The YKK Widnes Wild faced their local derby rivals Deeside Dragons in the den on Saturday, looking for a win after a fixture-less weekend. The Wild left with a 1-4 victory, posting them 9 points clear of the Dragons in the M56 cup table, following a 3 point deduction.
Wild’s #30 Phil Pearson commented on the win; ‘The locker room was a great atmosphere afterwards! Derby games are always important games for us to win, especially away from home getting the victory is even better. Some may say tonight’s game wasn’t as important as others but we’re still striving to claim silverware this season and if we beat Blackburn next weekend who knows…’
YKK Widnes Wild out for warmup in Deeside Leisure Centre
Widnes iced with a squad of 14+1, with #55 Owen Rae, #61 Bailey Thomson, #11 Will Harper and #9 Ken Armstrong all returning to the lineup. Meanwhile, the Dragons lined up with 17+2 missing forwards #55 Ross Kennedy, #89 Joe Greaves and #61 Jared Dickinson.
Wild netminder #30 Phil Pearson was given his 1st professional start of the season against his former side, whilst the hosts opted for #27 Ollie Booth in goal.
Talking about his first start, Pearson said; ‘It was hard for me to start tonight. I’ve played for both sides so obviously I’m still friendly with the Deeside team, but especially those who I coach in the Dragons academy with. All that being said, I just had to approach it like any other game and get that win for my team!’
Starting lineup for both sides
Deeside quickly handed Widnes a man advantage after #18 Ryan Jones sat 2 penalties for boarding and elbows just 7 seconds apart. However, Booth and the Dragons’ defence prevented an early lead for Wild.
The favour was then returned at 10:35 when #17 Andrew Hopkins sat 2 min for tripping. Deeside’s top point scorer #78 Brodie Jesson capitalised at 12:27 with a tap-in on the powerplay after a pass from #7 Alex Parry.
#29 Andy McKinney then picked up an interference penalty at 14:08, leaving them a player down once more. In the same minute, #10 Nathan Britton equalised for Widnes at 14:47 after going 5-hole on #27 Ollie Booth, assisted by #5 Rhys Edwards and #20 Bez Hughes.
Both sides had a chance on the power-play late in the opening period after a tripping penalty on #61 Bailey Thomson and a slashing call on #75 Jason Burgess, but the score remained 1-1 after 20 minutes.
A string of penalties soon lined up in the middle frame, the first being handed to #78 Jesson for interference at 24:43. The derby tensions then spilled over, resulting in both #21 Damarni James and #7 Alex Parry sitting 5min majors for fighting at 25:23.
Just 6 seconds after play resumed, #29 McKinney picked up a boarding call leaving Deeside with a 5on3 penalty kill. Widnes claimed the lead at 26:02 with a breakaway goal from #5 Rhys Edwards, firing the puck bar-down after a pass by #63 Joey Coulter.
The penalty boxes continued to fill up as #11 Will Harper and #91 Marc Lovell both sat for fighting at 28:16 leaving Deeside with a power-play. However, Widnes extended their lead to 1-3 with an almost replica goal from Edwards, again assisted by Coulter, just this time it was short-handed at 28:41.
The hat-trick goal for Rhys Edwards came at 31:35 (his 2nd of the season in the den) following a cross-ice pass from #39 Matty Barlow to post the score at 1-4.
A chance then came for Deeside at 37:04 as #17 Andrew Hopkins sat another tripping penalty. At the same time, there was also a change in goal for the home team, with #94 Jace Gledhill replacing #27 Ollie Booth. However, the Wild defence held strong and denied the Dragons’ offence to maintain their 3 goal lead heading into the final period.
Deeside headed straight on the attack from the initial face-off of the 3rd period but #30 Phil Pearson stopped every shot that came his way, keeping the Wild in control of the match.
Player-coach Joey Coulter discussing tactics in the 3rd period
Widnes received a chance to extend their lead at 45:28 when the Dragons were struck with a boarding call on #13 Matt Wainwright plus a bench minor, leaving them 3on5. Despite being peppered with shots, Gledhill performed for his side to hold off the Wild attack on the power-play and the remainder of the game.
Widnes played an overall more defensive game in the 3rd period, which payed off as they prevented the Dragons from scoring for over 45 minutes, sealing a dominate 1-4 victory in the den.
MVPs were awarded to #5 Rhys Edwards after posting a natural hat-trick in the 2nd period for Widnes. Meanwhile, forward #75 Jayson Burgess received the award for Deeside.
After the game, Phil Pearson added his thoughts on the match overall, ‘It was a close game after the first 20 minutes but I felt like we had more momentum going into the 2nd period. It obviously helped me ease into the match more when we were 3 goals clear courtesy of Edwards after 40 minutes.’
‘The main focus heading into the final frame was to not pick up silly penalties in what had been a high PIMs game. I have to give credit to the D tonight – they were solid, blocking shots from all angles it really helps!’
Officials: Carratt, Fielden, Goodfellow
STATS – (1-1) (0-3) (0-0)
Widnes Wild: Rhys Edwards 3+1, Nathan Britton 1+0, Joey Coulter 0+2, Bez Hughes 0+1, Matty Barlow 0+1
Deeside Dragons: Brodie Jesson 1+0, Alex Parry 0+1, Petr Valusiak 0+1
Article written by Fleur Tobin