Final Score - Oxford 5 : 1 Telford

3rd February 2008

Scorers:

Oxford: Patrick Knightley 2+0, Kent Johnson 1+0, Lee Featherstone 1+0, Darren Elliott 1+0, Dean Francis 0+3, Dave Carr 0+2, Sam Broughton 0+1, Jacob Smith 0+1, Grant Bailey 0+1.

Telford: Jim Corfield 1+0, Gareth Bates 0+1.

Penalties:

Oxford: Lee Featherstone 31 mins (inc match), Dean Francis 4, Darren Elliott 4, Kent Johnson 2, Alan Green 2.

Telford: Dave Fielder 38 mins (inc game & misc), Owen Bennett 25 (inc match), Gareth Bates 14 (inc misc), Kevin Parton 12 (inc misc), Mike Roden 6, Andrew Oldham 2, Jim Corfield 2, Stuart Bates 2, Graham Oldham 2, Kyle Smith 2.

Netminding:

Oxford: Kevin McGurk - 14 saves, 1 goal, total 15.

Telford: Christopher Barlow - 42 saves, 5 goals, total 47.

Period scores:

3-0, 1-0, 1-1.

Also played:

Oxford: Nick Eden, Nick Oliver, Joe Oliver, David Tyler (NM - did not ice), Mark Krater.

Telford: Karl Creamer, Jason Parry, Neil Brown, Ian Jesson, Mark Asson.

The Details

Now that their new strips have arrived Oxford City Stars are auctioning off their old game worn shirts. A must have for every true fan (they have been washed so don’t get too concerned about the impact on your body and your home environment), you can now be seen sporting the shirt your favourite player wore in numerous games over the last couple of seasons or just whichever shirt is going cheapest.

For each shirt with a nametag the minimum bid is £20 and £15 for the others. The minimum raise to beat previous highest bids is £1. You can send in bids by email (to admin@oxfordstars.com) but you must include your name, address and phone number with the bid. You can also register bids with the supporters club on gamedays. Records of all bids will be kept so in the case of default the second highest bid will win. Bidding will be closed at the start of the third period of the game against Milton Keynes Thunder on 24 February 2008. The website will be regularly updated to show the leading bids.

As mentioned above some shirts come complete with name tags (and an ‘A’ or ‘C’), others just have the number (see description below). Some additional name tags are available at a price of £5 each.

Available name tags include:

Home & Away – Andrews, Crockett, Gough, Slevin, Prachar, Sturgeon, Thompson, Williams, Plasted.

Home only – Burden, Lay.

Away only - Webster

Final Score - Oxford 5 : Solihull 2

Sunday 20 January 2008

Oxford entertained the Solihull Barons in front of a decent crowd at Oxpens Road. Stars were missing Grant Bailey from the line up so Kent Johnson continued in his role alongside Darren Elliott and Dean Francis on the first line.

The game started poorly for the home side, and straight from face off the Barons were threatening with an effective dump and chase game involving their top line of Adams, Howarth and Bakalar. The Stars goalie James Skaife was called upon on several occasions to deny the midlanders who seemed determined to avenge the 10-3 defeat inflicted on them on their home ice a few weeks earlier. The first period continued to be scrappy and both sides seemed pleased to be level at 0-0 when the buzzer went for the end.

The second period was much more lively and after only two minutes an awful hit on Oxfprd’s Alan Green from behind by Solihull’s Phil Lee saw the experienced Solihull player earn a 2+10 minute penalty for his troubles. From the resulting powerplay Oxford finally took the lead after an excellent goal from their second line. With Green cycling hard round the back of the Solihull net he passed the puck to Smith in front of the goal who rather than shooting tapped the puck to the side of the goal where Nick Oliver was waiting to pounce and tap home the puck past the diving Solihull goalie. This increased the atmosphere inside the rink and four minutes later the home support were on their feet again when Will Skaife passed to Kent Johnson in front of the net and despite being hit to the floor by a Solihull defenceman he managed to connect with the puck and smash it past Foley in the Solihull net to make it 2-0. At two nil up the Stars were in control, however after failing to clear their own zone, they paid the penalty for some slack marking from a Solihull face off and this left Bakalar free to effectively walk the puck around Skaife to give the visitors hope. Two minutes later though the Stars had the two goal cushion again when Jacob Smith screeched in from the wing to score before wheeling away and punching the air with delight. Then the Stars hit penalty trouble with Knightley’s clumsy hit from behind on a Solihull forward earning him the same punishment as Solihull’s Lee earlier in the period. The second period ended with the Stars leading 3-1.

