Mets nearly damp down the Blaze
Coventry Blaze 4 - 3 Trafford Metros
This was the penultimate league game for both teams. By a quirk of the scheduler's mouse, the final game for both teams is the return fixture at Altrincham this Saturday (March 20th, face-off 5.15pm). Coventry needed two points from these games to secure fourth place in the league. The Metros, however, needed all four points to stand any chance of turning the tables on Blackburn and pushing them into the relegation play-off spot. The game see-sawed from end to with the result remaining in the balance until the final 36 seconds when, with Declan Ryan withdrawn from the Trafford net, the Blaze secured the game winning goal and both teams left the ice knowing their final league positions.
The first period began with pressure from Coventry; after weathering these few minutes the Metros began to push back and apply their own pressure. However, at 8.34, the Blaze scored: Josh Bruce finding the Trafford net from close in. Trafford continued to apply pressure, pushing the home team into their zone. The Mets were rewarded with a marker of their own just four minutes later when Andy McKinney and Tom King combined for Sean Day to tip in from Tom King's cross ice pass into the slot.
Just over a minute into the second period and Metros' man of the match, Tom King, scored a go-ahead goal. Jordan Bannon had fired a shot that was too hot for Josh Nicholls in the Blaze net to hold; the rebound found Tom and he made no mistake alone in the slot. The Metros dominated this period, outshooting the Blaze by 15 to 5, but couldn't beat Nicholls again. With just nine seconds left before the buzzer the Blaze broke from their zone and equalised through Gareth Owen. This was poor reward for all the Metros' pressure which could have realised a game winning margin in their favour.
As with the second period, less than two minutes in and a goal was scored. This time a power-play effort restored the Blaze' lead: Tom Pease alone on the left point fired through traffic. For the Metros it was all or nothing now and they adopted the tactic of leaving a man high for a break-away. Several times players were released, but the Blaze defence held firm. A Slashing minor put the Metros a man down and all seemed lost until Jamie Rogerson released King and he buried the short-handed equaliser to set up a tense final three and a half minutes. With forty seconds left, Declan Ryan left the Trafford net for the extra attacker but, before the Mets could settle into their extra skater advantage, the Blaze intercepted the puck and killed the game for the visitors. A disappointed Metros outfit left the ice knowing that, although they'd played a good game, they were in the relegation/promotion play-offs again.
A Metros' spokesman said, "It was quite a game to watch, but the wrong outcome for us. We dominated the second period, outshooting the Blaze by 15 to 5. We failed to turn that into goals and relaxed a few seconds before the buzzer and the Blaze skated the length of the ice to score a damaging goal. If we could have held the advantage into the third period, I feel that we could have won this game. That result puts us into the relegation/promotion play-offs. None of the guys wants to be looking at Division two opposition next season so they will be determined to beat off whichever team they have to face."
(NB Sunday's 5 - 0 win by Blackburn, at second placed Nottingham, puts them beyond reach, even if the Metros had taken both points at Coventry. The play-off game will be against Newcastle, Flintshire or Solihull. The opponents will not be known until, at least, mid-April. Watch the web-site for that game.)
Game Stats:
Game Played: Saturday 13th March
Metros Man of the Match: Tom King
Shots on Goal (shots on Metros first): 25 (incl. 1 Empty net) - 38
Penalty minutes: Metros 8 Blaze 8
Metros' stats: Tom King 2+1, Sean Day 1+0, Jordan Bannon 0+1, Andy McKinney 0+1, Jamie Rogerson 0+1.
Nets: Declan Ryan (59.54 mins) 24/3 87.50%
