Sunday 12th February 2023 – Moralee Division
YKK Widnes Wild 3 – Solway Sharks 7
The YKK sponsored Widnes Wild put in a battling performance against the title favourites before finally succumbing to a 3-7 defeat at the hands of Solway Sharks at Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday.
Despite ice hockey being played over three periods, this was definitely a game of two halves with the Wild holding their own for the first 30 minutes or so before being overrun in the latter stages.
Widnes scored first with a goal from Rhys Edwards in the 4th minute to take a lead that looked well deserved at that early stage but the Sharks equalised two minutes later. Despite chances for both teams, the score remained at 1-1 at the first period break.
The second period saw the visiting Sharks up their game and they outshot the Wild by 3 to 1 but were kept out by an heroic display by Miles Finney in the Widnes goal. The Wild took the lead again on 29 minutes with a strike from Jacob Corson-Heron but were pegged back once more with another Solway equaliser 6 minutes later.
The score remained 2-2 at the second period break and, knowing that Solway had already played one tough game on Saturday away at Deeside, hopes were high in the Widnes camp that they might start to flag as the game went on and Widnes might push on to record their first ever league win again the Scots.
However, things didn’t go as hoped and it was the Sharks who scored the next goal – on 44 minutes - to edge into the lead for the first time in the game. The Wild hit back straight away with a goal from recently installed player coach and former Solway player Joey Coulter to level the score once again and it looked as if a barnstorming finish might be on the cards.
Unfortunately, from this point on, the Sharks were storming most of the proverbial barns and, instead of tiring, they seemed to move up another gear. They retook the lead on 46 minutes and then edged further ahead 90 seconds later to lead 3-5.
Two more goals in the last 5 minutes secured the win for the Sharks and made the margin of victory seem a little more comprehensive than the game might have deserved.
With their two wins over the weekend – and a defeat for Whitley Warriors away at Solihull Barons - the Sharks move back to the top of the Moralee Division table. Widnes are now 7 points behind the Barons in the race for 4th place and will be keen to improve on that situation next weekend when they take on two teams that are below them in the table.
On Saturday, the Wild travel the relatively short distance to North Wales to take on the Deeside Dragons and then, on Sunday, they cross the Pennines to face the league’s bottom club Sheffield Scimitars. Widnes are next at home the weekend after when they have a double header facing Nottingham Lions on Saturday 25th February and Deeside on Sunday 26th at Planet Ice Widnes.
Great Britain v Norway Under 16 Women’s International Matches
The Planet Ice rink in Widnes played host to three prestigious international matches over the weekend with the Great Britain U16 women’s team taking on their Norwegian counterparts in a 3-match series.
The 3 games all ended in defeats for the GB girls, with Norway winning 1-8 on Thursday afternoon, 0-4 on Friday afternoon and 0-4 again on Saturday evening.
You can read more about these international games HERE
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