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)

Former Dynamos Add Experience to Lions’ Squad

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The Lee Valley Lions are delighted to announce the signings of long-serving Invicta duo, Kevin Lake and Matthew Drake. Both players sign from Invicta Mustangs, but have had very successful careers with the Invicta Dynamos, where together they won consecutive league titles from 2003/04-2007/08.

Lions’ Coach Gary Dodds had this to say on the new signings…

“I can’t express the excitement of having these guys join the Lions, having played on the same team as them I know exactly how they can help the Lions achieve a mid-table position. Kevin brings so much experience and fire-power to the team and will bring the best out of other players on his line, which has already been observed in recent training sessions. Kevin can not only score goals, but he has great vision and his stats prove that he creates just as many chances on net as goals. Once Kev has a few games under his belt (as he has missed part of the season already) you’ll see what I mean.

“Meanwhile Rocky (Drake) brings a wide range of skills as he is the one of the best Utility players in the league, he can step into a defensive role as well as attack and has the hardest shot in league by far. With his fire-power, we can start winning games by more than the one-goal margins achieved this year. He is also a hard-hitting defenceman who puts his body on the line for the team in any situation. This is Matt’s first move in his career, but he’s the type of player than can settle into the Lions’ Den with ease.”

Lake, a former Captain of the Kent club, has a great scoring pedigree with both the Dynamos and the Mustangs. In 103 games for the Dynamos he racked up 143 points and, since dropping down to the Mustangs, he has scored a whopping 255 points in 125 games.

Former Dynamos’ enforcer Drake, has totalled 29 in 87 games for the ‘Mos and 132 points in 130 games for the Mustangs.

Both players will bring vast experience with them to East London and should both be available for Saturday’s clash with Swindon Wildcats at the Den.

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