbon copies of each other. Firstly Pyatt shot through a crowded goalmouth, and then Weeks did exactly the same, although his took the slightest of deflections from Parkinson's stick, to beat the Hawks' netminder. Eventually, the home side were able to return to 5 skaters, and they then set about getting a foothold back in the game. Ivo lead the way, with an intricate dribble around 3 defenders, but as he skated around the back of the net, his wrap-around attempt hit the side netting. Just after the halfway point in the match, the scores were tied once more, when Jon Adams gleefully tucked home the puck from close-in, after Stones failed to hold onto a Craig Rogers' wrist-shot. Thirty seconds later, and Davies was unlucky to see his goal wiped off, for having a 'man in the crease', but on 36 minutes, Blackburn went ahead for the third time. Adams worked himself some space behind the Sheffield net, and spotted Addy in front, who's precise shot into the bottom corner was just beyond the keeper. Within a minute, Davies did have reason to celebrate a goal of his own, finishing off a solo effort at the second attempt - lifting a shot high into the net, and sparking loud celebrations in the crowd.
In the third period, an early 'hooking' penalty for the Spartans, resulted in goal number 6 for the home side. Scott Robson found Danny Mackriel out on the left, and as he cut inside, rifled a bullet shot past the goalkeeper, to virtually end the game as a contest. It was only a matter of time before Stuart Brittle had the chance to score against his brother, Danny, but when he did break away, the Blackburn netminder denied him with a sharp save. The watching crowd were quick to seize on this, and a 'tongue in cheek' chorus of "You'll never beat your brother!!" rained down from the stands. With the Hawks attacking almost at will, another goal was on the cards, but not before Arnone took out some of his frustrations on Weeks. The Sheffield player had been pushing his luck all evening, and with only 6 minutes remaining, the pair skated towards centre ice, for a 'discussion'. With both men sat in the penalty box, serving co-incidental penalties, Stuart Brittle did get the better of his brother, with a neat shot inside the near post, to give the visitors a glimmer of hope, but this was quickly extinguished by a goal from Robson, who ghosted-in to the front of the net, and slid a shot beyond the keeper. The 7-4 scoreline was a deserved win for Blackburn, but the real winners were the watching fans, who had enjoyed a fabulous game of end-to-end hockey - a ideal advertisement for the sport.
MVP went to Adam Brittle, for a dominant, hard-working display.
No comments:
Post a Comment