ENL Devils 3-1 Hornets

The Cardiff ENL Devils had little time to digest the Christmas Day turkey as they found themselves up against the ‘in form’ team in the league in the shape of the Bracknell Hornets on Sunday in the Cardiff Bay Arena. The visitors were looking for their 10th straight victory since bolstering their squad after an indifferent start to the league by adding experienced players such as Mark Galazzi to their line-up – a run which saw them overturn league contenders Invicta Dynamos, Chelmsford Chieftains and Wightlink Raiders along the way. Needless to say the Hornets confidence was high as they aimed to become the first visiting team to beat the ENL Devils in their own barn. The home side however, were equally pumped for the game, having been the victim of admin error in their previous game against the Haringey Greyhounds which saw the league harshly punish the Devils for naming 23 players on the gamesheet by awarding a game that finished a 10-4 victory to the Devils as 5-0 forfeit in reverse. Only 20 players iced that day, but the league has taken a harsh stance on the matter and seem to have somewhat unjustly decided to punish the ‘offenders’ for a mistake on paper, not reflecting what happened on the ice.

Bracknell set about the game in their usual manner – they are renowned as a very organized, well-drilled unit that plays their system well. As a result they are notoriously difficult to break down. A tight first period saw the Devils restricted to just 6 shots on goal to the visitors 15 who ended the period 1-0 up thanks to a shot from the point that ricocheted back off keeper Brabons post before falling to Alex Barker who kept his cool to net past the diving Cardiff keeper. The rest of the period was rather stop-start thanks to some picky officiating by Blaine Evans, who managed to find something wrong with just about every face-off taken and a delay that saw Rounding stretched off the ice following a clean open ice hit by Chris Hart.

The second period saw the Devils up the tempo and dominate the chances as they lay siege on the Hornets goal. Steven Fisher looked to get things going as he skipped round the Hornets defence and angled a smart shot high only to be denied by Dave Wride in the Bracknell net. Phil Manny took a nasty cut to the face from an accidental high sticks – but the automatic 5 + Match penalty that the rules dictate did not follow and James Galazzi got away with just 2 minutes in the box. A decision that saw Captain David James then receive a 10 minute personal misconduct for arguing the point just that little too long and Blaine Evans seemed to have given the visitors a late Christmas present. However the frustration seemed to spur the Devils on and they were dominant on the resulting power play and a strong deflected shot from the point by Dan Bowers saw the solid Wride beaten for the first time on the night. The period ended with the game tied at 1-1 the Devils having outshot the away side 16-7. Adam Wood was unable to re-appear for the third following a deep cut to the eye that required 7 stitches following a check on the Hornets face cage player.

The final period saw the Devils come out flying with real physical flair as they looked to wear down their opponents and go for the game winner. In a relatively even matched affair with neither side giving up much in the way of clear cut chances. It was a Phil Manny shot from the point that finally put the Devils in front – the lofty shot flipped its way through the air to deceive the otherwise excellent Dave Wride. Tim Burrows nearly made the points safe as he drove wide on a 1 on 1 and rifled a rocket of a shot over the blocker of the Hornets stopper only to see the puck stop dead just in front of the goal line after pinging down off the cross-bar/post intersection. Bracknell also went close and actually had the puck in the net at one stage, but the whistle has already gone and Evans correctly waved off the goal. The closing 5 minutes was all Bracknell pressure as the visitors looked for the equalizer but Cardiff keeper Mike Brabon stood firm behind a well marshaled defense that, despite missing Brent Pope, James Manson and Dan Madge, was resilient with notable contributions from the cool-headed Lee Cowmeadow - making his debut for the side having signed during the week. Alan Armour had the last say in the game by seeing off the Hornets with a spin-a-rama slap shot clearance from inside his own blue line that travelled the length of the ice to nestle in Hornets empty net.

A well-earned, hard-fought victory for the ENL Devils keeps there title-challenging aspirations alive with a real crunch match against league leaders Invicta Dynamos on Saturday in the Cardiff Bay Arena guaranteed to be a real exciting affair so please come down and support your ENL Devils!

Match Stats:

Man of Match: Phil Manny

Scorers - David James, Phil Manny & Alan Armour 1+0 and Dan Bowers, Steven Fisher, Gareth Dixon & Mike Brabon all 0+1

Period Scores: 0-1, 1-0, 2-0 

PIMS: on Devils 30, on Hornets 28