With Solihull very much in contention the Stars had to put on a good performance in the third and they had to work hard as Solihull started the period strongly and were certainly more physical than the home side. With seven minutes gone the Barons pulled it back to 3-2 through Steven Rowlands after the Stars defence went AWOL. This made the Stars nervous in their play and the home support seemed on edge as Skaife made a couple of good saves to deny an equaliser. Stars coach Morvan then called a time out and it did the trick. With seven minutes left Stars skipper Elliott made it 4-2 and two minutes later Alan Green scored a fifth after Smith and Oliver had combined again.

It was a good win for the Stars against a hard working Solihull side who will have been disappointed to lose. The Stars also wore their new home shirt for the first time so they will be hoping it stays unbeaten for the rest of the season.

Scorers:-

Oxford: Jacob Smith 1+2, Alan Green 1+1, Nick Oliver 1+1, Kent Johnson 1+0, Darren Elliott 1+0, Dean Francis 0+2, Lee Featherstone 0+1, Will Skaife 0+1.

Solihull: Erik Bakalar 1+0, Stephen Rowlands 1+0, Andrew Howarth 0+1, Neil Adams 0+1, Richard Taylor 0+1.

Penalties:-

Oxford: Patrick Knightley 14 mins (inc misc), Darren Elliott 12 (inc misc), Andy Cox 2, Nick Oliver 2, Dean Francis 2.

Solihull: Phil Lee 12 mins (inc misc), Neil Adams 2, Lee Winwood 2, Dale White 2, Bench 2.

Netminding:-

Oxford: James Skaife - 33 saves, 2 goals, total 35.

Solihull - Elliot Foley - 32 saves, 4 goals, total 36 (53.30), Dave Roxborough - 4 saves, 1 goal, total 5 (6.30).

Period scores:

0-0, 3-1, 2-1.

Also played:-

Oxford: Dave Carr, Nick Eden, Sam Broughton, Joe Oliver, Kevin McGurk (NM - did not ice), Mark Krater.

Solihull: Andrew Ayers, Luis Brindle, Phil Knight, Edward Slater, Rob Perks, Jack Robinson, Connor Hubbuck, Barry Evans, Rob Eley, Richard Slater.

Final Score - Milton Keynes Thunder 2 : Oxford Stars 5

Saturday 19th January 2008

Oxford made the short trip to Milton Keynes without power house forward Grant Bailey however they did unveil their new away strip to the visible delight of the small band of travelling supporters.

The Stars started the period in disarray and the Thunder raced down the ice to score within 58 seconds when Tom Roles finished well from a Mahmud pass. The Stars were thunder struck to say the least however they managed to put together some good moves and test Sutton in the Milton Keynes net. It took the Stars 16 minutes to finally grab an equaliser when Lee Featherstone scored past his former team with the assist going to Alan Green on the powerplay. There was then a moment of controversy when the referee and the timekeepers bench seemed to be confused as to what to do with Peter Taylor serving the penalty at the time of the goal, due to the delayed penalty called on Clifford just before the Stars scored. Once this was resolved the Stars resumed their powerplay but were unable to press home their advantage. At the end of the period the Thunder’s player coach Michael Knights skated across to remonstrate with the officials and was promptly given a ten minute misconduct penalty for his efforts.

With the influential Knights sitting in the box the Stars were confident of pressing home the advantage however the Thunder held firm and started to cause some problems for the Oxford defence and goalie James Skaife. They then got their rewards when after Oxford made a hash of clearing their own zone Harrison Goode picked up the puck in the slot and his wrist shot bobbled through Skaifes pads and rolled agonisingly over the line to give the Thunder the lead. This goal seemed to kick start the sluggish Stars in to action and they enjoyed a large spell of possession with Sutton in the MK net having to be at his very best to contain the shots raining in on him. Amazingly the hockey was so flowing in nature there were no whistles and therefore no stoppages for around 5 minutes which was bad news for the Thunder as it left Knights stranded in the box awaiting the whistle for him to return after his 10 minute penalty. With two minutes remaining in the period Alan Green finished a tremendous passing move between Nick Oliver and Will Skaife to grab the equaliser for the City Stars. Milton Keynes were on the ropes and thirty seconds later Oxford took the lead when Dean Francis ripped the puck past Sutton after a trademark Johnson pass.

