Category: Matches

Dave Carr has written an article on this weekend’s clash between the Lions and their London rivals, Haringey Racers. The article, which includes an interview with coach Gary Dodds, can be found on the Pro Hockey News website.

Lee Valley Lions travelled south to the Isle of Wight to take on the Wightlink Tigers, hoping to to continue their good form and add to their win over the home side earlier in the season. Missing from the Lions’ line-up were James Hepburn, Romanas Fedotovas, Max Gerstein and Adam Peach.

First Period: The small island rink was a problem for the visitors early on as the Tigers found themselves on top of the match. Several chances cropped up for the home side but the Lions’ defence battled well early on. Eventually though the pressure told and Joseph Denness (8:18, assist Ricketts) put the Tigers on the scoreboard. Lee Valley responded well to the goal and began to up the ante on the hosts, the small surface aiding the occurrence of some notable hits from both sides. After a quick turnover in their own zone, Joe Berry (11:26, assist Yufit) found himself in alone on goalie Aaron Craft where he calmly scored the equaliser. Chances went both ways but the Tigers found themselves on the good side of the officials when a bundle on Aaron Mallet’s net found the Tigers celebrating amidst confusion amongst the away side, who believed the puck hadn’t crossed the line. The referees gave the goal in the end and the period finished 2-1 to Wightlink.

Second Period: Things couldn’t have started worse for Lee Valley; a breakdown in communication saw the Tigers double their lead courtesy of Sean Richardson (21:53, assists MacFarlane and Wyatt). Lee Valley started to come back into the match; Theo Abban forced a last-ditch save from Craft and the Lions also hit the post. One Tiger found himself open in front of a sprawled Mallet but the Lions’ netminder denied him with a huge glove save. Neither side could find a way through despite the spring of chances and the Tigers kept their two-goal cushion going into the third.

Third Period: Lee Valley came out knowing that the next goal would be crucial, but it was the hosts who scored as Graham MacFarlane (42:24, assist Wyatt) notched the hosts three goals ahead. Soon after the Tigers scored another; as the Lions failed to capitalise on a powerplay they coughed up the puck and Andrew Robinson (46:09, assist Trendall) latched on to make it 5-1. Tempers started to flare as the visitors’ frustration showed through and not long after Nick Alley was sin-binned for boarding, the Tigers had hit the Lions for six. Sean Richardson (51:11, assist Wyatt) came through with the powerplay goal and a little over a minute later, Wightlink had their seventh through Aaron Edwards (52:23, assist Ricketts and Denness). Lee Valley did pull back a consolation goal when Joe Berry (57:45, assists Hodge and Wootton) was put through for his second breakaway goal, however it was too little too late as the Lions went home empty handed.

Next week sees the first London derby for Lee Valley since 2008, when local rivals Haringey Racers come to the Den. Be sure to follow the Lions on Twitter & Facebook for the latest news and updates.

Period Scores: Wightlink 2-1/1-0/4-1 Lee Valley
Shots on Goal: Not given.
Penalties in Minutes: Wightlink 16-10 Lee Valley
Man of the Match: Theo Abban
Scorers: Lee Valley – Joe Berry (2+0), Gennadi Yufit, Richard Hodge & Bailey Wootton (0+1)
Wightlink – Joseph Denness (2+1), Greg Wyatt (0+3), Sean Richardson (2+0), Aaron Edwards & Graham MacFarlance (1+1), Jordan Ricketts (0+2), Andrew Robinson (1+0), Alexander Trendall (0+1)

Lee Valley were looking continue their good form from the end of 2013 with a win in Essex against a Chelmsford Warriors side, who’d beaten the Lions in the dying moments of their previous encounter early in the season. Missing from the line up were George Alley, Max Gerstein, Gennadi Yufit, Graham Lewis, Phillip Carson, Jarvis Mewett and Bailey Wootton.

First Period: The Lions got off to a slow start and Chelmsford were on the scoreboard early on, when Thomas Wilson (2:45, assist Brown) scored the first goal. The Warriors then doubled their lead thanks to Courtney Grant (9:06, assists Woodford and Staples). This was the boost the visitors needed and Joe Berry (12:39, assists Peach and Ball) reduced the lead, before Nick Alley (18:16, assists Hatfull and Gosling) tied proceedings up just before the end of the period.

