BILLINGHAM EAGLES V BASINGSTOKE
BUFFALO
ED1 SEMI FINAL- 2nd LEG
16TH APRIL 2000
The Billingham Eagles arrived home from their succesful toils at Basingstoke at 03:30 this morning the return game was due to face off at 5pm today, with this punishing schedule for the weekend it was nice to know a 3 goal lead was already in the bag.
1st Period
The game opened with the Eagles playing a physical game the opening minutes saw last nights four goal hero Tom Brown get some nice passes into the Basingstoke crease. In the fourth minute a Tom Brown shot fired the length of the ice ( behind Eagles goal net ) tested Basingstoke n/m Craig Astill . Basingstoke were first to break their duck when a selfless pass from Mark Jordan aloowed Adam Cathcart to net the Buffaloes first. Eagles moved fast from the face off when sixteen seconds later Simon Hehir opoened the Eagles account assisted by Rithchie Thornton.The pairing of Jordan and Cathcart again proved productive when Basingstoke moved a goal ahead at 8:16. The penaltys started to mount for both sides as the will to win came to the fore. Eagles second came at 9:29 a power play goal and his second for the night for Simon Hehir who spotted the gaping right hand corner of the Buffaloes net to blast in to assisted by Brian Perry and Paul Winndridge to level the game. The 14th minute saw Eagles net minder Adam Flett produce a good save on a close range shot from Basingstokes Mark Jordan. A strange reaction took place immediatley after a slashing incedent ( 15:05 )by Eagles Andy Fletcher on Basingstokes Cathcart ( Coaches Son ! ). The penalty was called and Andy Fletcher received a 2 min penalty and then the Basingstoke team walked off the ice, in what looked like a well practiced manouvre they just went , they left the explanation that they were not happy about the state of the ice and off they went Referee Steve Barber to his credit announced that the condition of the ice had not deteriorated in the fifteen minutes of play and gave Basingstoke 2 minutes to return , after a period of time long enough to change 21 babys nappies ( diapers to our N American readers ) the Buffalo returned. totally de-motivated and heads down the will to win was removed from the Buffalo team. The Eagles pushed ahead with a goal from Tom Brown to close the first BILLINGHAM 3 : BASINGSTOKE 2.
2nd Period
The pace of the Eagles game was upped when a line consisting of four youngsters playing with D man Brian Perry stepped on the ice, their work rate was excellent and Basingstoke only just managed to contain them.At 27:19 Martin Lewis lifted the Eagles tally to four when he picked his spot and lifted the puck into the roof of the Buffalo goal. Eagles fifth came when a selfless pass from Gary Dowd allowed Martin Lewis to finnish with precision. Basingstoke collected what was to be their one and only goal after their bizzare skate off when Drew Campbell scored assisted by Paul Rogers. The youngster line came back to haunt Basingstoke when at 29 :33 a well worked goal was scored by Tom Griffiths assisted by D J Flett and Liam Thompson. Things were now becoming distinctly Bradfordesque as the Eagles sensing total unintrest from the opposition moved up a gear. Some silky skating and nifty stick work from Brian Perry resulted in a superb goal when Perry went round Buffalo defenders and then drew the keeper to net Eagles 7th assisted by Martin Lewis.Tom Brown netted the Eagles eighth when he skated up the left wing and released a shot that found the target ( 34:32 ) assisted by Paul Winndridge and Si Burns. Richie Thornton fired home Eagles ninth from the point assisted by Simon Hehir and Scott Ward. The third closed BILLINGHAM 9 : BASINGSTOKE 3.
3rd Period
The game was now well beyond the reach of Basingstoke, Eagles Simon Hehir took the current ED1 champions into double figures with his an unassisted hat trick goal at 44:47. Paul Windridge was next to score for the Eagles at 49:42 when he and Andy Fletcher and Tom Brown were left unattended in front of the Buffaloes goal after some passing around Paul slotted home assisted by Andy Fletcher and Tom Brown. The twelth goal for the Eagles was scored by Ritchie Thornton assists to Martin Lewis and Simon Hehir.A nice through pass from Paul Winndridge released Tom Brown who hit home for his hat trick for the night and fiftieth goal of the season. Ian Richardson was next to find the back of the Basingstoke net when he received the puck from a face off to blast home assisted by Simon Hehir. The Eagles closed their account at 58:51 when D J Flett scored assisted by Liam Thompson and Tom Griffiths.
An excellent team performance that out paced and out classed the opposition that saw 50% of the team score and fourteen of eighteen players pick up assists.
Having observed the quality of the ED1 south runners up, I will syick my neck out and say , bring on Whitley for a NE ED1 FINAL.
AGGREGATE SCORES
BILLINGHAM 22 : BASINGSTOKE 7
PERIOD SCORES
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | FINAL | |
| BILLINGHAM | 3 | 6 | 6 | 15 |
| BASINGSTOKE | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
PENALTIES
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | TOTAL | |
| BILLINGHAM | 10 | 2 | 4 | 16 |
| BASINGSTOKE | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
SHOTS ON GOAL
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | TOTAL | |
| Bham FLETT | 11 | 10 | 6 | 27 |
| Bham HALL | - | - | 6 | 6 |
| BASINGSTOKE | 14 | 21 | 10 | 45 |
MAN OF THE MATCH AWARDS BILLINGHAM - SIMON HEHIR ( 3 + 4 ) BASINGSTOKE- CRAIG ASTILL ( n/m ) HOME PLAYER STATS JUNIORS