Cardiff Ice Hounds

Following last weekend’s defeat at the hands of sixth placed Medway Madness, down in Gillingham, the Cardiff Ice Hounds knew that Saturday’s fixture against the last season’s EIHA Southern Conference and Play-off Champions, Guildford Smoke, was a real ‘make or break’ game.  Having spent the majority of the season sat in second place in the table, with equal points to Bracknell in first, but with a game in hand, losing to Medway had meant that a loss to Guildford would result in the Ice Hounds not walking away with the two points they needed, to make their final match before the play-offs, the most exciting game of the season.

And whilst the Ice Hounds had already beaten the Smoke in their first meeting, down at the Guildford Spectrum back in March, the matches in the intervening months had taken their toll on the Ice Hounds and the injury count in the week leading up to the return fixture in Cardiff, cast a shadow of doubt as to whether certain key members of the Ice Hounds squad would make it to the bench.

The game was always going to be a close fought competition, as Guildford’s desire to stay in the ‘top four’ in the Conference table, equalled the desire the Ice Hounds had, in keeping the pressure on Bracknell Blizzards at the top.  So with passions running high, the form book was somewhat thrown out of the window at the first puck was dropped at the Cardiff Bay Ice Arena.

The pace of the game was quick from the off and it was the visitors that were open the scoring, with an early goal from Guildford’s Robert Griffiths (assisted by Luke Webb) at 1:29.  And it was Griffiths who found the Cardiff defence to be knapping a second time, when he slipped the puck past Tom Brown (in the Hounds’ goal), off a pass from Samuel Smith at 5:26.

It wasn’t until 6:10 that the Ice Hounds lit up the goal light behind Bethany Gemson’s goal, when the ‘Kids’ line found their legs and Ben Brown netted for the Hounds, assisted by defenceman Chris Cronin and former Cardiff Devil, David Owen.  Unfortunately, it was Brown who was called for a Delay of Game just fifteen seconds later, giving Guildford a Power Play opportunity, which they took advantage of, as Slovak Thomas Narratil (assisted Martin Bystrianin and Marian Michalov) put a two goal margin on the Ice Hounds, with the score at 1-3 in favour of the Smoke.

Ice Hounds’ Captain Lucas Howell was called for a (questionable) Slash at 12:31, forcing the Hounds to ice their Penalty Kill line.  But having contained the offensive challenge from the Smoke, in their own zone, they broke out, sending Ben Brown down the wing like a freight train, beating Gemson and bringing the score back to within a goal.  Guildford re-opened the gap at 15:04 (Smith from Griffiths), but the defining moment for the period – and possibly the rest of the game – was when Ice Hounds’ winger, Craig Camilleri, was brought down on his way to the crease and a penalty shot was awarded to the Hounds.  Momentarily injured by the contact, Camilleri declined the opportunity of the shot and stepped aside for Brown, who wasted no time in taking his tally up to a hatrick.  The period ended 3-4.

The second period, started shorthanded for the Ice Hounds, following a penalty called on Owen for Slashing, late in the first.  But having had a positive team talk in the locker rooms, the Hounds’ defence was more organised than the first period, as the home team settled into their game and watched Guildford slowly lose it’s discipline, taking a total of twenty-six minutes of penalties in the space of the twenty minute period.  That said, two of the three goals scored by the Ice Hounds were even handed goals – Mark Keogh, assisted by Craig Balchin and Joseff Davies at 23:11 and Brian Lewis, asisited by Alun Hancock and Gareth Shaw at 23:44 – and only the Power Play goal scored by Camilleri (assisted by Steven Donovan and Hancock) took advantage of the shorthanded Smoke.  Guildford also responded during the period with three goals, meaning that the second break came with no better news for the Ice Hounds’, although they took comfort from the Smoke’s break down of discipline in the second, which seemed to be as a result of tiring players.

Leaving the locker rooms for the last time, the Ice Hounds knew that twenty minutes of hard graft should see them reverse the score, taking advantage of the tiring Smoke.  But it was the visitors who would be offered the first scoring opportunity of the period, when Camilleri was called for Interference at 44:04.  Shorthanded by the penalty, the Hounds skated to the faceoff spot with the remit to contain and clear the zone.  But just like the first period, Ben Brown connected with a pass from Howell and broke the Guildford defence, to bring the score even and the game back into the hands of the home team.  The Hounds then took the lead at 46:21 when Camilleri (assited by Hancock) scored an even handed goal.  Guildford’s discipline then gave way, as they were called for Hooking and Roughing within the span of a minute (at 46:57 and 47:07 respectively), gifting the Ice Hounds the opportunity to seal the fate of the game.  The Power Play opportunity didn’t go wasted.  Keogh scored his second goal of the night (assisted by Donovan) at 48:19, followed just thirty seconds later by a goal from Gareth Shaw (assisted by Lewis).

With a three goal margin on Guildford, the game was all but over with ten minutes left to play and with Guildford’s goal at 50:05 reflecting the only real opportunity that the visitors managed to thread through the Hounds’ defence, Craig Balchin’s goal (assisted by Shaw) at 56:03, really was the icing on the cake.  With the final buzzer came a score of 11-8 in favour of the Cardiff Ice Hounds.