Before the game itself the team paid tribute to Richard Hargreaves Senior who sadly passed away this week. Hargreaves is a legend around the club and any player or official who met him will tell many stories of his legendarily bad jokes and his uncanny ability to cheer anyone, no matter how down they might be. After a minutes silence, Richard’s sons Richie and Mike came out onto the ice for a ceremonial puck drop and Richie also spoke to the crowd later in the evening and caught up with Wightlink Raiders TV who will post a short interview soon too.
It’s fair to say that the result never looked to be in doubt, the Thunder arrived with just 10 outfield skaters and one goalkeeper, whereas the Raiders were at almost full strength (Compton and Trendall were absent and Matt Vizzari was rested after carrying an injury for the last few weeks).
Starting with Matt Colclough between the pipes the Raiders were consistently dominant and took the lead with only 1 minute and 22 seconds on the clock as Craig Tribe slotted the puck away from a Richard Nembhard. The team would continue as they started with further goals from Steven Osman, Corey Watkins and Dan Pye to see the Raiders into first break with a comfortable lead.
The team re-emerged looking slightly different after their rest as backup keeper Dan Weller-Evans, fresh from celebrating his 20th birthday on Friday, took the crease. Looking assured (and, on occasion, bored), Weller-Evans showed he isn’t just there to open the door for players leaving the ice! The Raiders would carry on as they started with goals from Nembhard, Kieran Annis who once again showed his worth on the penalty kill, Ben Lock with his first career goal and sniper Alex Barker cropping up on the score sheet.
The third period would see a flagging Thunder allow two powerplay goals, from Jeremy Cornish and Barker with his second (from Richard Facey who completed a hattrick of assists), before slowing things down and running out the clock. It will have been a tough scoreline to swallow for the visitors who all played with their hearts on their sleeves.
The Highs
A big result for the Raiders that will have done wonders for their confidence ahead of a tricky trip to The Hive today to take on Bracknell.
Nembhard continues to play decent minutes and is showing himself to be a consistent and hardworking team member.
Annis and Watkins are both looking superb. Playing hard, chasing the puck into the corners and fighting for every turnover.
It’s a rare delight to see Dan Weller-Evans in net. He made some good saves, particularly a split second catch early in the third that, were anyone filming, would be one for the highlight reel!
Ricky Attrill got a good run out, playing regular shifts that will help him gel with his team, whilst fellow forward Nathan Taylor made a return from injury and immediately threw himself into the fray.
The Lows
Despite the scoreline the team were still a little prone to turning over the puck in their own end and were sometimes slow on the counter. The imminent return of Nick Compton will invariably help in this regard.
Matt Vizzari sat the game out. While it’s probably fair to say he hasn’t had the impact expected of him, the team still missed his never-say-die attitude and it’s to be hoped that he will return soon as his range of passing is a particular asset on the wider ice of most other rinks in the league.
Freezing The Puck favourite Yousif Abu Saaada didn’t skate in the third period. Suffering a deep bruise on his left arm it was wisely decided that he should rest and ice the injury rather than making it worse before another game tomorrow.
The Opposition
The scoreline really doesn’t do MK Thunder justice. Turning up with a very young team they showed a lot of talent and determination and, were they not stretched so thin, would probably cause teams a fair bit of trouble. The lack of a rink and practice facility is really hurting them, which is a sad state of affairs for a team who, a few seasons ago, could go toe to toe with anyone in the league.
Netminder Denis Bell played phenomenally well, facing 84 shots over the course of the game and at one point being forced to headbutt pucks out of the way.
It was nice to see Sam Cheema take to the ice, he's a young talent we really like here at FTP and Nidal Phillips is an impressive counter-attacking talent, bursting out of his own zone with pace and power.
Most impressively the whole team played with their heads up and despite the obvious frustration they kept giving everything and making the Raiders really work for their win.
Final Thoughts
A much needed win for the Raiders and the mood around the team was noticeably lighter when the buzzer ended the game. Hopefully they’ll carry the form with them at Bracknell today.
