Lee Valley Lions

Swindon ENL Wildcats

Goals

Penalties

Lee Valley Lions

Swindon ENL Wildcats

Additional Comments:

The Lions faced new team, Swindon ENL Wildcats, with renewed optimism following the swift signings of Ben Williams, Andy Watt and Andrzej Maslak, a Pole who played for his country at Under 18 and Under 20 level before making an impact last season with Streatham Redskins.

It was Maslak who first made an impression, a stylish unassisted goal putting the Lions in the lead just 3 minutes into the game. Swindon soon equalised at 04:58, thanks to veteran Scott Gough, a player who’d iced for Swindon Wildcats against the original Lions more than a decade earlier.

Lee Valley took the lead once more at 10:30, new boy Ben Williams striking home with the first goal of a hat-trick on his debut for the team. Again Swindon were quick to prevent the Lions from dominating the game, their second goal coming from Jamie Newton, the assists going to Nick Eden and Gough. Gough had a hand in the Wildcats’ third goal too, the Wildcats stealing the lead at 18:09 with a shot from Robin Davison.

The Lions continued to match their opponents in both strength and consistency throughout the second period. Michael Jacobs began to shine, scoring twice in just over 5 minutes, assists coming from Nicky Braithwaite, Rob Courtman and Andrzej Maslak. Swindon still had tricks up their sleeve, however, and pulled themselves back into a 6-5 lead with goals from Adam Andrews and Dave Lovejoy.

Maslak had been demonstrating his speed and agility in fine form but his input was cut short at 39:47 when an unfortunate and accidental high sticks incident left Swindon’s Alan Armour bleeding from a cut under the eye. The result was a 5+game penalty awarded against Maslak, the 5 minutes served by Lions’ third new player, Andy Watt.

The last period had only just begun when Michael Jacobs scored his hat-trick for the Lions, this time assisted by Mark Saunders and James Hatfull. Tension was rising both on and off the bench as Lee Valley realised that league points were within their grasp for the first time since their reformation the previous season. That optimism was briefly shattered when Neil Rouse broke through to score Swindon’s 7th goal at 45:21. However, for the first time this season the Lions did not let their heads go down. They persisted with their attack, focused on achieving a positive result and Ben Williams duly scored the equaliser, unassisted at 50:13.

Although the Lions were out to win it was clear that any risky manoeuvres at this late stage could prove disastrous. A time-out was called with around 3 minutes left on the clock and the strategy was simply to maintain possession of the puck. This paid off as Swindon were unable to score and both teams went home with a point. For the Lions it was not only their first league point since the team reformed in the 2005/06 but the first since the original Lions beat Paisley Pirates 6-5 back on 18th March 1995!

Manager Deryk Beeson said of his team, “For the first time the Lions played the majority of the three periods as a team and we reaped our reward. The Lion did not quit, it woke up, opened its eyes and showed its teeth with an almighty roar. Our fightback begins and now we concentrate on Oxford.”

Referee was Szucs, Linesmen were Holtham and Shrubsole.