The Cardiff Devils Welcomed the Kingston Kestrels to the ‘Blue Tent’ for round 2 of the BSHA Planet Ice National Sledge Hockey League on Saturday 24th May 2014.
The Kestrels were confident after winning their opening game against Manchester Phoenix two weeks earlier, whilst the Devils were cautiously optimistic following a much improved performance against the Peterborough Phantoms the previous week over their last meeting during the 2013 play-offs.
The face off was delayed 30 minutes due to Kestrels players being caught in heavy traffic around Cardiff. Meanwhile, the Devils were forced to make a late substitution when their netminder Hana O’Connor reported to the game with a broken finger sustained in their previous fixture. Defenseman Alex Weaver immediately stepped up and volunteered to go in nets.
Once the game started the Kestrels wasted no time in asserting their authority scoring their first goal within 2 minutes through Clarkson. The Devils were given little time to recover when Woollias scored the Kestrels second goal 11 seconds later. The Devils regained their composure however, shutting out the Kestrels for the next 12 minutes until Clarkson made it 3:0 to the Kestrels at the end of the first period.
The second period continued in much the same vein with an early goal conceded by the Devils before they settled down. However, a quick hat-trick from Woollias towards the end of the period effectively ended the game as a contest with the Kestrels now 7:0 up.
The final period saw the Kestrels score another seven goals, coming from a hat-trick by Fitzgerald, and one each for Warner, Clarkson, Berry and Woollias who with three assists also to his name was surely the Kestrels most valuable player. However, GB Team Manager Readford Geddes decided to present the award to the Devil’s number 63 Team Captain Russell Willey.
