Final Score - Oxford 5 : 1 Coventry

28th October 2007

With grey cloud and drizzle covering the historic city of Oxford it was left to the City Stars to brighten up another dismal Sunday with a convincing win over Coventry at Oxpens Road.

Oxford lined up without the enigmatic Alan Green for this encounter however Mark Krater passed a late fitness test after recovering from an ear injury (three stiches) suffered during last weeks close fought win over Milton Keynes. Coventry were missing a number of players of their own but still boasted highly rated youngsters Tom Pease and Chris Wilcox within their line up.

The first period started with Oxford quickest out of the blocks with coach Morvan’s new look lines working well together. After eleven minutes Darren Elliott jinked his way through the Coventry defence before shooting high past Dan Shea in the Coventry goal to send the home crowd in to raptures. Despite taking the lead Oxford then took their foot off the gas and gradually Coventry began to get in to the game. Oxford also began to take a number of minor penalties allowing Coventry the possession they hadn’t previously enjoyed. After killing three virtually consecutive penalties Oxford managed to go in at the first period break one goal up but unfortunately lost defenceman Will Skaife through injury.

The second period saw more of the same with Oxford enjoying much more possession but seemingly unable to break through Shea in the Coventry goal whose confidence was growing with every minute. Despite looking shaky at times the Coventry goalie pulled off some fine saves most notably a double effort from Stars captain Elliott who was skating rings around the Coventry defence. Despite this Oxford dominance Coventry still had a number of chances especially as Oxford spent most of the period short handed. With just over half the period gone Coventry finally converted a powerplay when Kieran Papps cut inside and fired low past Skaifes right leg pad in to the bottom corner. It was tough luck on Skaife who had been excellent when previously called upon on a number of previous Coventry powerplay shots.

Rather than spur on Coventry this goal seemed to spur on Oxford who put the Coventry goal under siege for the rest of the period. Despite Shea still performing well in the Coventry goal, Oxford deservedly took the lead again with only two minutes remaining in the period on the powerplay. With Nick Oliver and Dean Francis circling dangerously they combined behind the net to confuse the Coventry defence, the puck then came out to Grant Bailey who fired a first time shot straight through Shea’s legs to send the home fans wild.

With the game still close in terms of scoreline, Coventry continued to work extremely hard as they pushed for an equaliser from the very first minute of the third period. Oxford had to work hard but their defence held up well under the pressure. Halfway through the period Tom Pease went down injured on the boards after a check from Stars captain Darren Elliott however the referee decided there was no blame to be attached to the Stars skipper. In fact the referee continued his refreshing approach for the rest of the game as he clearly acknowledged that this was a fast flowing game between two sides who are never likely to finish at the wrong end of the penalty minutes table (unless the victims of incompetent/petulant refereeing). With five minutes remaining in the game Coventry still had every chance of sneaking an equaliser and to their credit, maintained their hard working style causing Oxford to maintain a cautious game.

Unfortunately for the West Midland’s side Oxford had that extra bit of quality and with two minutes remaining Darren Elliott latched on to a Jacob Smith pass to score his second goal and give the Stars the three goal cushion they had been searching for. If Oxford thought that Coventry were going to roll over and take defeat lying down they were mistaken as the opposition coach pulled his goalie to give the Coventry team an extra skater. Unfortunately for him Oxford regained possession of the puck and Grant Bailey rolled the puck down the full length of the ice to seal the win for the Stars. Unbelievably the Stars continued attacking with just under a minute left and Dave Carr kept the puck in the zone to release the excellent Kent Johnson who made no mistake to make it 5-1 to the home side. It was just rewards for the former Gosport player who had an excellent game.

As the final whistle blew it was smiles all round for the home side who have now won their last five matches despite missing several key players at times.

Scorers:

Oxford: Grant Bailey 2+0, Darren Elliott 2+0, Kent Johnson 1+0, Nick Oliver 0+2, Dave Carr 0+1, Jacob Smith 0+1, Nick Eden 0+1, Andy Cox 0+1, Dean Francis 0+1, Patrick Knightley 0+1.

Coventry: Kieran Papps 1+0, Joshua Bruce 0+1, Aram Todd 0+1.

Penalties:

Oxford: Nick Eden 6 mins, Andy Cox 4, Dave Carr 2, Mark Krater 2, Nick Oliver 2, Darren Elliott 2.

Coventry: Ryan Selwood 6 mins, Oliver Nabbs 2, Thomas Pease 2.

Netminding:

Oxford: James Skaife - 29 saves, 1 goal, total 30.

Coventry: Dan Shea - 35 saves, 4 goals, total 39 (59.18), Empty Net - 1 goal (0.42).

Also Played:

Oxford: Will Skaife, Sam Broughton, Lee Stobie, Lee Featherstone, Kevin McGurk (NM - did not ice).

Coventry: Hayden Laverick (NM - did not ice), Richard Bryniarski, Chris Wilcox, Matthew Halford, Scott Mulholland, Daniel Burgess.

Ref:

Kieran O'Halloran, Lines: Lewis Kemp & Joe Edwards

Period Scores:

1-0, 1-1, 3-0