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Not the Vipers of old...
Blog from door 8 Belfast Giants versus Newcastle Vipers 11.12.09 Tonight's match was one that I was looking forward to for a good long while, I had been impressed by the Vipers squad ever since I had been scouting the new signings in the summer, the long, long hockey-less summer. Our signing of the Peterborough Phantoms forward Craig Peacock was exciting for me as I liked to see a really young player working his way up to the Elite League from the English Premier League, was coupled with excitement of the signing of another young prospect Nathan Salem to the Vipers. However for all the hype that had been built up about him at the beginning of the season on www.vipershockey.co.uk he has yet to score in twenty nine games played. He is only eighteen at the end of the day and I think that he will be one to watch in the future provided he is given some decent ice time and allowed to develop. The Newcastle Vipers are an incredibly different side this season, last year they were billed as our greatest enemies, the side that could and would go out of their way to injure the Belfast players, evoking such chants as 'Payette's a Donkey' and uniting the crowd in anger. This year however... lets just say that there are a fair few awesome players on their squad. The players that have stood out for me this season so far are Jason Tejchma, Matic Kralj, Michael Berry and Michel Robinson. (who unfortunately is out for the foreseeable future with an injury) The Vipers are no longer the joke that they seemed to be last season. The serious signings show the Vipers are no longer the whipping boys of the Elite League have allowed the Belfast fans and players to focus on our actual bitterest rivals; the Coventry Blaze. Unfortunately this week's home match was on a Friday, so I was unable to shelter myself from the X Factor final, I'm much more interested in sitting in an ice rink than watching pretentious warblers ruining good tunes. The grim foreboding as I waited to see who the ref was filled me with a dread that was only sated by the fact that I had been waiting all week for this. My curiosity was rewarded when I saw Darnell skating onto the ice, lets face it could have been worse... The newly injured players were in attendance and for once I was concerned going into a home match with a seriously depleted roster, Johnson was severely missed on the ice with no solid idea of when he'll be back. There was also rumours of injuries to Nathan Craze, which were confirmed with the backup of Andrew Dickson, and Graeme Walton who is rumoured to be out until February. The opening music played and the Giants came onto the ice minus the injured players, there looked like there was so little of them but we had a tough side to face and had to look for a win. There was a frantic beginning to the first period with both teams playing very defensively, taking Bateman only seven minutes to score against Kevin Reiter (one of my favourite net minders in the league) replacing the injured Robinson wearing number 37. Steve Thornton was determined not to look like the coach of the weaker side setting up Bateman's goal and following it up minutes later with assist from Chevy. Craig Peacock was playing his socks off all evening, his first goal off Cook scored on the powerplay, I love seeing him score, he knows he's good but every goal is a delight for him. A disallowed goal incensed Benny to score the next goal, frustrated at his fruitless attempts at Reiter, he hammered home a fantastic goal minutes before the end of the first period. The crowd were relaxed, they knew the Giants were on a roll, finishing the period four goals to one, little did we know how much of a roll they were actually on... Again ducking for cover every time a flying sub was in the vicinity I went to buy some extra Shirt Off the Back tickets, a player like Tim Cook has a jersey that would be an asset to own. Settling down again with my fingerless gloves on and a steaming cup of Odyssey coffee I awaited the players return to the freshly cleaned ice, and hopefully the addition of several more goals. Both teams were full of gusto as they returned to the ice, Sean McMorrow sporting a rather cool sheriff's badge shaved into his hair was making his presence known and keeping Mike Berry quiet, he has already taken on every hard man in the league so nobody wants to be a hero. Six minutes into the second with a lot of finesse hockey being played, the giants out skating the Vipers putting into practice the formations they would have done time and time again, Bateman put the puck past Reiter scoring his second of the match off Mark Morrison and Szwez. Totally inappropriately the DJ started playing 'Batman' from the 1960s TV show, while the more cerebral of us would have preferred 'American Psycho' but then again who am I to criticise? The sheer delight on his face was amazing, a real happy moment for him and for his fans. The Vipers had all but given up when Longstaff nudged a goal past Murph, who had made spectacular saves all night. Longstaff helped by Ryan Mahrle gave the Vipers at least a glimmer of hope three minutes shy of the end of the second period. A duo of goals scored by Peacock and Thornton helped end the second period on a high with a score of seven to one. The usual Stena Line chuck a puck followed with someone winning a trip to Scotland. I suppose one of the things, for me at least, that added to the amazing atmosphere was the return of the mascot Gordie the Gorilla, who, well lets just say if he could be given a penalty it would be two minutes for interference with Kirstie McMurray, and that's all I shall say about that. The third period started with a goal after a minute from Mark 'the Mo Train' Morrison, his first since his return from injury. The home town lad always gets an amazing response from a goal. He looked delighted and everyone was glad to see Mo back on form, throwing his weight around and making sure that his presence on the ice was felt. The biggest goal of the evening came at 48:58, the crowd had started to become aggressive towards Sean McMorrow, I heard someone remark 'he can't skate and he can't score.' Well guess who scored?... Um.... The Sheriff himself, set up beautifully by Pat Bateman, rather than chasing a hat trick, he was happier to get McMorrow onto the score sheet with his first goal at the Odyssey. His elaborate goal celebration that had to be seen to be believed delighted the audience and his fellow players. (I even heard the said guy who had been making disparaging comments about him cheering, but who am I to say that some people are fickle?) Murphy was replaced with Andrew Dickson and Roby Brown was iced once the Giants went 9-1 up. Roby who is one to watch for the future and Dickson who will be an amazing goal tender with enough Elite League practice. Less than a minute after McMorrow's goal Chevy put one past Ritchie Lawson who had replaced Reiter in the Viper's goal. Roby, who is rarely iced and who may not be as big as other players seemed like an easy target for Mike Berry who, frustrated with the score tried tripping him. McMorrow couldn't let this go and stepped in earning him 2 minutes for cross check and 2+2 for Roughing. Szwez, who had been hammering shots at Reiter all evening helped by the awesome force that is Tom Walsh made the score 11 goals to 1, looking like the game was all sewn up. Less than a minute later Tejchma responded with a last ditch attempt at clawing something back for the Vipers, his determination paid off with a second goal and the last goal of the game at 53:35. Brown seconds before the final whistle shooting from the blue line to show the force of a shot he was capable of, it was saved by Lawson but highly respected as the young player took a chance. The game ended with a score of 11-3 and once again Todd Kelman announced that we had gone top of the league. The real test of which is facing Coventry Blaze on Saturday 19th December...Lets just hope Hicks isn't reffing... coming soon: Interviews with Kevin Phillips & Roby Brown!
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| 19th March 2006 19:00 | ||
5-1 |
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5-2 |
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3-7 |
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1-1 |
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| Club | GP | W | L | OL | GF | GA | Pts |
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- Adam Walker
- Alex Birch
- Andy Pierce
- Chris Gent
- Christopher Beal
- Craig Simpson
- Dave Simms
- Elliott Stanley
- Gareth Chalmers
- James Broughton
- James Gordon
- Katy Madgwick
- Luke Catterson
- Mark Briggs
- Mark Duell
- Mat Young
- Patrick Smyth
- Promotion
- Russ Morrell
- Seanna Murdock
- Stephen Dowson
- Stewart Roberts
- Tom Forster
- Vicki Smart
- William Lyon
