A short-benched Mayhem side still all smiles despite defeat!
The Manchester Mayhem opened their campaign for the 2025 season in the British Para Ice Hockey League with a thrilling, but equally heart-breaking 6-4 defeat down in Cardiff, where the Mayhem had led the league champions 4-2 after two periods of hockey and saw them enjoying long spells of domination in the game. However, a short-benched would be their downside and saw them succumb to tiredness and a Cardiff side that rallied in the third period to deny Manchester a famous win down in the Valleys.
It saw Manchester coming out of the gate the quickest in the contest, with Karl Nicholson giving the visitors an early lead with 2.51 gone, as the GB man dispossessed Jon Le Galloudec and saw him putting it home for a 1-0 lead. Manchester kept the pressure on the Cardiff Huskies, as they were almost rewarded with captain Mark Colquitt doubling his side's tally, but his effort struck the bar. Tony Naylor saw a chance fall his way after great link-up play by Felicity Gregory and Anton Tomlinson, but the puck escaped the stick of Naylor.
The ice in the first period seemed tilted in Manchester’s favour, where the Mayhem outshot their opponents 12-4, but having dominated for so long, you expected a response from Cardiff, and it came from Tyler Christopher, whose effort just went under the glove of Daniel Hartshorn, who made his debut as a netminder. Considering this was his first league game as a starting goalie, it saw Daniel Hartshorn showcasing his ability between the posts with one of the most impressive displays. It saw the Manchester man deny Tyler Christopher with a superb stop that kept the score level at one apiece.
With 12:37 gone, it saw Mayhem retaking the lead through Karl Nicholson again, as a clearance round the boards was brilliantly kept in by Mark Colquitt, and saw Nicholson skating towards the pass and stroking it home low past Nicole Hill for 2-1. Cardiff offered very little by way of attacks, but they still sent warning signs when they got behind the visitors on a 3-on-2, but thankfully for Pete Hagan’s side, it came to nothing.
The second period saw the home side making the better start this time around, as Daniel Hartshorn was called upon early to make a couple of saves. Manchester then went 3-1 up after Karl Nicholson jumped on a loose puck in his defensive zone and saw him complete his hat trick at 16:15 to give the Mayhem a stunning lead. Manchester was still edging play in the game, and while their build-up play was a joy to watch, it saw Tyler Christopher breaking up an attack and saw him going on to make it a one-goal game at 17.12 for 3-2.
It seemed to be the case of Manchester’s attacks being less frequent, as the home side were inching their way back into the contest. A good indicator for this was Cardiff going close twice with both efforts falling to Tyler Christopher, where Daniel Hartshorn twice robbed him on the doorstep, with the Huskies forward wondering just what he had to do at times. With Cardiff being frustrated in front of goal by great netminding, it saw at the other end Karl Nicholson being clinical and firing a low-angled shot past Hill in the Huskies' net for 4-2 to give them a two-goal cushion.
Towards the back end of the period, it saw one of a couple of key moments in the match when Mark Colquitt played a perfect pass out in front to Karl Nicholson, who should have made it 5-2 when completely wide open, but the Mayhem man managed to put his effort wide of goal. Both sides had chances late on, with Tony Naylor firing wide for the visitors, while Chris Smart and Tyler Christopher of the Huskies were both denied by Hartshorn, as he was like a Ninja between the pipes.
As play moved to the third and final period, it saw things turning in the home side's favour, as the visiting side ran out of gas, and taking advantage of a bigger bench to overpower their opponents. The whole game flipped on its head during a 2 minute and 34 second spell early in the period, where Cardiff went from 4-2 down to 5-4 up. Tyler Christopher made it 3-4 when his shot surprised the goalie to beat him down at his near post at 33.47, before Jon Le Galloudec saw his effort superbly saved, but the Huskies man would have the last laugh, netting the tying goal at 34.45.
Cardiff turned the screw while the Mayhem players looked tired in their play and saw their once crisp passing not being so crisp. The Huskies would finally take the lead in the game at 36:21 when Tyler Christopher went coast to coast, and despite Mark Colquitt hooking the arm of the Cardiff forward, it still saw the GB international having enough to score past Daniel Hartshorn for 5-4. Dan May nearly extended the lead for the hosts, but once again the Mayhem goalie came up huge to make it a one-goal game.
Despite the tiredness, the Mayhem gritted their teeth and kept coming at their opponents, which nearly saw them almost rewarded with an equaliser late on. As after Karl Nicholson battled with the home defence, he played the puck straight to Felicity Gregory, who was left unmarked, but her effort brought a great stop by Nicole Hill, with the second effort just going wide. Tyler Christopher and Cardiff then rubbed salt in the wounds of the weary Mayhem as he fired home his fifth and the Huskies' sixth goal of the game, to see the league points stay in South Wales and condemn Manchester to a battling defeat.
Despite the loss, there were more positives than negatives to take away from the game for Manchester, as the small side dominated the hosts for the majority of the game, and a superb team performance was capped off by Daniel Hartshorn in goal. Manchester open their home programme this Sunday against the Sheffield Steel Stings at Widnes, where they will look to build on this performance.
