Final Score - Oxford 3 : Milton Keynes 3

Sunday 2 November 2008

Oxford City Stars let a 2 goal lead slip away against Milton Keynes Thunder to drop another crucial point in the league on Sunday. Stars couldn’t have wished for a better start as Grant Bailey ripped a shot passed the MK keeper in the first 22 seconds of the game. The goal came straight from the opening face off as the Hargreaves brothers worked well together to provide Bailey the space he needed to shoot. The home team looked to be in an unstoppable mood again as they created chance after chance and it was on one of those attacks Captain Elliott scrambled a bouncing pass into the net following some good forechecking by Alan Armour.

The Stars led 2-0 at the first break and at this point it looked to be a case of how many they were going to win by. However, the first 10 mins of the second period didn’t go their way as they squandered more great goal scoring opportunities and were made to pay at 29:19 as MK’s impressive Slovak import Simo chucked a speculative shot towards Skaife which took a wicked deflection on the way through and dipped into the net over his shoulder. Simo was again on hand 5 minutes later as he strolled into the Oxford zone unchallenged and after a shot and rebound Chaplen tied the game at 2-2. This appeared to unsettle Oxford who had earlier looked so composed and a string of minor penalties didn’t help, the period ended 2-2 to set up an exciting final period.

Both teams came out hard in the 3rd and although Stars again had the Lions share of possession they were unable to find a good enough shot to beat Woolfe in the MK net. This led to obvious frustration for the home team and fans and it was compounded further at 51:00 as Snape scored for MK to take the lead 3-2. Oxford were dealt a further blow in this period as Stars influential playmaker Alan Armour took a fall into the boards and picked up a shoulder injury which meant he would take no further part in the game. Coach Morvan had a shuffle of the personnel and Mark Krater, playing his first game this season stepped up to the first line and quickly took two glorious shots which only just stayed out. Oxford continued to pile on the pressure and there were multiple scoring chances. The pressure eventually paid off as Referee Dave Cloutman called a penalty shot after a Stars players was hauled down on his way to the net. The crowd waited in anticipation as Stars new signing and former Elite league player Richard Wojciak stepped up to take it. Wojciak made no mistake as he skated in on Woolfe and found the opening he needed by deking him out. Wojciak’s backspin celebration showed how important this goal was as Stars clawed it back to 3-3. Yet again Stars pressed forward and if not for some unfortunate luck they would have scored as big defenceman Andrew Shurmer had the perfect chance to win the game inside the final minute. He opted to rifle a pass across the face of goal which could not be turned in by a Stars player and the game therefore ended Oxford 3 - MK 3 for a share of the points. Stars, for the 2nd game in a row, outshot their opponents, this time 51 – 46 but could not manage to convert enough to take the full points.

The home teams disappointment was evident as although they had salvaged a point at least it was definitely a case of a point dropped rather than gained. After a superb start to the league Oxford Stars appear to have hit a rocky patch dropping 5 points out of the last 6 on offer and not having had a win since demolishing Streatham 13-1 in early October. Coach Morvan knows that many more dropped points will see the league title slip away. Oxford now face MK in the reverse this weekend and then fellow contenders Cardiff and Bracknell in the following weeks, if they are to stand a chance of challenging for the league they must make the most of these games.