Lions Hit for Six in Kent

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Lee Valley travelled to Gillingham to face a resurgent Invicta Mustangs who, despite their league position, had been pushing teams close in recent weeks. The Lions had been on a poor run of form and were missing nine players, including captain James Hatfull and former Invicta players Kevin Lake and Matthew Drake.

First Period: The Mustangs came out of the blocks faster than the visitors, winning more 50/50 chances and putting early pressure on George Alley in the Lions’ net. The Lions did test Matthew Daubney in Invicta’s goal but he held up well. Invicta were first to break the deadlock when Tom Dennis (4:47, assist Carle) was left unmarked to pick up the rebound. Jake Luton (6:32, unassisted) then skated in to double their lead and before the 10-minute mark, the Mustangs were 3-0 up when Josh Carle (8:46, assist Holt) fired past Alley. The Lions fought back but still couldn’t find a way past Daubney and as the period was coming to a close, Theo Abban made a clumsy hit which saw him thrown from the game for boarding.

Second Period: Like the Oxford game the week before, the Lions began the second stanza on a major powerplay (meaning they couldn’t return to full strength if Invicta scored) and it wasn’t long before Invicta had their fourth –  when a Lions’ defenceman tried to clear the puck, it came off of James Hepburn’s face and fell to Danny Terry (23:29, unassisted), who shot the puck into the top shelf of the net. Alley was called into action several times for the rest of the powerplay and once that ended, Lee Valley began to work their way into the game again and they got on the scoreboard when Nick Alley’s shot was picked up by Romanas Fedotovas (25:12, assist Alley), who bundled the puck into the net. Midway through the period and the Lions were down by four again when they failed to gain possession on a delayed penalty and Jake Luton (30:10, unassisted) collected a loose puck and rounded Alley for a fifth. Lee Valley just couldn’t get any momentum going  and the Mustangs kept piling the pressure on Alley.  With both sides short-benched the players started to tire and as the plays broke down both sides had breakaway opportunities to score but neither side added to their tallies.

Third Period: Lee Valley knew they could pull the game back; they had been creating chances but still they couldn’t find a way past Daubney. As the Lions started to break out, a loose pass went straight to Michael Stokes (52:22) who went one-on-one with Alley and finished the game off as a contest. After Nick Alley and Tom Dennis dropped the gloves, Lee Valley did add to their tally when Fedotovas (59:33, assist Hepburn) blasted past Daubney straight from a face-off but it was too little and the game ended there.

The Lions host Basingstoke Buffalo next Saturday (22/2) and will be looking for an upturn in fortunes after a run of four games without a win.

You can keep up with the Lions on Twitter and Facebook.

Final Score: Invicta 6-2 Lee Valley
Period Scores: 3-0/2-1/1-1
Shots on Goal: 45 on Daubney (Invicta), 57 on Alley (Lee Valley)
Penalties in Minutes: Invicta 30-41 Lee Valley
Man of the Match: Romanas Fedotovas
Scorers: Lee Valley – Romanas Fedotovas (2+0), Nick Alley & James Hepburn (0+1)
Invicta – Jake Luton (2+0), Josh Carle (1+1), Danny Terry, Tom Dennis & Michael Stokes (1+0), Kwame Holt (0+1)

Stars Run Riot over Lions in Penalty-Ridden Match

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Lee Valley travelled to League Champions Oxford looking to repeat the success of their 3-2 win earlier in the season. Missing from the line up was Graham Lewis.

First Period: The Lions couldn’t have asked for a better start. After a quick build up, Romanas Fedotovas (0:17, assist Hodge) was in the perfect position in front of the Stars net to put the Lions in front and silence the large crowd in attendance. The game continued to go back and forth but Oxford scored a short handed equaliser when Alan Green (4:39, assist Oliver) caught the Lions’ defence napping on a long clearance and blasted the puck past Aaron Mallet. With some inconsistent calls being made, the Lions found themselves in the box from the 16th minute. Eventually the pressure of being short handed told and Oxford took the lead through Joe Oliver (19:10, assists Green and Nick Oliver). An altercation between James Hatfull and Oxford defenceman Andy Cox saw the Lions’ Captain ejected with a match penalty for cross checking. The Period ended with the Lions facing seven minutes of penalty kill.

Second Period: As expected, the Lions were under immense pressure from the off and it wasn’t long before Oxford broke through the Lions penalty kill. First, Darren Elliot (21:59, assist Oliver) doubled the hosts’ lead, then ex Peterborough player James Pentecost (23:43, assist Elliot and Oliver) made it four. The short-handed nightmare was topped off by Sam Broughton (24:31, assists Cox and Oliver), putting the Stars out of sight before Lee Valley had even had a chance to play the period even handed. Jacob Smith (30:34, unassisted) then went in alone to make it six, and Nick Oliver (33:19, assists Green and Elliot) capped off a destructive period that ended 7-1 to Oxford. To top it off, Theo Abban was made to sit a dubious ten minute misconduct penalty and Kevin Lake’s night was ended early with a broken toe.

