After a good trip to Asda in the break, we were back on the rink to take on Wigan in the late match. Wigan were without a goalie so Mark went on loan for this last game. Wherewolves came out strong and our short bench showed, we went down 3-0 by the end of the first, and it wasn't until midway through the second that we got going defensively. Sepp scored a nice goal on a slapshot from the right point, but it was Wigan who dominated most of the second period. We left Cube on his own getting caught in their end too deep turning over several 2 and 3 on 1's. In the third Wigan ran away with it and final score was 12-4. A dissappointing result, at the end of a tough season.
Macclesfield Meltdown 4 Hallamshire Hornets 6
Period Scores 0-1/4-5
PiM: 0-2 SoG: 14-16
Meltdown: S. Furnival 2+1; M. Jones 1+0; D. Wright 1+0; B. Lees 0+1; Net:
Coleman 16/6 (72.50%)
Hornets: Pashley 2+1; Rainbow 2+1; Tarpey 1+0; Walsh 1+0; Hallam 0+1; Net: McEwan 14/4 (81.43%)
Meltdown Win - Sunday 16 January 2005
Meltdown travelled to Deeside arena Sunday 16th January
for the first FIHL fixtures of 2005. Coming off a 8-5 victory over Sheffield
Kings on the 12th of December, Meltdown came out swinging dominating the first
match against our old rivals the Wigan Wherewolves early on. In uncharacteristic
Meltdown style we were first on the scoreboard, Player coach Nick Tapping
in after only a few minutes had expired. This set the scene for the rest of
the match with the lads working hard and moving the puck about nicely. Wigan
managed to pull one back but it went into the first break 3-1 meltdown. It
was much of the same in the second with Macc moving through the neutral zone
quickly. Sepp got the lads going with his "Angry man" antics. Jimmy
Burgess and Dan Lees both scoring on some well timed plays. Wigan did catch
us on the break though and we couldnt take anything for granted and had to
play tight defense to stop them from getting back into the game. Forward Jimmy
Burgess clashed with Jonesy in a nasty bump by the blue line and went off
with a bloody nose. He came back on after treatment and banged in a couple
more though to complete the hattrick. trouble was not over though and he soon
got into a scuffle with the Wigan goalie after the whistle had blown and spent
two minutes in the sin bin for it. We showed our depth and ability in killing
off the penalty. Some good passing plays in the third period, controlling
the play well in their end and Dan and Nick sealed the win, Nick getting his
hattrick with a cracking shot. The final score Meltdown 8 Wherewolves 3. Manager
Clive was happy with the result "It was a great team performance our
best so far this season" he also praised Power forward Jimmy burgess
who has finally come out of his scoring slump of late.
Next match was against Heywood Hawks who we beat 12-3 in the first game of
the season. Hawks were keen to prove themselves though and the game was up
for grabs right from the get-go. Meltdown struggling to get any quality shots
on net the Heywood defence doing well to force the play. It took until 5 minutes
had expired in the second period when Heywood scored, a quick pass in front
to the unmarked man who beat Cube high on the stick side. It turned into quite
a physical game as our frustration began to show. Nick rallied the lads round
in the second interval and we came out strong in the third. John unlucky to
score on at least two unbelievable chances in close. A nice pass from Sepp
onto Fordys stick and he let one rip from the high slot beating the hawks
goalie glove side he had no chance. This got the ball rolling and Jimmy tucked
another in after a nice skate in from the right wing. Dan Lees scoring after
a well set up play only minutes later. Heywood weren't going to give up though
and they got one back with only 47 seconds remaining. It went right down to
the wire and Cube had to make a tough save through the screen as the buzzer
sounded. Final score 3-2 Meltdown and a happy manager Clive, post match comments:
"We initially struggled to get through the Heywood D but the lads kept
at it, new players are improving and had a good game, overall now begginngs
of a new team spirit which hopefully we can carry into next Sundays fixtures
at Rotherham."
Match Reports - Sunday 5th December
Meltdown went to Deeside for the last FIHL fixtures before the Christmas break. Without key players Nick Crawley, Ben Sykes, Robbie Griffiths, and Ben Lees. First match was against our Rivals the Blackpool Raiders, John Boswells squad are one of the hardest working young teams in the Northwest, and we have had some good close games against them over the past few seasons. New Meltdown signings John Browning and Mike Leighton made their debut. Meltdown Fans will remember both John and Mike from a few years ago. Both forwards were a key part in Meltdowns success from 1995 to 1999. John was a leading scorer and Mike represented Great Britain twice. Both now back in the Meltdown Line-up.
John was unlucky not to score on a couple of good chances
early on in the match and both teams traded goals, Mike Rawles scoring for
Macc with a nice shot from the high slot, and by the break it was 2-2. Meltdown
struggled to get many chances on the Blackpool net as the Raiders controlled
the play well in their end. Dan Lees was also unlucky not to score at the
18 minute mark after an inspiring break through on their net was well saved.