With the Stars finishing the second period strongest they started the third in similar fashion but found Sutton once again a difficult opponent in the MK goal. With thirteen minutes gone in the third a sharp pass from Stars skipper Darren Elliott found the stick of the on rushing Dean Francis who squeezed between two defenceman and fired the puck in to the top corner of the net to score a goal that would not have looked out of place in a higher league. With the Stars gaining a vital two goal cushion MK seemed to lose some spark and when the Stars scored a fifth through Kent Johnson four minutes from time the result was no longer in doubt. At the end of the game the Stars were cheered off the ice by their supporters and Alan Green took the man of the match award.

Scorers:-

MK: Harrison Goode 1+0, Tom Roles 1+0, Aidan Mahmud 0+1, Paul Jamieson 0+1, Lewis Clifford 0+1.

Oxford: Dean Francis 2+0, Kent Johnson 1+1, Alan Green 1+1, Lee Featherstone 1+1, Darren Elliott 0+2, Nick Oliver 0+1, Joe Edwards 0+1, Will Skaife 0+1.

Penalties:-

MK: Mike Knights 10 mins (misc), Pete Taylor 4, Lewis Clifford 2.

Oxford: Andy Cox 2, Joe Edwards 2.

Netminding:-

MK: Allen Sutton - 25 saves, 5 goals, total 30.

Oxford: James Skaife - 26 saves, 2 goals, total 28.

Period scores:

1-1, 1-2, 0-2

Also played:-

MK: Mark Woolf (NM - did not ice), Paul Gore, Keiron Goody, James Roberts, Josh White, Carl Stevenson, David Coffey, Pavol Hudak, Dan Chaplen.

Oxford: Dave Carr, Nick Eden, Sam Broughton, Patrick Knightley, Joe Oliver, Kevin McGurk (NM - did not ice), Mark Krater, Jacob Smith.

Final Score - Solihull 3 : 10 Oxford

13th January 2008

Barons Left Seeing Stars

On a wet and thoroughly miserable night the Oxford City Stars made the trip up to the midlands to take on the Solihull Barons at Hobs Moat Road ice arena.

Oxford coach Darryl Morvan had to adjust his lines to take in to account suspensions earned by Grant Bailey, Will Skaife and Jacob Smith in the previous weeks victory over Coventry.

In front of a reasonable crowd the Stars came out flying putting the Solihull defence under pressure and forcing errors from their defencemen. Within three minutes the hard work from the visitors paid off when Nick Oliver set up Alan Green to squeeze the puck past Foley in the Solihull goal. Despite this good start the Stars could not finish their chances and Solihull began to enjoy a period of possesion but lacked a cutting edge in the final third. The Stars scored a vital second goal with two minutes remaining in the period when Andy Cox passed to Darren Elliott down the left wing and the Stars skipper's smart wrist shot rippled the top corner of the net.

The second period saw Solihull give Oxford a taste of their own medicine and with only 17 seconds gone a breakaway goal saw Neil Adams ghost behind the Oxford defencemen and finish his one on one with Skaife in the Stars goal. This gave the home supporters something to cheer about and the atmosphere started to build. Solihull had a further breakaway only minutes later but this time Skaife came out on top with a good save. With Solihull well and truly revitalised it wasnt really a shock when they equalised through import Erik Bakalar when he found plenty of space in front of the Oxford goal. With the Stars on the ropes they found respite when experienced Solihull player Stephen Doyle received a two minute holding penalty only to see the Stars score on the powerplay with a great finish from Kent Johnson in front of the net after slick passing by Dean Francis and Nick Eden. Twenty seconds later Johnson picked up the puck in the neutral zone and jinked past three Solihull players before racing towards Foley and faking the shot before finishing on his backhand to send the small band of supporters from Oxford into dreamland. Solihull then changed their goalie with Young replacing Foley between the pipes. The goalie had a nightmare start when he failed to hold a nearpost shot from Alan Green and Nick Oliver poked the puck past him. With Richard Taylor sitting a high sticking penalty for Solihull, Oxford scored on the powerplay again this time through Darren Elliott grabbing his second of the night. A minute later the Solihull goalie let in a howler when he got his angles all wrong and Oxford rookie Joe Edwards had his head up and finished in a bizarre fashion from the right hand side to make it 7-2 Stars. Then a bizarre moment occured which effectively ended Solihull's chances of a comeback. With Skaife in the Oxford goal freezing the puck, Stephen Doyle pushed Sam Broughton on to the ice without provocation and then after speaking with the referee to find out he had a penalty, Doyle then skated round and hurled the pint sized Oxford forward to the floor and started pummeling him despite Broughton turtling and showing no intention to fight. Doyle then screamed at his own bench and then was sent to the locker room in front of a home crowd stunned in to silence. The end result was that Oxford now had a twelve minute powerplay and Solihull were forced to defend it. With 50 seconds left in the second period Lee Featherstone passed the puck down low to Darren Elliott who slid the puck to Dave Carr in the slot and his slapshot flew in to the bottom right hand corner of the goal.

