Cup winners come to Belfast

by Seanna Murdock

Blog from Door 19

It had been a long day, paperwork, nappies, nap times, and all I wanted was to grab a cold beer and (hopefully) see my Giants end the form that the Hull 'hell' Stingrays had built up; undefeated and the winners of the P&O Cup, but the solid squad that Christiansen had put together had no reason to be intimidated. I knew that the Giants would stand a chance if they could score first but they certainly couldn't let the Stingrays get their foot in the door. I took my seat and awaited the teams arrival onto the ice.

I'd like to take a moment to commend the guys that put together the new entrance video, it's very professionally done and gets the fans on their feet. Its also good to report that Kirstie 'I'm the Giants biggest fan' McMurray was once again absent from proceedings, hopefully she'll be shrieking at Tyson Fury this weekend and letting Kelman compere the evening. (fingers crossed) Its very reminiscent of the good old Citybeat days having the players individually announced onto the ice.

There was quite a buzz around the arena and play began. Straight away it was plain to see why the Stingrays had been doing so well, they were hard hitting, and made it known from the outset that they meant business. Boucher was an impressive goal tender last season and he made some great saves on the night, but it took McBride 3.31 into the first to net the Giant's first goal. The momentum was building and there was a good feeling in the air, the Giants had a definite advantage now.

Rebek was given a two minute penalty for cross check half a minute later and this was capitalized on by Osman who levelled the score. The ref was calling everything and the linos kept calling (incorrect) offsides which stopped the game flowing well. Good old Campbell returned to his form and picked up a two minute minor fifteen minutes into the period, this gave Dignard and Mason the chance to set Dowd up for a lead taking goal. The crowd were on their feet and the period ended with the home team in the lead.

The second period was again very angry with tempers fraying on both sides; Doucet and Mason increased the Giant's lead and the atmosphere was brilliant, there were minor scuffles, culminating in a fighting major penalty for Ondrej and Keefe. It was looking good, two periods down and we were winning 4-1. The clock ticked down and I got the necessary; 50/50, Shirt tickets and a hot (mediocre) coffee. Again I took my seat for the final period of play. Rebek scored almost 3 minutes into play cementing the Giant's win and their score. Tendler pulled a goal back 4 minutes into the third and the momentum seemed to shift. Silverthorn set Mizerek up for a goal 7.35 in and that would be the last goal of the evening.

Osman picked up a two minute minor hooking penalty 18 minutes into play and proceeded to mouth off at the ref picking up a 10 minute misconduct- the new Elite League standpoint on misconduct penalties hasn't seemed to curb any aggression.

So... Edinburgh on Saturday; into the unknown, minus my favourite ex Giant Hutchins, lets just hope we can back up this 4 point weekend with another.

BGFL

Twitter: Tealgirl6

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Hull	5-1	Wightlink
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	Club	GP	W	L	OL	GF	GA	Pts

	Club	GP	W	L	OL	GF	GA	Pts

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	Club	GP	W	L	OL	GF	GA	Pts

	Club	GP	W	L	OL	GF	GA	Pts

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