ALTRINCHAM ACES
V
BILLINGHAM EAGLES
ED1 NORTH
16TH JANUARY 2000
Sunday 16th saw the Eagles take a trip to Devonshire road to face a vital match against the current on form second place Altrincham Aces , with the Aces having the home Ice advantage and these 2 points being so vital the Aces would be up to gain a victory over the Eagles.The Aces have had no joy from the Eagles since they beat them in March 97 with the Eagles winning six of the last seven games and a 6 each draw at Billingham in January 98.
1st Period
With this game being so vital the first opened at a frantic pace which saw the first line play a three minute shift without a stoppage.Adam Flett was on first class form stopping a number of blistering Aces shots.It was the Aces that broke the deadlock at 7:39 when Arran Richardson found space to breakaway and beat Fletty in Close.Aces Chris Mills collected a 2 minute accidental high sticks penalty after catching Spike in the face the resulting power play was short lived when at 13:47 Tom Brown picked up a 2 minute tripping penalty at 13:47.Eagles opened their account at 16:55 when Spike drew the Aces net minder wide to slot home assisted by Tom Brown to level the score at 1 goal each. At 17:46 the Eagles were subject to a dubious Unsportsman like conduct penalty when after a nasty slash from Russel Richardson , Brian Perry collected a 2+2 , Richardson 2 minute slashing.The first closed Aces 1 : Eagles 1.
2nd Period
The first half of the second carried on as tight and fast as the first period as both teams battled to break the stalemate , both net minders being the dominant force.It was the Eagles who were to break the aforemantioned stalemate when at 33:38 Tom Brown found himself in space to fire home low assisted by Si Burns and Brian Perry . At 38 minutes a little retaliation after what bore all the hall marks of a submarine check on Simon Burns resulted in Burner collecting a 2 minute high sticks penalty this was played off with out loss and the second closed Aces 1 : Eagles 2.
3rd Period
Twenty seven seconds into the third saw Aces Greg Allen level the game at 2 goals each .Under 3 minutes later saw the Aces clip the Eagles wings when they moved ahead through a goal from Simon Mills.The Aces and their fans thought they were heading to victory when 11 seconds later Arran Richardson poked in a deflection that dropped of Fletty and into the crease , his second goal of the night to make it Aces 4 ,Eagles 2. It was a never say die Eagles team that kept their heads up and pressed into the Aces. At 46:44 Eagles captain Paul Winndridge broke away and finnished clinnically , assisted by Si Burns and Brian Perry . From where I was standing behind the Aces bench I heard a shout of watch that Psycho......oops too late Ste Wallace collected outside Aces blue line side stepped a defender and lifted it over the shoulder of Ace net minder , things were heating up but the Eagles had dominated their way back to level pegging.Just over a minute later Tom Brown broke away , showing the same clinical finnishing as Spike and Ste Wallace , Tom beat the Aces netminder to lift the Eagles into the lead. Things continued to bubble and a few minor skirmishes started to come to the surface , things calmed down and we got back to hockey. A bizzare incedent found the Aces net minder well out of position and the resulting Eagles shot on the open goal was saved by Aces Tim Dempsey who decided to have a lie down in the Aces crease , a penalty shot was awarded to the Eagles , Aces Dempsey departed the game for illegal use of equipment , I stand to be corrected but it looked like he threw the puck at the ref , 46 seconds on the clock and Eagles Brian Perry gets the unenviable job of taking the penalty , Bri stepped up pulled right and lifted high Aces man in the pipes got something to the puck to pull off a decent save.At 59:44 Eagles were on the last attack , Andy Fletcher hit an inch perfect pass to Tom Brown who completed his hat trick . Final score Aces 4 : Eagles 6.
PERIOD SCORES
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | FINAL | |
| BILLINGHAM | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| ALTRINCHAM | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
PENALTIES
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | TOTAL | |
| BILLINGHAM | 6 | 2 | 4 | 12 |
| ALTRINCHAM | 4 | 2 | 5+G | 11 + G |
EAGLES MAN OF THE MATCH GARY DOWD
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