Huskies Edge Out Mayhem In Close Battle
- Peter Bradders
- Jul 31, 2024
- 3 min read
MANCHESTER MAYHEM 1 - 2 CARDIFF HUSKIES
It saw another thrilling game involving the Manchester Mayhem on Sunday as the Mayhem once again found themselves on the wrong end of the scoreline, following a highly entertaining game that saw a 2-1 home loss to the title-chasing Cardiff Huskies at the Widnes Ice Rink.
The game got off to a fast-paced start, with both sides pushing forward and saw the netminders in both Jodi Hill of the Huskies and Darren Pomfrett of the Mayhem needing to be alert. It saw Manchester having the better of the play in the first period - but a combination of the Huskies netminder and pipework kept the home side from going in front, with Anthony Booth going close with his redirected effort bouncing back off the post.
Darren Pomfret was then called into action when he made a glove save from Cardiff's Jon Le Galloudec before Tom Kimm improvised to get a shot off with a backhanded effort forcing Hill to sprawl out to her right to make the save. Manchester then went on the power play with David Bird picking up a Teeing penalty.
That resulting call led to Anthony Booth giving the Mayhem a deserved lead, as his shot bounced in front of Hill and into the bottom corner for 1-0 at 12:57. That goal seemed to be the wake-up call for Cardiff in the game, as the Huskies began to stir after conceding and saw Tyler Christopher being their best hope, with Jon Le Galloudec being like Stretch Armstrong at the back.
It saw the visitors with their heads in the game as we started the second, as netminder Darren Pomfrett came up big in the Mayhem net to keep the Huskies out. One passage of play saw Tyler Christopher firing on goal where the puck rebounded off the pads of Pomfret straight to Josh Campbell, where his effort was off target but went towards Paul Furber where his attempt found the side of the net with a difficult chance.
Manchester created far fewer chances as the game went on, with Karl Nicholson hitting the outside of the post before Tom Kimm saw his tipped effort in front of goal going wide of the mark. Christopher broke clear up ice for the Huskies, to which he found himself one-on-one with the goalie to beat, but Pomfret again came up Milhouse to stop the attacker. Cardiff almost gifted a second goal to both Manchester and Anthony Booth, with two Huskies players skating away from the puck, as that left the Mayhem man to skate in on goal, but saw Paul Furber just doing enough at the last second to put off the attacker.
Towards the back end of the second period, it saw Manchester almost getting caught out after they were continually making poor passes in dangerous areas and needed Darren Pomfrett called upon again to spring into action, where he made a triple-save from Cardiff’s forwards, denying Christopher twice as well as Furber.
Christopher went close again for Cardiff, this time seeing his quick turn and shot getting gobbled up by the goalie where both the Huskies forward and Mayhem netminder were having a little battle. Unfortunately for the home side, the Huskies would finally break through the defences of the Mayhem with 26 seconds remaining in the period, as Paul Furber played a lovely weighted pass towards Tyler Christopher, and the forward finally managed to get one by the goalie for 1-1.
Entering the third and final period all-square at 1-1 and all to play for it, it saw the first real effort coming from the away side, as some crisp passing between the Huskies led to Paul Furber firing high past Pomfret for 2-1 at 32:34. Manchester was lacking a cutting edge to their play, as they were unable to generate any offence in the third, with the visitors looking more comfortable as the game headed to its conclusion. Cardiff took a deserved 2-1 victory to keep their title hopes alive as the two sides meet again this coming Saturday down in South Wales, where the Mayhem round off their league campaign.
Stats:
Mayhem: Anthony Booth 1+0, Peggy Assinck 0+1
Huskies: Ty Christopher 1+1, Paul Furber 1+1, Josh Campbell 0+1
Netminders:
Manchester: Darren Pomfret 12 shots, 10 saves - 83.3%
Cardiff: Jody Hill 11 Shots, 10 saves. 90.9%
Penalty Minutes (PIMS)/ Power Play (PP%):
Manchester: 2 mins - PP 1/1 100%
Cardiff: 2 mins - PP 0/1 0.00%