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Venom 12s Bound for the National Finals
1st Mar, 2008 to 1st May, 2008
Telford Venom under 12 Ice Hockey team went to Nottingham Tiger Cubs knowing that a win would all but mathematically put them into the National Finals. The team were cool, calm and collected as they lined up on the ice for the pre match formalities. However when the first puck dropped they exploded into action.
An excellent solo effort from captain Joshua Holden put them ahead after just 11 seconds. The early onslaught continued producing a 3-0 lead in the first 5 minutes. Oliver Hunt slotted home a Joshua Holden rebound for the second with the third being a trademark power shot from Macaulay Heywood .
Nottingham pressed hard at the Telford net but the defence held firm backed up by a faultless performance by the starting netminder Callum Steventon. The halftime score of 3-0 matched exactly the earlier fixture at Telford between these two teams.
The similarities continued at the start of the second half with Joshua Holden getting his second of the game after only 9 seconds. At 4-0 the excellent teamwork of Telford began to frustrate the Nottingham team who started to incur penalties. Venom capitalised on the one man advantage with two goals from slick passing moves. The first driven home by Joshua Holden for his hat trick from Macaulay Heywood, followed by a goal from Matt Price assisted by Ross Pooler. Keiran Nickless made it 7-0 with a nicely taken solo effort.
At this point net minder Callum Steventon left the ice for a well earned rest to a standing ovation from the travelling Telford fans. His replacement, Kyle Macfarlane continued to support “the wall of steel” defence , beaten only by a shot from the dangerous Nottingham forward, Scott Robinson. However, it was Telford who had the last word with Joshua Holden chalking up his 4th of the game for a final score of 8-1.
When the final buzzer sounded the noise was overwhelming. The Telford parents and supporters raised the roof , continuing the vocal support they gave the team throughout the match. The win puts the team back into the English National Finals which they reached 2 years ago as under 10’s. Only a mathematical improbability can stop them as Telford just need 1 point from 2 games with teams at the bottom of the table and Nottingham must beat the undefeated Northern division champions, Sheffield.
Telford’s performance throughout the game showed the continuing improvement in the team as the season has progressed. They were totally in control of the game from start to finish. This is a tribute not only to the scorers and net minders recorded above but the whole team. The roll of honour additionally comprises of Rhys Barlow, Courtney Clay, Daniel Devey, Matt Lees, Jack Meadows, Nicholas Oliver and Oliver Ward on defence, together with Joseph Aston, Ben Washburn and Thomas Roycroft in attack. The official Man of the Match was Joshua Holden but any team member could have claimed that title with justification.
The whole season has been engineered by the management team of Ian Holden, Mike Washburn and Martin Price together with the coaching skills of Telford Head Coach and former Telford Tigers Star Mark Hazlehurst.
Players, management and fans can look forward to the National playoff finals at Sheffield in May. In the first match they will face Southern division champions Bracknell.