At 8-2 up and six minutes of powerplay the City Stars skated out in the third knowing they just had to keep it tight for the remainder of the game. With five minutes gone and after a pretty lacklustre powerplay the Stars finally added to their lead when Kent Johnson passed to Dean Francis and his slapshot nearly took the roof of the net off to make it 9-2.

Solihull managed to kill off the remainder of the powerplay and they gave their fans something to shout about with 9 minutes gone in the period when Richard Taylor scored past Stars goalie Kevin McGurk who had replaced James Skaife only a few minutes earlier. If Solihull fans thought that their team were going to grab the last word, the Stars had other ideas and from a Nick Oliver face off, Dave Carr's first time snap shot rebounded off Young to Alan Green who made no mistake. Strangely Solihull improved slightly in the last ten minutes of the game and McGurk was called upon to make a few saves but by then the contest was effectively over and Oxford left with a convincing away win over a Solihull team that had been improving dramatically in recent weeks.

Played:

Oxford - Darren Elliott 2+3 Kent Johnson 2+2 Alan Green 2+2 Nick Oliver 1+3 Dean Francis 1+3 David Carr 1+0 Joe Edwards 1+0 Nick Eden 0+1

Solihull - Neil Adams 1+1 Erik Bakalar 1+0 Richard Taylor 1+0 Stephen Rowlands 0+1Ed Slater 0+1 Andrew Howarth 0+1

Penalties:

Oxford - Cox 2 mins , Featherstone 2 mins , Johnson 2 mins , J Oliver 2 mins

Solihull - Doyle 54 mins , Howarth 2 mins , Brindle 2 mins , Knight 2 mins , Perks 2 mins, Rowlands 2 mins , Eley 2 mins , Taylor 2 mins

Netminding:

Oxford Skaife 32 shots 2 goals against Mcgurk 10 shots 1 goal against

Referee

Evans

Also played:

Krater, Broughton, Knightley

Final Score - Cardiff 8 : 5 Oxford

5th January 2008

Oxford made the trip to Wales in determined mood to take on a Cardiff team in fine form although influential utility player Mark Krater was missing from the squad.

Oxford started brightly and peppered the Cardiff goal with shots from the very start of the match and this drew the home side in to taking a couple of minor penalties. Unfortunately Oxford’s powerplay was not firing on all cylinders and Cardiff rode the storm and began to press ahead themselves. With ten minutes gone Ben Davies picked up the puck in the Oxford zone and skated unchallenged across the slot before finishing well to make it 1-0 to the home side. Oxford then hit penalty trouble themselves and killed a 5 on 3 Cardiff powerplay along with another minor penalty and did well to keep the score the same until the end of the period.

If the first period showed Oxford’s strength of character the second period showed Oxford at their very worst. With only four minutes gone Cardiff had another powerplay and they made good use of it when Alex Madge finished well after good work from the impressive Davies. Three minutes later and Cardiff had extended their lead through David James and the panic had begun to set in amongst the Oxford ranks. At this point coach Darryl Morvan called a time out to settle his side but to no avail as the Stars continued to flounder. Cardiff soon scored a fourth through Davies and then Michael Price made it 5-0 to effectively kill off the game. Oxford did manage some consolation on the powerplay when Grant Bailey’s cross ice pass hit Cardiff defender Phil Manny’s skate and deflected past his own goalie.

