Oxford Stars suffered their first pointless weekend of the year as they lost 4-1 away to high flying Bracknell Hornets on Saturday and then lost their first home match of the season 5-3 to Cardiff Devils the following night.

After taking the lead in a very hot Bracknell ice rink where the ice was more like a puddle the Stars looked set to continue their fine start to the league. Young Joe Edwards scored the goal, although the official scoresheet shows the goal awarded to Will Skaife. The first soggy period ended 1-0 Stars and the only talking points really were Oxfords inability to cope with the constant speed and pressure of a young well drilled Bracknell team and the now expected dubious officiating of ref Hayden. On more than one occasion both teams were left bemused as he refused to call what seemed blatant penalties, yet stopped the play for the most ridiculous reasons. The warning signs were there for Oxford early in the 2nd period as they were unable to put any pressure on Bracknell during a 4 min powerplay, then frustration set in as four key players for Oxford were in the box at the same time. Hornets utilised their big ice well and a barrage of pressure on the PP ultimately led to their first goal off a deflection in front at 28:08.

Stars then found themselves with another 4 min PP but again were unable to put any real pressure on, Rich Hargreaves had the best chance with a shot that only just went wide. Hargreaves was called in to action again soon after as Ovenden took exception to a great hit by Stars D man Cox. Hargreaves and Ovenden then squared up and the ensuing fight was controlled comfortably by the Stars man who took it in turns with both hands as Ovenden struggled to contain him. That was the only thing Oxford were going to win though as the Hornets effectively sealed the game with two quick goals at 35:54 and 36:51. Oxford appeared slow during the game and never changed their game plan, the heat, poor ice and officiating combining to completely knock them off their game. Bracknell on the other hand dealt with the adversity much better and their top lines took advantage on the special plays as two of the four goals came during a man advantage. The final shot tally tells a story as the Oxford goalie, Skaife, faced twice as many shots (40) as Marashi for Bracknell (19).

Stars came home on Sunday and were looking to bounce back from the previous nights loss. Their opponents, the highly rated Cardiff Devils, arrived buoyant after beating Invicta Dynamos 5-1 the night before. Stars got off to a flying start as they heaped pressure on and looked to have found the speed and intensity that was lacking in Bracknell. However, they could not convert the pressure and once again came unstuck with penalties costing them dearly. Devils scored on the PP at 15:31 with a neat back door play leaving Skaife no chance to get across quickly enough. Mid way through the period, an ugly shot from Devils D man Dixon hit Stars assistant Captain Featherstone square in the helmet and the pressure from the shot split his head open. Not wanting to miss any ice time he was quickly bandaged up and returned to the game soon after. The first period ended with Devils leading 1-0 but Stars were still well in the game and had outshot the Devils 12-8.

Stars came out for the 2nd with fire in their bellies again chasing down every puck, yet Devils once again capitalised in front of goal as a howler of a pass from Eden found a red shirt and gifted the Devils a 3 on 0 which they gratefully scored. The injured and riled up Featherstone then took it upon himself to get the Stars going as he unleashed a rocket of a wrist shot to pull one back at 23:37. This spurred the home side on as they again camped in the Devils zone for long periods. A clearance out of their zone was intercepted by Skaife far out of his net and his attempted pass was picked off by an on rushing Devil, this unnecessary pressure then lead to a goal as the Stars D scrambled to get back. With the score now at 3-1 and Stars seemingly unable to convert their chances it was a relief as Armour and Edwards took advantage of some slow Devils defence, Edwards feeding Armour in the slot who duly tucked it away five hole to bring the Stars back within one at 41:39. Oxford were well on top in this period heavily outshooting the Welsh side 15-6 but it was evident by the scoreline that the Devils were getting more of the bounces and punishing some poor Oxford decisions.

Stars kept the pressure up and although they had a couple of powerplay opportunities the line combinations were not working and could not add to the score. Cardiff on the other hand took advantage of more Stars mistakes and their Captain, James, made he increased their lead back to 2 goals at 49:27 taking the to 4-2 in favour of the Welsh side. Coach Morvan called a timeout to point out the mistakes being made and try to switch up the tactics. Unfortunately this was to have no immediate impact as although the Stars continued to play well they just could not find that killer shot. Cardiff were next to score as at 58:32 they scored their 5th. It was a feeling of too little too late for Stars as Bailey ripped one in at 59:35 but with only 25 seconds remaining Oxford had succumb to defeat again.

There were many positives in this game as Stars outshot their opponents 33-25 and had the lions share of possession during the game. It is clear though that frustration has set in and in order to get back on track Coach Morvan will have to work hard restoring confidence in practice this week. No doubt the key focus will be on special teams and also getting the wheels going again with some fast paced drills. Although the Stars played much better on Sunday, there were key points over the weekend where bad decisions were made and also times when the advantage should have been taken and wasn’t.