Blackburn Hawks maintained their unbeaten League run, in a hard-fought 2-2 draw with the Billingham Bombers at the Arena.
In a cagey opening period, both teams tried to stamp their authority on the game, working the opposing keepers with some industrious forward play.
Eventually, the deadlock was broken by Ricky Bentham, who found some space on the right, before bearing down on goal, and lifting the puck high over the keeper's shoulder.
advertisement
The second period was equally close, with each team taking penalties.
Midway through the game, the Hawks increased their lead, through Aaron Davies.
Some determined play by the Hawks forwards behind the opposing net, saw the puck played out to the Davies, who, having evaded his marker, beat the netminder with a deft back-hand flick.
As the penalty count continued to rise, the Bombers found a route back into the contest with a well-worked power-play goal.
The final 20 minutes promised to be a nailbiter for the vocal home support, and so it proved, as the Bombers pressed for an equaliser.
The home defence held firm against the onslaught, marshalled by old boy Wayne Slater, who was playing his first game for the Hawks in almost two years, after re-signing from rivals, Flintshire Freeze.
Eventually, however, the pressure told, as a high shot past the unsighted Danny Brittle saw the scores tied.
Both teams had chances to go in front, especially the visitors, who had power play opportunities for the majority of the closing stages.
However, Blackburn would not be denied, and in the dying seconds, broke away one last time.
MVP, Lance Derbyshire was put through, and as he strained to control the puck, lost his footing.
He, and the defenceman slammed heavily into the boards, and took time to recover, before eventually managing to get to their feet.
Derbyshire needed to be helped off the ice, to resounding applause from the home fans, who obviously appreciated both his, and the team's efforts, in what had been an exciting, and highly enjoyable encounter.
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
Print
Email this
Comment