The third period promised to be a dour affair with neither side playing good hockey and Cardiff well ahead. Stars back up goalie Kevin McGurk replaced James Skaife between the pipes. Oxford got off to a great start when the bespectacled Jacob Smith fired home a shorthanded goal to make it 5-2. Unfortunately for the Stars their joy was short lived as Jamie Dancey restored Cardiff’s four goal advantage virtually straight away. A rare Oxford powerplay saw the Stars hit another goal this time through Nick Eden from the point. A lack of concentration saw Cardiff make it 7-3 when James hit his second of the game past the diving McGurk. Unfortunately for the Stars goalie this led to him being stretchered off and both teams had to wait for the ambulance to arrive before play could resume. A good half an hour later the game restarted and it was the Stars who finally started playing the hockey they can. Straight from the restart the Stars came out of the blocks quickly and scored through Dean Francis whose long range slap shot found its way to the bottom corner of the Cardiff goal. Just as the Stars were contemplating a comeback though, Cardiff scored their eighth goal on the counter attack through Lewis Smith. Oxford to their credit kept going and when Dean Francis cut inside the Cardiff defence he dropped the puck to Nick Eden and Eden made no mistake looping the puck over the top of the floundering Cardiff goalie.

The score finished 8-5 to Cardiff and the Stars will be disappointed they did not give the Welsh team a closer game.

Final Score - Oxford 4 : 3 Coventry

6th January 2008

Oxford City Stars entertained the Coventry ENL Blaze in front of a decent crowd at the Oxpens rink. Mark Krater returned to the line up after missing the previous nights defeat to Cardiff.

Oxford coach Darryl Morvan shuffled his pack ahead of the clash to face a team that had walloped the City Stars 7-1 at the end of 2007. Former Solent sniper Kent Johnson joined Darren Elliott and Dean Francis on the first line and Jacob Smith was promoted up to the 2nd line to play on the wing alongside Alan Green and Grant Bailey.

The switches seemed to be working with the Stars flying at Blaze from the minute the puck dropped with Francis and Elliott both following up hits on the Coventry defencemen. A good spell of pressure followed with the Stars playing with intensity that had been lacking in recent weeks. Despite this good start the home side found themselves 1-0 down after Coventry youngster Joe Henry snuck in at the back post to convert a powerplay goal for the Blaze. Despite this setback the Stars continued to pressure the well drilled Coventry side at every turn but were finding it difficult to get a clear chance against Dan Shea in the Coventry goal. Finally the Stars got an opportunity on a delayed penalty (Papps for holding) and the home side made no mistake with flamboyant skipper Darren Elliott finishing in to the top corner from a Dean Francis pass. To their credit Coventry kept going and were showing signs of why they had beaten Oxford so comfortably only weeks before. Wilcox and Pease looked assured in defence for the visitors and Henry and Todd were looking lively up front and Oxford had to breathe a sigh of relief when a shot from Tom Ledgard cannoned off the corner of the crossbar and to safety. The Coventry players were not amused as they believed the puck had bounced out of the back of the net but to be fair to the referee he was well up with play and did not need to rely on the goal judge. It was clear that the Stars had to keep up the level of intensity or Coventry would run riot. Just when the Stars seemed unable to make further headway, the tall striding Alan Green span around the top of the circle inside the Coventry zone and unleashed a slap shot along the ice that beat the goalie and nestled in the back of the net with only ten seconds remaining in the period.

After such an eventful first period the second was never going to follow suit however it was not without incident. With only 6 minutes gone Coventry’s defenceman Chris Wilcox was given a ten minute personal misconduct and 3 minutes later Oxford’s third line stole the show with Joe Oliver cycling hard around the back of the net and making space for pint sized Sam Broughton to finish coolly. Oxford now had a two goal advantage but as their supporters are aware they never like to do things the easy way and when Joe Henry scored his second for Coventry when left all alone in front of the net it was game on for the third period.

