SUNDERLAND CHIEFS V
BILLINGHAM EAGLES
ED1 FINAL
Crowtree Leisure Centre 8th May 1999
Saturday 8th May saw the
Billingham Eagles make a short trip up the A19 to Sunderland they carried
a three goal cushion following their 7 - 4 home victory in the fist leg of
the English Division 1 final .
A very healthy contingency of Billingham fans made the journey to the Crowtree
Leisure centre for the deciding game in the ED1 championship final .
The first period opened at a frantic pace Chiefs took their first scalp
of the night with a goal from Stuart Lonsdale assisted by Shaun Black. Eagles
opened their account at 3:47 with a goal from Andy Fletcher assisted by Tom
Brown .Chiefs went one up at 4:09 with a goal from Andrew Carter assist by
Adam Hendrey.Billingham went short handed at 4:37 when Martin Lewis sat for
a 2 minute un-sportsman conduct penalty. Sunderland failed to capitilise
on the power play and were again given another power play at 7:22 when Eagles
defence man Ian Richardson picked up a 2 minute holding penalty.Again Sunderland
failed to gain any advantage from the five on four.The remainder of the first
period was end to end hockey, but both teams & netminders in particular
managed to put the shutters up.The first period closed Chiefs 2 Eagles 1.
At 24:08 Sunderland picked up their first penalty of the game, Graeme Johnsoncollected
2 minutes for roughing.Chiefs played off the penalty without loss. Stuart
Lonsdale collected the next penalty for Chiefs 2 minutes for holding at 26:19
again Chiefs played it off . Billinghams Gary Dowd picked up a 2 minute roughing
penalty at 28:34 again up went the Eagles shutters and the home team were
unable to convert their power play.Martin Lewis hit home assisted by Simon
Hehir at 31:20 to tie it at two goal each. A minute and a half later Tom Brown
edged Eagles ahead assisted by Gary Dowd and Paul Winndridge.It was penalty
time again at 38:41 when Eagles Andy Fletcher and Chiefs Andrew Carter
picked up 2 minute penaltys Fletcher for slashing , Carter for tripping. The
second closed Chiefs 2 Eagles 3.
43 seconds
into the third saw Tom Brown score his second goal of the night for the Eagles,assisted
by Bryan Perry. Sunderland narrowed the gap with a goal from James Waller
assisted by Shaun Black at 45:01. Chiefs 3 :Eagles 4.Twenty one seconds later
came Eagles reply with a goal from Tom Brown (hat trick goal)assisted by Brian
Perry at 45:22. Eagles Andrew Payne collected a 2 minute penalty for holding
, again Sunderland failed to penetrate the Billingham defences to convert
their power-play . A jubilant Tom Brown rounded off the Eagles season with
his fourth for the night scored at 58:03 assists from Paul Winndridge and
Gary Dowd.
AGG FINAL SCORE EAGLES 13 : CHIEFS 7
As you would expect the celebrations started on the ice , a
tremendous season for the Eagles ED1 North and ED1 champions a superb climax
to a very entertaining season .Congratulations to Sunderland Chiefs a fantastic
season , and credit where credit is due to an all British side.
Neville Morallee (EIHA Secretary) presented medals to both teams and the Championship
cup to the Eagles captain Paul Winndridge .
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