Bracknell Bees vs Cardiff Devils
Thanks to Dave Qua, who writes the Official Bees Site, for this report....
The scoreline above isn't wrong! A brilliant performance from Bees saw them gain full revenge for their defeat at Cardiff yesterday.
It looked as though it would all go horribly wrong for Bees when a mix-up in defence left 2 Cardiff players with the puck all alone in front of Greer. Mullin obliged with the goal which was scored after only 47secs of play.
Bees refused to be overawed and were back on level terms on the 2 min mark when Manganaro finished off a pass from Drouin. Bees were just shading the game now and went on to bigger and better things by scoring a further 3 unanswered goals before the period end. Bees second (after 9mins), and go ahead goal, came from Drouin who went through 1 on 1 with Herlofsky in the Cardiff net. He deked the netminder about 4 times before leaving him floundering and then calmly slid the puck into the net. Their 3rd goal came after 14 mins with a McCosh shot into the top corner of the net followed a couple of minutes later by an exquisite bit of interpassing between Ferraccioli and Manganaro which left Manganaro with an easy shot for the goal.
Bees were well on top at this stage and were putting some great passing movements together to the extent that Cardiff seemed to decide that their best chance would come if they disrupted the game by roughing things up a bit. Schulte and MacWilliam received 2mins each for unsportsmanlike conduct at the same time as Ward and Mullin had a bout of fisticuffs. Honours even and both sat for 2+2. The period came to an end with Bees deservedly ahead 4-1.
The disrupting tactics paid off for Cardiff after 5 mins of the second period when a melee around the Bees net resulted in about 3 Bees players (including Greer) lying on the ice. McEwan was on hand to poke the puck which slid slowly over the goal line. In the ensuing 'discussions' Schulte and MacWilliam each received 2+2 for roughing with Schulte and Chinn receiving a further 2mins unsportsmanlike.
Cardiff pulled within a goal of Bees with another goal 30secs later with a Simioni shot which went across Greer and inside his far post. This was the signal for the end of the rough play and the rest of the period was really exciting end-to-end hockey. Both sides had chances that were foiled in one way or the other before Bees scored a powerplay goal after 29mins. A pass from Ferraccioli, diagonally across the zone, found McCosh who had sneaked in at the far post and he restored Bees' lead to two.. Brant then broke away but his shot was saved by Herlofsky. At the other end, Cote fell and allowed Thornton in on Greer but he lost control of the puck and it went harmlessly past the post. This sort of action continued for the rest of the period but did not result in any further goals.
Bees had a lucky escape in the first min of the third when Cardiff hit the post on a breakaway but Bees came right back and scored with a Junkin goal resulting from the Cardiff defence going on holiday. Herlofsky showed his anger with his defence by heaving the net off it's moorings and 'hurling' it towards the back boards. From then on took control and started to run Cardiff ragged. They were shorthanded after 42 mins (the first time in the game as all their other penalties had been coincidental). Excellent forechecking and resolute defence meant that Cardiff didn't even come close to scoring on their powerplay.
Bees play was rewarded after 47 mins with an extremely well worked goal. Drouin broke down the centre with the puck and drew the defenceman towards him. He waited and waited, almost until he was at the goal line, before sliding an inch perfect pass across to Ward who popped it home.
Worse was to come for Cardiff when Dennis Burke put a pass across to Johnstone who first-timed it into the back of the net for their eighth goal. Bees were shorthanded at the time. The icing on the cake came a minute before the end of the game . Shot after shot had rained in on Herlofsky, all of which he had saved. The McCosh stepped up and blasted it into the net for his hat-trick goal.
This was a really excellent performance from a Bees team all of whom played well. Their passing and penetration was all one could have wished and they put their chances away. McCosh got MoM for his hat-trickbut Ward and Drouin also had particularly noticeable games. Barry McKinlay, playing his first home game, is probably not fully match fit yet but showed his class when on the ice. His positional sense is superb and some of his passes would have gone through the eye of a needle. All in all a very encouraging bounce back from the defeat of last night.