Oxford came out for the third knowing that the first goal would be vital. Unfortunately they were short handed virtually as soon as the period started causing audible groans from Stars players and fans alike. With Coventry camped in the Oxford end they managed to lose possession and Lee Featherstone passed the puck to Elliott on the boards who spotted the flying figure of Dean Francis and picked him out with a precision pass to allow Francis a one on one with Shea in the Coventry goal, and the Oxford forward drilled the puck home to give Oxford that vital two goal cushion. Four minutes later the dogged Coventry team scored again through Scott Murray to set up a rousing finale. Oxford managed to hold out for the remaining ten minutes but the story did not end there. With Coventry pulling their goalie for the last ten seconds to give them an extra man on the ice, they lost the face off and Oxford cleared the zone. With Alan Green rushing for the puck he managed to get a back handed shot away before the buzzer but as he skated past the empty net, Coventry defenceman Pease pushed him into the goal. Unfortunately for Pease he didn’t see Grant Bailey skating towards him and with Bailey clearly upset the two dropped gloves and both teams waded in for a mass brawl that would have been at home in a western movie. Naturally the crowd were quite excited by this point but after all the fuss had died down both teams shook hands with the exception of Coventry goalie Dan Shea who stormed off the ice after hitting at least two Stars players from behind with his blocker whilst they were fighting other players.

Oxford celebrated what had been a hard fought victory against a Coventry team who really are emerging as one of the strong teams in the league under the guidance of former Elite league player Joel Poirier

Scorers:

Oxford: Dean Francis 1+1, Darren Elliott 1+1, Sam Broughton 1+0, Alan Green 1+0, Joe Oliver 0+1, Mark Krater 0+1, Lee Featherstone 0+1.

Coventry: Joe Henry 2+0, Scott Murray 1+0, Kieran Papps 0+1, Stuart Clayton 0+1, Aram Todd 0+1.

Penalties:

Oxford: Grant Bailey 31 mins (inc Match), Will Skaife 27 (inc Match), Jacob Smith 25 (inc Match), Andy Cox 4, Alan Green 4, Dave Carr 2, Sam Broughton 2.

Coventry: Tom Pease 54 mins (inc 2 Match), Stuart Clayton 50 (inc 2 Match), Dan Shea 50 (inc 2 Match), Chris Wilcox 10 (inc misc), Scott Murray 4, Matt Halford 4, Joe Henry 2, Ollie Nabbs 2, Bench 2.

Netminding:

Oxford: James Skaife - 31 saves, 3 goals, total 34.

Coventry: Dan Shea - 26 saves, 4 goals, total 30 (59.14).

Period scores:

2-1, 1-1, 1-1

Also played:

Oxford: Nick Eden, Kent Johnson, Nick Oliver, Joe Edwards, Patrick Knightley, david Tyler (NM - did not ice).

Coventry: Hayden Laverick (NM - did not ice), Ryan Selwood, Tom Ledgard, Ian Hunt, Luke Curtis, Scott Mulholland, Tom Hooper, Daniel Burgess.

Final Score - Coventry 7 : 1 Oxford

22nd December 2007

Oxford made the trip to Coventry hoping to continue their strong league form against the ENL Blaze. The City Stars welcomed back Dave Carr and Grant Bailey to the line up but were missing Nick Eden and Andy Cox.

The game started with both teams battling hard but not showing much quality. Oxford looking slightly more dangerous but not directly threatening Fone in the Coventry goal. It took nearly thirteen minutes for anything of note to happen when Lee Featherstone’s mid ice hit on Coventry forward Joe Henry was deemed to be an elbowing offence by the referee who seemed to call the penalty based on the ‘oooohs’ of the crowd. Thirty seconds later a nasty slash by a Coventry forward on Oxford goalie James Skaife saw Jacob Smith push the offending player out of the crease only to be assessed a roughing minor by the eagle eyed official. Suprisingly the slash was not deemed worthy of a penalty and with a 5 on 3 powerplay, Papps found Henry all alone in front of the net and he finished top shelf to give Coventry the lead. At 1-0 down at the end of the first the Stars were confident of turning the game around.

Yet again both teams were slow out of the starting blocks and it took ten minutes before anything really happened. Unfortunately for Oxford it was Papps scoring for Coventry after good work from Henry. Four minutes later it was three nil after a speculative shot by Nabbs hit Skaifes blocker and looped over his own head to drop in to the Oxford goal. It seemed that Coventry now had the midas touch and they looked like scoring every time they attacked whereas Oxford looked subdued to say the least. Oxford’s luck ran out completely before the end of the period when Lee Featherstone limped off with a dead leg.

