On the 10th May Kingston Kestrels Sledge Hockey Club hosted the first game of the BSHA Planet Ice Sponsored Sledge Hockey League 2014, against Manchester Phoenix.
Period 1:
Kingston started the period strong, putting Manchester under pressure from the start, the opening goal came in the second minute (2:54) unassisted from #5 Matt Clarkson - a hard shot from the top of the blue line in the Manchester defensive zone. The Kestrels kept the pressure on and went in too deep on occasions, leading to two of the quickest players on the ice - #87 Karl Nicholson and #62 Anthony Booth, both for Manchester - getting a breakaway. Netminder Bryan Hackworth made the save and the period finished 1-0, although the outcome was close to being very different. Kingston had one short handed play due to #19 Nige Wright receiving a 2 minute penalty for T-Boning. Kingston had much of the possession, however Manchester defended well, with Netminder Steven Midghall making some good saves.
Period 2:
This period saw Kingston make more of their opportunities by hitting the back of the net just 18 seconds in, another one from Matt Clarkson, assisted by #11 Mark Briggs and #7 Ian Warner. Manchester were under pressure once again but kept the score line down to a respectable 2-0 for a long period. A face off in the Manchester defensive zone lead to the next goal when Kingston won the face-off. The puck came back to #10 Simon Berry at the blue line, who took a long range shot. While Steven Midgehall made another great save, the puck fell in front of Mark Briggs who assisted Ian Warner for the third goal at 24:13. Manchester went down to four man after #5 Doug Hankinson took a 2 minute penalty for interference. Kingston scored a power play goal, another one for Matt Clarkson. Manchester soon hit back with Karl Nicholson getting a breakaway and scoring an unassisted goal on the wraparound, although Kingston responded straight away with a goal 10 seconds later from Ian Warner. This period finished 4-1 in Kestrels favour.
Period 3:
Kestrels controlled the third period a lot better, had quite a lot of shots but only hit the back of the net twice. Manchester were having to defend deep for much of the period, they cleared the zone, and Simon Berry took a long range shot on target from Kestrels blue line which this bounced in front of Midghall who tipped it on to the post. It was then chased it down by #4 Matthew Woollias who scored an unassisted goal. The last goal came in the 38th minute from Ian Warner.
The game was played in great spirt by both teams, with only 3 penalties being given out.
Kingston finished as winners with a final score of 7-1.
MVP was awarded to Kingston Kestrels Matthew Woollias.