Third Period: It didn’t get any better for the Lions, who by this point were playing damage limitation against a side who were firing on all cylinders. First Josh Oliver (41:58, unassisted) scored Oxford’s eighth, then Pentecost (55:50, assist Smith) added his second of the evening and the final nail in the coffin was hammered in by My Oxford himself as Darren Elliot (56:57, assists Green and Oliver) scored his second of his evening. Leaving the Lions to lick their wounds ahead of next week’s trip to Invicta.

Final Score: Oxford 10-1 Lee Valley
Period Scores: 2-1/5-0/3-0
Shots on Goal: 22 on Skaife (Oxford), 59 on Mallet (Lee Valley)
Penalties in Minutes: Oxford 49-51 Lee Valley
Man of the Match: Ashlee Cave
Scorers: Lee Valley – Romanas Fedotovas (1+0), Richard Hodge (0+1).
Oxford – Joe Oliver (1+4) Darren Elliot (2+2), Alan Green (1+3), Nick Oliver (1+2), James Pentecost (2+0), Jacob Smith (1+1), Josh Oliver & Sam Broughton (1+0), Andy Cox (0+1).

There are photos from the game available on fozzyimages’ Flickr page here.

Next Saturday (16/2) the Lions travel to Invicta Mustangs.
You can also keep up with the Lions on Twitter and Facebook

Lions on CBBC

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Lions’ players George Alley, Jack Ball, Aaron Mallet and James Scott-Joseph, along with former Lee Valley Junior James Broughton, took on local girl Lizzie for CBBC show “The Daredevil” in October last year. You can see what devilish challenge the Lions provided Lizzie at 4:30 pm, on Tuesday the 25th of February on the CBBC channel.

You can double check the time of the show on the BBC’s official The Daredevil page.
The Lions are in action this Sunday when we travel to Oxford City Stars. Face off at 6:15 pm.
Remember, you can listen to the game live on OxboxTV or hear a full recording of the game after it concludes.

Lions Draw with Swindon to End Losing Streak

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Lee Valley endured another close game with Swindon Wildcats and couldn’t quite see the game out. Goals from Ryan Payne, Jack Ball and James Hepburn gave the Lions the advantage before the young Wildcats, led by ex EPL stalwart Jan Melichar pulled the game back. New signings Kevin Lake and Matthew Drake made their débuts and both picked up assists.

First Period: Lee Valley were caught off guard by the speed of the young Wildcats players, and found themselves under pressure early with Aaron Mallet forced into action early. As the period wore on, Lee Valley worked their way back into the game with the short benched Wildcats beginning to tire, Ryan Payne (17:59, assists Fedotovas and Hodge) let a shot go from the blue line that trickled through Kevin McGurk’s legs. Both sides continued to create chances but the period ended 1-0 to the Lions.

Second Period: The Lions came out firing but couldn’t convert. After a series of shots, with McGurk sprawled Romanas Fedotovas and everyone else in the rink thought he had scored but his shot pinged off the post. With the hosts continuing to press, they found themselves caught too deep in the Swindon end and Michael Stratford (25:33, assist Sullivan) was sent on a breakaway and rounded Mallet to tie the game. From there the Lions kicked into gear, first Jack Ball (30:00, assist Yufit) let a slap-shot go that flew in, then James Hepburn (35:37, assists Hatfull and Drake) bundled the puck in. Although Stratford (35:37, assists Johnson and Prince) pulled one back, Lee Valley closed out the period when débutante Kevin Lake sent the puck straight to Gennadi Yufit (39:36, assists Lake and Cave) who tipped in brilliantly to put the Lions 4-2 up.

Third Period: Both sides knew that the next goal was pivotal to the outcome of the match. Swindon answered that question first when Shannon Taylor (40:45, assists Rutkis and Prince) roofed the puck from the top of the circle. Shortly after the Wildcats were level when Toms Rutkis (43:27, assist Coakley) also hit the top corner past Mallet. The Lions were quick to respond, while Rutkis sat in the box for slashing, Lee Valley set up in the Swindon zone and went ahead again through James Hatfull (44:40, assists Fedotovas and Hodge) whose shot trickled through McGurk’s legs. Both sides went back and forth but the advantage went to Swindon when James Hepburn was penalised for cross checking, only eighteen seconds later and the visitors had tied the match again. Taylor (55:45, assists Melichar and Sullivan) scoring his second of the night, the game ended with the Lions trying to get the win but Swindon defended doggedly to see out the draw.

The draw is Lee Valley’s first point in three games. The Lions will be hoping to improve on the result when they travel to League Champions, Oxford next Sunday, face off at 6:15 pm.

You can keep up with the Lions on Twitter and Facebook as well as our Discussion Forum.

Period Scores: 1-0/3-2/1-3
Shots on Goal: 37 on Mallet (LV), 37 on McGurk (SWN)
Penalties in Minutes: Lee Valley 8-20 Swindon
Scorers: Lee Valley – James Hatfull & Gennadi Yufit (1+1), Kevin Lake & Richard Hodge (0+2), James Hepburn, Ryan Payne & Jack ball (1+0), Ashlee Cave & Matthew Drake (0+1)
Swindon – Shannon Taylor & Michael Stratford (2+0), Toms Rutkis
Man of the Match: Ryan Payne (LV), Michael Stratford (SWN)