Stars Top the League in Tough Double Header

Final Score - Cardiff 4 : Oxford 4

Final Score - Oxford 3 : Bracknell 1

15th and 16th November 2008

Oxford City Stars propelled themselves back to the top of the League this weekend after two hard fought games. The first game away in Cardiff saw them rescue a point with only 3 seconds left on the clock tying 4-4 and Sunday they overtook Bracknell Hornets at the top beating them 3-1 in a barn stormer of a game which included big hits, great goals and two cracking fights which will surely keep the fans coming back for more.

Stars travelled to Wales to take on Cardiff Devils on Saturday without promising youngster Joe Edwards, assistant Captain Lee Featherstone and Joe Oliver. Once again Stars made their job even harder as they went 1-0 down in under a minute after a scramble in front resulted in the puck being batted in by the home side. Newly appointed Coach Hargreaves in his first weekend running the ship had mixed up the lines and Stars quickly brought themselves back on level terms after Dean Francis’ long range effort evaded the Devils keeper. The game was fast flowing and end to end but there was to be no more goals in this period. The second stanza started as the previous left off, a few huge hits meant the players on both teams were feeling it and Devils utilised the giant stature of highly experienced import Brent Pope to try and intimidate the Stars players at every opportunity. He was also saw more ice than anyone else as he played approximately 45 minutes of this game. The teams traded goals as Devils scored again from close range and then Oxford struck back almost immediately as Francis netted his second of the night. The travelling Stars were well on top in this period outshooting Cardiff 16-7 even without big defenceman Andy Shurmer who suffered a nasty cut across his nose and face by a stray skate during the period, he was off for over 10 minutes while being patched up. This meant Coach Hargreaves had to shuffle the lines again to cover but the team adapted easily.

The 3rd period started with the scores tied at 2-2 and set up a great finish. Cardiff again scored first on a powerplay as Oxford lost their shape in defence and yet again failed to clear the players from around the crease. It would be another 4 mins before Grant Bailey scored to tie the game and continue his scoring streak. However, with less than 9 minutes left Cardiff went in front for the 4th time and although Stars continued to press forward they seemed unable to break through as the Devils keeper Piggott made some fine saves and the Cardiff team defended well. Oxford had one last throw of the dice as they won a faceoff in the Devils end with less than two minutes on the clock. Coach Hargreaves made the biggest decision of his coaching career by taking off netminder Skaife and opting for 6 attackers. This plan paid off in the best way possible as Nick Oliver latched on to a loose puck in front of the goal to score and spark wild celebrations from the Oxford team. This is the first point they have taken off of Cardiff this season and they played much better than the last time they were there as well.

A healthy crowd gathered in Oxford on Sunday night to see top of the league Bracknell Hornets come town. Stars knew that a win in this one would make amends for a poor show in Bracknell when they went down 4-1 a few weeks back and also take them to the top spot. BBC South TV were also on hand to interview new coach Hargreaves and also film some of the game. They really couldn’t have picked a better game to come to as this one turned out to be fantastic with everything that Ice Hockey is known for, fast skating, hard hitting, some glorious goals and a couple of fights too. Everyone knew this was going to be a tight game and although both teams came out of the blocks hard and fast neither team could find a breakthrough in the first period although Stars were unlucky not to make the pressure pay off and yet again they outshot their opponents by a massive margin on 17-8 in the first 20mins. Stars looked a totally different team as the mix up in the lines seemed to be having the desired effect, although Oxford had played a tough game the night before they were full of energy and were first to loose pucks on most occasions. It was a against the run of play at 35.55 Bracknell scored from a long shot to take the lead. The spurred the home side on and they are starting to make a habit of going behind and then scoring quickly to tie it up as at 37.06 Nick Oliver scored for the 3rd game in a row assisted by Bailey and Broughton. Bailey was called into action straight after this goal as Bracknell import Ovended made a late check from behind on the celebrating goal scorer Oliver. Bailey made no mistake as he grabbed Ovenden and the pair dropped the gloves with Bailey getting the upper hand. The Oxford team this season are blessed with a team which has every department covered including more than a few players who will stick up for their team mates when required.

The first 10 minutes of the final period was end to end and Bracknell hit the pipework a couple of times, Stars were once again unlucky not to score on a few occasions as well. It was at 50.13 that Featherstone on the powerplay picked up a puck on the blueline and took an accurate wrist shot which went through the legs of Marashi in the Bracknell goal. Stars had the lead for the first time in the game and knew that if it stayed that way they were top of the league. Stars had defended superbly all game even when they were short handed, the new special team units did their jobs extremely well closing down the Hornets quickly and made the simple plays which paid off and allowed them to keep the flow going towards the Bracknell end.

Hornets were not ready to quit yet though, they themselves had a number of chances to tie the game and had it not been for numerous solid saves from Skaife they would have. The Bracknell coach tried the Stars trick from the previous night by pulling his goalie for an extra skater but Stars broke up their play and the puck fell to Andy Shurmer who unleashed a cannon from the half way line into the empty net with 40 seconds left on the clock. The rink erupted as the players and fans knew they had the points sewn up, but it seemed Bracknell wanted to mix it up from the face off as Galazzi first clashed with Armour and the crashed into Shurmer on the boards. This resulted in both players dropping their gloves and squaring up. Shurmer, who was still carrying stitches from a skate in the face the previous night, was in no mood for getting punched and threw a number of big bombs which quickly overpowered Galazzi. The big blue liner continued to tie him up and pick his shots until the refs jumped into to split them up. Up until now it had been a fairly clean hard fought game with some massive mid ice hits but Coach Hargreaves wanted to send a message that the Stars are more than happy to play but will also mix it up physically as well as he took a line including himself, Mike Hargreaves and Grant Bailey to see out the last few seconds. Nothing came of it though and then games ended with a 3-1 home win for the Stars.

Oxford are once again top the league by a single point although Bracknell have played less games. Stars face Cardiff for the final time on 23rd November at home and then travel to face the leagues historical top dogs, Invicta, in Kent a week later.