Lee Valley Lions

Lions faced a tough trip to Slough NIHL Jets on Saturday evening, looking to avenge the 5-2 defeat on the opening day of the season.  Still missing were Gennadi Yufit and Max Gerstein whilst James Hatfull was also missing from the line-up. Nick Alley and Theo Abban returned and Jarvis Mewett also stepped up from the Under 18s’ side.

First Period: It didn’t take long for the controversy to start, and the officials were soon facing the wrath of the Lions’ bench when a Jets forward tried to jump around Nick Alley and they went knee-to-knee. As a result of the injury, Alley was thrown from the game only 39 seconds in. With the visitors clearly rattled and frustrated by the decision, Slough were quick to capitalise and were ahead at 1:03 when Zoran Kozic was put through by Joseph Day. Lions settled and worked themselves back into the game, James Hepburn (10:23, assist Fedotovas) taking advantage of a Slough penalty to tie the game. Romanas Fedotovas (15:18, assist given to Ball) then got in on the act when Theo Abban sent him through with a brilliant cross-ice pass, the Lithuanian rounding Laura Saunders. Brandon Miles (15:39, assist Kozic) evened the scores shortly after before Joseph Day went in unassisted at 19:19 to give Slough the lead at the end of the period, ending 3-2.

Second Period: It didn’t take long for the hosts to extend their lead, Nathan Darmanian (23:39, assist Kozic) before Ben Ealey-Newman was put through (25:03, assist Kozic) to make it five. Now having to chase the game, the Lions began to put pressure on the Jets’ goal with Saunders making a couple of big stops. Both sides were letting the officiating get to them and it was a retaliatory roughing call to James Buckingham that gave Lee Valley their opening. The Lions were able to set up in the Slough zone, and good work from James Hepburn allowed Fedotovas to score a screened slap shot from the blue line (28:47, assist Berry and Hepburn). With Lee Valley upping their hitting game, the Jets began to take more penalties. Miles, Kozic and Gilheany all sat after reacting but there were to be no more goals and the period ended 5-3 to Slough.

Third Period: Despite the early powerplay advantage, Lee Valley couldn’t capitalise. As they tried to break out, a loose cross pass from a Lions forward went straight to a waiting Joshua Condren (40:45, unassisted) who went in on Aaron Mallet to put Slough ahead by three. That goal seemed to take the wind out of the Lions’ sails, despite the early niggles and tension between the two sides. The game petered out and apart from a couple of penalties, the Lions weren’t able get back into the match, Saunders and Mallet both making good saves. The Jets eventually saw the game off when Condren (55:29, assists Miles and Griffiths) again broke through the visitors’ defences to end it Slough 7-3 Lee Valley.

Period Scores: Slough 3-2/2-1/2-0 Lee Valley
Shots on Goal: on Saunders (Slough) 38-40 on Mallet (LV)
Penalties: Slough 28-35 Lee Valley
Scorers: Slough – Zoran Kozic (1+3), Joshua Condren (2+0), Brandon Miles & Joseph Day (1+1), Ben Ealey-Newman (1+0), Simon Griffiths (0+1).
Lee Valley – Romanas Fedotovas (2+1), James Hepburn (1+1), Joseph Berry & Jack Ball (0+1)

Next Saturday, the Peterborough Islanders travel to the Den for our first meeting of the season, face off at 5:15pm

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Lee Valley picked up their first win of the season, and the their first since 2012 with a victory over the Wightlink Tigers.

Missing Gennadi Yufit, Max Gerstein, Nick Alley and top goals scorer Theo Abban the Lions were still feeling confident after last weeks draw in Cardiff. Defenceman Romanas Fedotovas up to wing, playing on a line with Richard Hodge and James Hepburn to start the game.

First Period: The game couldn’t have started much worse for the hosts. It only took 50 seconds for the Tigers to go in front, with the Lions caught napping at neutral ice allowing Shaun Harris to send Andrew Robinson off down the wing, slotting in as James Gosling covered the 2-on-1. The Tigers’ celebrations were short lived though as the new line of Hepburn, Hodge and Fedotovas gelled quickly, Hodge setting the Lithuanian Junior International up to equalise (3:08). The game went back and forth but this line continued to threaten and it wasn’t long before Hodge received a return gift from his line mate, another quick break saw the pair link up again to take the lead (5:57). The visitors weren’t going away though, just as Lee Valley thought they had a foothold on the match, another mid-ice turnover left Gosling and Mallet exposed again with Joseph Denness (8:45, unassisted) counter attacking on a Lions powerplay to tie things up. It didn’t end there; Hodge sent Fedotovas in again before he faked a slapshot and rounded Tigers’ goalie Aaron Craft to put the Lions up by one (10:03). The frustrations were starting to come to a boil; when a few off the puck incidents went un-called, Fedotovas and Wightlink’s Graham MacFarlane got involved in a skirmish the led to a whole line brawl in one corner of the rink. The resulting penalties saw the two thrown out of the game for roughing and other misconduct penalties, the Lions feeling hard done by as a result of the calls. The period wasn’t as exciting after that and ended 3-2 to the Lions.

Second Period: After all the back and forth play of the first, the second was a much tighter affair defensively, with both teams exchanging periods of dominance. Wightlink were first to strike this time, when the Lions thought the hosts had played themselves offside, play continued and Jamie Lee (28:39, assist Edwards) took advantage of a scramble to score on a sprawled Mallet. This spurred the hosts on and the continued to create chances. Calum Heath missed a couple of in the slot and Under 18 Jarvis Mewett lost the puck at his feet as he was tied up in front of net. The breakthrough finally came as James Hepburn (39:05, assist Hatfull) sped down the ice and deked in and out of the Tigers’ defence before rounding Craft to get the go-ahead goal. Ashlee Cave then went close with a deflection on the buzzer, ending the period 4-3 to the Lions.

Third Period: Whilst the Lions were beginning to get a firm grip on proceedings, they couldn’t find the killer touch needed to put the Tigers away. Hepburn went close, a deflected shot ringing off the post. This lack of scoring touch in front of net was almost costly, as with less than three minutes left, Lewis Tribble (57:03, assist Wyatt) took advantage of sloppy play in the Lions’ defensive zone. The hosts must have thought they were in for another late collapse until the refs called Robinson for a hit on Cave, who was then jumped by Tribble. Both received penalty calls at 58:20 to give Lee Valley the 5-on-3 advantage. With the crowd on their feet, Ben Osborne won the face-off and the puck was picked up by Joseph Berry, whose shot deflected slightly, passing above Craft’s arm and into the back of the net (58:34), sending the Lions’ bench and their supporters wild. It wasn’t all over; Osborne missed a chance to kill the game off as Craft just managed to hold the puck underneath him and the Tigers had one more attempt to tie the match but it was Lee Valley who finally came good. Their first win in two seasons, lifting them to 5th in the league table.

Period Scores: Lee Valley 3-2/1-1/1-1 Wightlink
Shots on Goal: on Mallet (LV) 45, on Craft (WT) 37
Penalties in Minutes: Lee Valley 37-42 WIghtlink
Top scorers: Lee Valley – Fedotovas (2+1), Hodge (1+2) and Hatfull (0+2). Wightlink – Robinson, Deness, Lee & Tribble (all 1+0) and Harris, Edwards, Wyatt & Gutteridge (all 0+1)Man of the Match: Lee Valley – James Hepburn, Wightlink – Lewis Tribble

Photos from the game, courtesy of Patrick Ayling, can be found here.

After last week’s draw against Cardiff Devils the Lions have gone one better and beaten Wightlink Tigers 5-4 to gain their first win of the season.  Further details to follow…