Second Period: It was the Lions’ turn to strike early when Theo Abban (22:13, assist Alley) knocked in from his old junior line mate Nick Alley to put the visitors ahead. Just under three minutes later, though, the hosts were back on level terms, Gary Brown (25:05, assist Woodford) with the goal. James Hatfull (33:10, assists Cave and Peach) knocked the Lions ahead to make it 4-3 but Chelmsford responded quickly and made sure the game stayed tied in the third when Sean Easton (35:23 assists Brown and Woodford) scored.

Third Period: Despite being hugely outnumbered, the Lions’ resolve, which has come on hugely in recent games, held up and the fruitful line of James Hepburn, Richard Hodge and Romanas Fedotovas finally got on the scoreboard. Fedotovas (40:28, assists Hepburn and Hodge) put the visitors ahead, and although Thomas Wilson (43:24, unassisted) went in alone to equalise for Chelmsford, Lee Valley pulled away when Richard Hodge (48:18 assists Hepburn and Fedotovas) got the go-ahead goal. A tense final 10 minutes followed but it was the Lions who pulled through, Theo Abban (58:03, assist Hodge) putting the exclamation point on a fine win against the second-placed Warriors.

The win is Lee Valley’s 4th in the last 6 games and sees the Lions move up one place to 7th in NIHL Division 2, only one place behind local rivals Haringey Racers.

Period Scores: Chelmsford 2-2/2-2/1-3 Lee Valley
Shots on Goal: 33 on Long (CMS), 36 on Mallet (LVL)
Penalties in Minutes: Chelmsford 4-4 Lee Valley
Scorers: Lee Valley – Richard Hodge (1+2), Theo Abban (2+0), James Hatfull, Romanas Fedotovas & Nick Alley (1+1), James Hepburn & Adam Peach (0+2), Joe Berry (1+0) Ashlee Cave & Jack Ball (0+1)
Chelmsford – Gary Brown (1+2), Stephen Woodford (0+3), Thomas Wilson (2+0), Sean Easton & Courtney Grant (1+0), Daniel Staples (0+1)

Man of the Match: Richard Hodge

This Saturday sees the visit of bottom side Invicta Mustangs in the teams’ first meeting of the season. Face-off is at 5:30pm.

You can also follow the Lions on Twitter and Facebook.

Lee Valley were looking to continue their form from a strong away performance at Swindon two weeks ago. They had previously drawn in Cardiff and there was belief they could improve on that result and move up the league table. Missing were Theo Abban and James Hatfull.

Richard Hodge © Patrick Ayling

First Period: The game started at a furious pace, the Lions making several inroads into the Cardiff zone. First Nick Alley (playing in defence to cover the absent Hatfull) rung a wrist shot off the post; the resulting rebound was almost turned in by a Cardiff defence-man but Ross Miller recovered well to stop an own goal being scored. The very next play, Alley took the puck from his own zone, skinning the Cardiff defence-men before forcing a good save from Miller. As the Lions swarmed, James Hepburn latched onto James Gosling’s pass (5:30) to put the Lions ahead. Lee Valley continued to dominate the period but in the last five minutes, Cardiff began to work their way into the game. In the final minute of the period the Lions failed to clear the zone and as the pressure built up, Owen Griffiths (20:00, assist Raffaelli) tipped a shot on the buzzer to equalise for the visitors – much to the anger of the Lions’ bench as it appeared to go in after the clock had run down.

Second Period: Needing to bounce back early, both sides failed to find any spark and with the ice still soaking from the resurface between periods. Lee Valley found several chances squandered as the puck stopped dead, including a breakaway chance for Gennadi Yufit. Once the pressure eased, Cardiff again found their stride and it was them who took the lead. After a turnover in their own end, the Devils rushed up ice and set up well for Giacomo Raffaelli (34:17, assist Elias) to take advantage of a planned screen on Aaron Mallet and shoot low to score. Few chances were created after that and the period ended 2-1 to Cardiff.

