Swooping In:In To The Unknown

JANUARY 14TH NIHL CUP STREATHAM REDHAWKS VS TELFORD TIGERS

Pre Game

It was a step in to the unknown for the Telford Tigers, as they made their first ever visit to the High Road. For the quarter finals of the NIHL Challenge Cup. Going in to this game it was going to be a battle of the neutral zone. Having watched Telford play may times over the last few years one tactic I have seen them use to great effectiveness is catching teams on the break after forcing multiple turn overs in the neutral zone. 

The Reedhawks would hope that the rest they had on Saturday, and thus extra energy would allow them to use their speed and pace to break through this. However the absence of Brendan Miles and Adam Wood meant the Hawks would be without some useful size in the corner wars that this kind of neutral zone blockade causes. Telford arrived having lost the night before to Solihull Barons. Also they were down Jack Watkins, but added Scott McKenzie, new import Filip Supa and the experience of Warren Tait. The Redhawks would welcome back Ryan Web and Alec Goldstone to bolster the line up

1st Period

The game started out with both sides probing tentatively, trying to work out the best way to create a break through. The monentum would swing back and forth, with both sides D breaking up the plays with active sticks and a lot of forcing the play in to the corners. The Tigers would get the first PP, after Brendan Baird was called for hooking. The Tigers game plan on the PP was point shot oriented, looking to set up Jonathan Weaver. 

At 9 minutes, the Redhawks got a real chance as they created chaos around the net after a Ryan Watt break in attempt. During this Adam Jones was judged to have charged Watt. Watt took exception to this and the gloves came off. The Hawks would get a PP out of this, but despite plenty of shots on net nothing came of this advantage. 

The Tigers would end the period in the lead, at 17 minutes, the Hawks found themselves trapped in their own end. Unable to clear the puck, Rick Plant and Corey Goodison combined  to cycle the puck to a waiting Jonathan Weaver at the point who fired it high in to the net and it was 1-0 to Telford

2nd Period

The Hawks came in to the second, needing to take hold of the momentum early on, and to find a way through the forest of sticks that Telford had turned the neutral zone in to, while also avoiding the turnover this was forcing out of them. The Hawks started out doing just this as they were able to pin the Tigers in their own end, however again it was very much a case of quantity and not quality as shot after shot was either saved or went wide. 

26 minutes in the Tigers made another neutral zone turn over work for them as Jonathan Weaver made an interception, and found a speeding Jason Silverthorn who fired it past Colclough to make it 2-0.

Following this set back the Redhawks stole the initiative off the next face off and began to threaten Bells net again, and at around 27 mins a shot rang off the post, and landed on the line only to be cleared. However Alex Sampford would find it as the Tigers were attempting to clear. Passing it to James Warman who set up Aidan Doughty, who put it over Bell to make it 2-1. 

With all the momentum the Hawks would now begin a sustained attack on the Tigers net, seeing Ryan Watt go close twice, and Hayes come close as he closed in and went across the front of the crease only to see the puck slip out of the reach of his stick in the melee. Bell and the Tigers D withstood all of this and the period ended 2-1 Telford

3rd Period

The Hawks would begin the 3rd looking to level things up, with Ryan Watt and Michael Farn continuing to lead the charge. Farn would go end to end ringing a shot off Bells blocker early on. The Redhawks speed, and attempts at stretch passes were allowing them break through's early on. 

Eventually this would pay off at  as Watt Webb and Carr, would work the puck in from the neutral zone, Farn would work hard to keep the puck in at the blue line, before making a cross ice pass to Gregory who's slap shot from the point found its way through to the back of the net with help from Ryan Watt along the way. And at 46:38 it was 2-2

The Tigers would answer back with two goals in 1 minute at the 48:15 and 48:51. Warman and Silverthorn would battle for the puck in the corner.Winning the puck the Tigers forward would go across the crease looking for  a shot and drawing Colclough out of position, before being driven behind the net by the Hawks defence. From there Silverthorn would find Rick Plant skating in at the hash marks who would roof it to make it 3-2 Telford. 

In quick fire succesion the Tigers would make it 4-2, as quick passing from Silverthorn and Weaver would allow Brodie Jesson to get in and fire it past Colclough to add to the scoreline.

With more urgency the Hawks continued to attack the Hawks net, but Bell was equal to everything being thrown at him. Andreas Siagris would get off a good chance however it would fly straight in to the logo on Bells chest. Ryan Webb would get several passes in through the crease but no Hawks player could connect in a position to get the puck over the line. 

The Tigers would kill off the game at 55:37 as Warren Tait came up with the puck in a board battle with Doughty. He passed up ice to McKenzie who would skate in and fire at the net, Colclough would make the save but the rebound fell to a waiting Filip Supa who buried it to make it 5-2

After Game Thoughts

Telford came in, and played the game I expected them to, they clogged the neutral zone, and capitalized on the turn over chaos this created. Jason Silverthorn thoroughly deserved the MOTM as he was a constant threat and was involved in 3 of the 5 goals. Another candidate for this to me would be Denis Bell, the Tigers shot stopper had a busy night in net. And was certainly a major factor in why the Tigers only allowed 2 goals on the night. Tigers played a strong game in the back end, clearing the crease of players and puck, and also forcing the majority of break ins to the boards, and forcing the Hawks to play dump and chase. 

This game was a polar opposite to what we saw last week, where the MK Thunder clogged the shooting lanes, the Tigers eased off and allowed the shots in. So the Hawks got quantity. But were sadly missing in quality on a lot of them. However despite the 5 goals the Hawks D played strong in the face of the opposition in parts of the game. As is always the case in hockey it was some small mistakes and lapses that cost them. The PK was especially strong at breaking up the Tigers Power play matching its fast passing, and never getting stretched. It was good to see the Watt Carr and Webb line re-united(or the WCW line as I call them) and Ryan Watt and Adam Carr were two of my choices for MOTM along with Micahel Farn as these 3 were a constant offensive threat. However Matt Colclough, was a deserving winner of this honor. Despite seemingly having a battle with the puck at times as he did do all he could to limit the score line. 

5-2 is not an insurmountable number going in to the second leg, however the odds are against the Hawks going in. The Hawks have the advantage of several players who have experience of the rink in Telford, so hopefully Adam Carr, Ryan Watt and Michael Farn can relay how best to play on the small ice in Telford to the rest of the team. Its a tough weekend ahead for the Redhawks with the away leg in Telford Saturday and then home to face the London Raiders on Sunday, who themselves will be looking to snap a 3 game losing skid that has seen them outscored 19-4 against ex EPL teams.