At three nil down many were expecting the Stars to come out flying but in fairness the home side had found their stride and confidence. With thirty seconds gone Coventry scored through former Milton Keynes forward Aram Todd and it was effectively game over. Three minutes later Henry skated down the wing and hit a shot from virtually the goal line that crept inside Skaifes pads at the near post to round off a miserable night for the Stars goalie. Back up goalie Kevin McGurk replaced him and was called in to action virtually straight away pulling off a stunning leg pad save from a shot across goal. The Stars then gained possesion and Dave Carr played the puck wide to rookie Joe Edwards who slid the puck to Kent Johnson in front of goal and the former Solent sniper played a neat backhanded shot through the goalies legs to give Oxford a consolation goal. If Oxford thought their luck had changed then they were in for a shock as Henry coasted round the back of the net to score a wrap around goal and seal his hat trick. Coventry made it 7-1 with only 6 minutes remaining through Ledgard to round off a miserable evening for the Stars. Whilst the Stars were no where near as bad as the 7-1 scoreline suggests they were certainly subdued and struggled to deal with Coventry’s wide ice.

Final Score - Oxford 1 : 2 Peterborough

Sunday 9th December 2007

Oxford entertained the previously unbeaten Peterborough Islanders with a few scores to settle after defeats to the Islanders on two occasions already this season.

Both teams started the game at a frenetic pace however the referee had to step in early to sort out an incident between Stars captain Darren Elliott and Peterborough antagoniser extraordinaire Ross Mackintosh. This happened after another low dangerous hit by Mackintosh who seemingly wanted to finish where he had left off in the previous game where he hospitalised Elliott with a similar dangerous low hit. Elliott reacted and both players were sent to the box to cool off. Oxford then had the better of the play but both teams continued to hit penalty trouble with the referee determined to clamp down on any misdemeanours that may escalate tempers. This was a wise move by the ref who by and large continued his sensible approach to the game throughout. The first period stayed goal less with Oxford carving out by far the more chances.

The second period saw more of the same with Oxford looking most likely to score but the Peterborough net minder holding firm. Dean Francis had the best chance of the period for Oxford but hit the bar from close range to leave the home fans frustrated. With less than a minute remaining in the period a pass from left hand side by Islanders Steve Maile was met by Perkins who snatched at the shot but the puck somehow bobbled under Stars netminder James Skaife to give the Islanders a vital lead.

If Oxford thought they had been hard done by, they were probably right but they came out flying in the third period and scored the equaliser with only a minute gone. A speculative dump by Mark Krater was spilled by the Peterborough goalie to the bemused Grant Bailey who rounded the flailing goalie to send the home fans wild. This seemed to shock the Islanders and Oxford then enjoyed long periods of pressure with the Peterborough goalie more than making up for his error with some fine saves from Green, Francis and Elliott in particular. With the last two minutes approaching Fraser Hendry skated down on the Oxford defence and seemed to have no options until he dropped the puck back to Mackintosh who was all alone and made no mistake firing the puck through Skaife’s legs to seal the game for the visitors and spark wild celebrations on the Islanders bench. At the end of the game there was an altercation between Grant Bailey and Islanders Craig Britton who had bored everyone throughout the game questioning every single call the referee made. Nothing came of this and both teams returned to the blue line for the man of the match awards.

Scorers:

Oxford: Grant Bailey 1+0, Mark Krater 0+1.

Peterborough: Thomas Perkins 1+0, Ross Mackintosh 1+0, Steve Maile 0+1, Clint Herring 0+1, Fraser Hendry 0+1.

Penalties:

Oxford: Dave Carr, Jacob Smith, Will Skaife, Andy Cox, Nick Oliver Lee Featherstone, Grant Bailey, Darren Elliott, all 2 mins.

Peterborough: Kristian Simo 6 mins, Steve Maile 6, Clint Herring 4, Jason Buckman 4, Ross Mackintosh 4, Rob Jinks 2.

Netminding:

Oxford: James Skaife - 29 saves, 2 goals, total 31.

Peterborough: James Moore - 33 saves, 1 goal, total 32.

Also Played:

Oxford: Nick Eden, Joe Oliver, Kent Johnson, Sam Broughton, Nick Oliver, Dean Francis, Kevin McGurk (NM - did not ice).

Peterborough: Keiren De'Ath, Jon Brammall, Dale Jowett, Jamie Holland, Adam Holloway, Craig Britton, Kelly Herring (NM - did not ice), Tony Dawson, Jon Cranston, Bernie Bradford, James Pentecost, Stu Dane.

Period Scores:

0-0, 0-1, 1-1