English League Division 2 North
Fylde Flyers 13 - Flintshire Freeze 8
Period Scores: 3-4, 6-3, 4-1
Shots On Goal: Flyers 63 - Freeze 62
Penalties In Minutes: Flyers 32 - Freeze 78
Flyers Scorers: Clark 5+1, Veldze 4+0, Caunce 1+6, Whitby 1+1, Hall 0+3, Hulme, Marriott both 1+0
Flyers MVP: Andy Clark
Referees: Steve Brown, Pete Liversage
Attendance: 134
Flyers Remaining Games:
Saturday 7th April: home v Sheffield Senators 5pm
Saturday 14th April: home v Hull ENL Stingrays 5pm
Sunday 15th April: away at Lancashire Raptors (Blackburn)
Photo: Flyers captain Wayne Whitby celebrates a goal (photo by Adam Tranter)
Match Report
Well, having praised the guys to the skies for their great performance last week against league runners up Sutton Sting, it’s really hard to find more words to express how much I enjoyed this match against 3rd place Flintshire Freeze.
For me – donning the rosy tinted glasses of nostalgia – this was just like a good old fashioned ice hockey match from the 1980s – the sort of game that used to finish 20-18, as opposed to the more sophisticated 7-5 type scorelines that we tend to get nowadays. Lots of goals, lots of penalties, loads of icing calls, plus a player from the away team desperate to cast himself as pantomime villain for the night – in this case visiting netminder Matt Compton who seemed more interested in leaving his crease to join in – or even start – altercations than minding his own net…!
Having said that, you don’t beat a team like Flintshire 13-8 without putting together some good play yourselves. I missed the first 15 minutes and the score was 2-3 when I arrived but I was pleased to be able to witness the obligatory Second Period Game Changing Incident which, this time, came early and happened at the end of the first period. Leading 4-3 with less than 60 seconds to go until the buzzer, the Freeze – apparently bored with normal ice hockey – decided instead to see how many players they could squeeze into their penalty box at the same time, which gave the Flyers a 5-3 player advantage for the start of the second period.
Now, this is new improved Flyers – the team who make the most of powerplays – and the Subzero rink erupted when Latvian under 20 international Elvis Veldze scored the equaliser within 30 seconds of the restart. Freeze, obviously misreading the script hit a short handed goal to edge back in front but Elvis levelled again. Again Freeze edged ahead – ahead Flyers drew level then the killer blow. Three powerplay goals for the flyers in the period put them in front, winning the period 6-3 and gave them a lead that would eventually win them the match.
It really was a superb performance from the whole Flyers team. 7 players got on the scoresheet, with Veldze back to his best with 4 goals and leading playmaker Bobby Caunce chipping in with 1+6 but the most outstanding display of the night came from Andy Clark who was in the middle of everything. His 5 +1 tally for the night plus all round competitiveness brought him the Most Valued Player award and his talents will be missed as work commitments mean that he can’t play in the Flyers remaining fixtures.
As things stand, Flyers are just one point behind Bradford Bulldogs in the ED2N league table with three games to play. Bulldogs have played all their games already so 6th place is definitely there for the taking. Flyers play Sheffield Senators on 7th April, who are just 3 points ahead having played a game more and on recent results, you wouldn’t bet against the Flyers finishing a creditable 5th in their first season of league action.
More info: http://www.eiha.co.uk/Leagues/EnglishNational/North2.aspx
