Many thanks to Andy Shier for sending through the match report from last weekend’s Wightlink Raiders’ games. We went along to our first match on Saturday at Ryde Arena and loved it – more to come from us later in the week on it. Ed
Wightlink Raiders remain at the summit of the ENL this morning after two narrow wins over the league’s basement club Bristol Pitbulls at the weekend.
The Raiders were made to work hard to grind out four points from two games against a Bristol team whose performances belied their lowly league position.
Saturday’s game
On Saturday at Ryde Arena the home team took the lead after just five minutes with Alex Murray netting.
Any suggestion that the floodgates would open was quickly scotched by a spirited defensive performance from Bristol who hung on to the one goal deficit for the remainder of the first period and then equalised midway through the second.
Robbie Brown and a brilliant goal from Jason Gorrie then helped the Raiders to restore the advantage and finish the second 3-1 up.
Bristol refused to give in however and a powerplay goal from the visitors on 45 minutes helped set up a tense finale.
Nathan Taylor then made the points safe with an excellent individual goal seven minutes from the end to seal a 4-2 win.
Sunday’s game
On Sunday in Bristol it was a different story early on as Jeremy Cornish’s team raced into an early 3-0 lead with Cornish himself hitting the first followed by a brace from Robbie Brown.
Cornish would play no further part in the game after being thrown out on a game penalty for third man in after getting involved in a scrap involving Dan Scott and Luke Merrick.
Bradley Watchorn, who picked up both man of the match awards at the weekend, then scored twice in the second to confirm his team’s superiority and take them into the third 5-1 ahead.
But it was Bristol who had the better of the final period with three goals in five minutes setting up another tense finish with the visitors holding out to steal a 5-4 victory.
Top of the league
So seven wins out of nine in October have put the Raiders top of the league and have set up two mouthwatering clashes for the first weekend of November.
On Saturday the Raiders entertain third placed Streatham Redskins who have games in hand on all their rivals at the top of the table. Then on Sunday a trip to second placed Invicta Dynamos will determine who’s top of the league this time next week.
Image: © Used with the kind permission of Nicky Craft