Calum Heath attempts to break through © Patrick Ayling

Third Period: Things failed to get better for the home side, as they couldn’t find the cutting edge needed to break the hard-working Devils. Several chances went begging for the Lions before Griffiths (44:11, unassisted) found himself open in front of net after sloppy Lions’ play to double the visitors’ lead. Cardiff continued to press and with the Lions tiring, Callum Wallace (48:51, assist Newton) latched onto a rebound and managed to roof the puck from a tight angle past a scrambling Mallet, to essentially kill off the game. Wallace’s part in proceedings hadn’t quite finished, though. As he made a late hit on young defenceman Jarvis Mewett, the under 18 took exception and slashed Wallace. This led to a coming together of players on the ice and when Mewett went to let Wallace know what he thought of him, a scrap between himself and Matt Griffiths ensued, both players sitting roughing penalties as a result. Giacomo Raffaelli was thrown from the game for abuse of an official but as a contest the game was done and Cardiff eased to victory, departing East London with a 4-1 win.

The Lions travel to Peterborough next weekend for our final game of the year.

Period Scores: Lee Valley 1-1/0-1/0-2
Shots on Goal: 33 on Mallet (Lee Valley), 26 on Cardiff (24 on Miller, 2 on Bird)
Penalties in Minutes: Lee Valley 6-20 Cardiff
Man of the Match: Lee Valley – Joe Berry, Cardiff – Callum Wallace

Photos from the game are here. You can also follow the Lions on Twitter and on Facebook.

Lee Valley travelled to Swindon NIHL Wildcats this past Saturday, looking to bounce back from their poor performance in Basingstoke. Missing from the squad were James Hatfull, Max Gerstein, James Joseph and the under 18s, who were at home… to Swindon.

First Period: Neither side was able to gain the upper hand as the game started, with teams almost playing each other out of the game. There were no penalties until Graham Lewis took a clumsy hooking penalty eleven minutes in; the visitors defended well and killed off the penalty. Eventually the Lions began to pressure Kevin McGurk in the Swindon goal; Gennadi Yufit sent Theo Abban in but the ref lost sight of the puck and blew his whistle just as Yufit banged in the rebound. Despite ramping up the pressure the period ended scoreless.

Second Period: Lee Valley picked up the pace in the second, and the chances were closer and closer each time. Eventually Romanas Fedotovas (24:44, unassisted) picked up his own rebound and dumped the puck in the net to give the visitors a deserved lead and it wasn’t long before the score was doubled. A small skirmish formed in front of the Lions’ net which saw James Gosling drop the gloves with Nathan Chilcott (both receiving 2+2 for roughing) and Ryan Richards also go for roughing. The Lions took advantage of the resulting powerplay when Theo Abban (29:42, assist Yufit) tipped in a brilliantly faked shot from Gennadi Yufit to put Lee Valley 2-0 up. Despite their dominance, the Lions couldn’t add to their total and a lack of discipline saw Jack Ball sit for cross-checking. Swindon capitalised on the resulting powerplay when Luke Merrick (35:44, assists Sullivan and Taylor) found himself open and free to slot the puck past Aaron Mallet to halve the lead. The physicality went up a notch with both teams making big hits, but neither side could add to the scoreboard and the period ended 2-1.

Third Period: The Lions kept their momentum going with the visitors going close on several occasions. As the period drew on, the hosts began to lose their discipline and tempers came to a fore when Shannon Taylor was thrown from the game for abuse of an official. The Lions though were able to close the game out and come away with their first away win for two seasons.

Period Scores: Swindon 0-0/1-2/0-0 Lee Valley
Shots on Goal: on McGurk (Swindon) 55. On Mallet (Lee Valley) 43
Penalties in Minutes: Swindon 42-12 Lee Valley
Scorers: Swindon – Luke Merrick (1+0), Daniel Sullivan & Shannon Taylor (0+1)
Lee Valley: Romanas Fedotovas & Theo Abban (1+0), Gennadi Yufit (0+1)
Man of the Match: Swindon – Kevin McGurk, Lee Valley – Aaron Mallet

Our next fixture is also our last before the Christmas break when Cardiff come to the den on Saturday, December the 7th. Face off at 5:15.

You can view highlights of the game courtesy of Swindon HERE.

You can also follow the Lions on Twitter and Facebook.