“From the moment that Janne put the Lions in front at just 15 seconds a lot of the Lions fans, who were spread from one end of the rink to the other, thought the lads were going to win by a hatful. We were all brought down to earth when Bernard Serafinski levelled for the home side after 4 minutes.

“The Lions then began to pepper Havenhand in the Sabres’ goal with shots from here, there and everywhere with the young minder happy to push or pad them out. The Sabres were playing well on the break and there were a few anxious moments in the Lions’ defence but two goals in a minute by Allard and Arvila saw the Lions win the first period 3-1.

“The second period was a different story altogether, the Lions had to some extend abandoned shooting from distance. Janne in particular tried to take on Havenhand and it paid dividends with 3 goals (2 of them by Ari from 2 inches out!) and plenty of close shaves, while at the other end Vesa shut out 19 second period shots.

“The Sabres were never headed in the third period, scoring at 49:22 (K Havenhand) and 53:26 (Serafinski) while Geof and Janne replied at 51:19 and 59:06. I’d like to thank Janne personally for ruining my Predict-a-Score forecast, which was 7-3. Thanks Janne!”