Less than 4 minutes remaining and Blackpool went ahead, as the meltdown legs
were tired by then. Final score 3-2 Blackpool. Next game was against Team
Pioneers who are the youngest team in the FIHL this season. Again we couldnt
find the firepower we needed and lost by a score of 3-1. Young Bobby Mason
doing well in the Pioneers net to stop ant chances we did get. Two disapointing
results for the Meltdown in a league we should be doing very well in. New
signing Mike Leighton was optimistic about the second half of the season though
"Losing key players through injury is tough on a team like Macc, Liverpool
FC got through it though. i'm still working on my fitness which is bound to
show in the next few matches".
Defenseman Robbie Griffiths should be back for the last BIPHA fixtures of
2004 on Sunday December 12th against Sheffield and Cambridge.
Sunday 21st November at Rotherham, First game of the day was Rotherham Rhinos who sit near the bottom half of the Rotherham league.
We had a short bench with key players Ben and robbie out through injury and Dan out through Suspension and it showed as we struggled to get going. A long well timed pass through the defenders from Jonesy onto my run behind the defense near half way through the first half gave me a one on one and I snuck it in off the goalie to get us going. They equalised soon after and it seemed at times we were just going through the motions until halftime.
It came together in the second half and we got our arses in gear with a rebound goal worked by Craig. Jonesy chipped a quality back hand to make it 3-1 and I got the final goal with a good pass from Seppo and a wrister through the five hole.
Mark did well in net in the first and a second half as we were struggling to get anything going and when we did it ended up with everyone bombing forward leaving Mark to fend off a couple of break aways that really shouldnt have happened.
The lines for Rotherham first game were Forwards Craig, Jimmy, and Mike Rawles. On Defense were Seppo, Jonesy, and Ben Lees.
The second game against Durham saw the return of Danny as
a makeshift forward with brother ben.
They did a great job at getting into the durham defenders and tracking back
to give us a bit more depth upfront. Clive also had craig and jim up front.
At the back was Sepp, Jonesy and Big Mike Rawles. To our credit with such
a small bench we did a great job of staying with the 3 full lines that Durham
had but in the end they turned us over 4-1.
A couple of penalties at the end of the game gave us little chance to get
back into them as the damage had already been done.
Meltdown went to play against Crewes Missiles on sunday 7th November in what promised to be a relatively easy game on the score sheet. Nicks return to the Meltdown Lineup as Player Coach was spoiled by injuries despite the easy win. Forward Ben Sykes Suffered a broken leg with less than 4 minutes remaining in front of the Crewe goal. He was stretchered off to the hospital. Expected to be out for the rest of the season. Meltdown also lost Defenceman Robbie Griffiths in the same game due to strained ligaments. He is expected to be out for up to 4 weeks. The game was abandoned after Bens injury and the final score was 12-1 Meltdown.
The second game of the day was against our rivals the Revolution. This saw
Pete Yarwood return to the lineup after a month out. He would soon make an
impact scoring and setting up on several plays. However the lads were short
benched without Ben and Robbie and were unable to hold off the Revolution
who have strengthened their squad this year with several younger players to
support veterans Dave Wright and Brian Greenhalgh. Final score was Revolution
8 Meltdown 4. A disappointing result for meltdown and our first loss of the
season in the FIHL.
Next matches are at Rotherham against Sheffield and Durham. Dan Lees suspension
expires for the Durham game which will be a relief for manager Clive.
Meltdown Back in BIPHA Central
Seniors travelled to Rotherham sunday for games one and two of the BIPHA Central Senior League. First opponents was Norton Cyclones who always come with a strong squad. The Meltdown team for the day was Cube and Mark sharing the goaltending duties, Seppo, Robbie, Dan Lees, and Dave Wright on Defence, and Forwards Jimmy, Sykesy, Craig, Mike, and Brian Greenhalgh.
Norton went ahead at just under 3 minutes a good solo effort from Wilson put them in front. Sepp went off for hooking and we managed to kill the resulting powerplay well. Back to full strength and It took Brian to Jump on the rebound of a Robbie Griffiths shot to tie the game at 1 after 12 minutes had expired. Norton continued to dominate though and they went ahead just before the break when Tilley scored unassisted. A scuffle in front of their net errupted after we came close to levelling it again and Jimmy was sent for an early shower and a match ban for buttending. Both teams came out fighting in the second half more penalties would ensue Dan going off for buttending and Robbie later for tripping as our frustration began to show. Archer put Cyclones on the board again as we struggled to contain their attack, despite our best efforts we were unable to come back and the final score was 3-1. Mark did well stopping 22 of 25 shots.
Game two against the Leicester Dragons who are newcomers to the league this season. They had a short bench but some really strong skaters. They won the MLRH Senior Division at IceSheffield this past July so we were not expecting an easy game at all. It looked even handed early on until Robbie scored late in the first half a nice shot from the high slot after a turnover in front of their bench. Dragons came back though to level it at 1 Cube stopping the first shot but we couldnt get to the rebound in time. A longer than usual summer break showed us up in the second half as both teams looked tired. We were lucky to go ahead when Sykesys quick shot from the right faceoff caught their goalie out and it was 2-1 Meltdown. They came close to tieing it a few times and it went right down to the last few seconds Cube making an excellent save in close right before the buzzer. Not the best start to the Season with 1 win, 1 loss, early standings see us in fifth place behind Ravens.
Season Opener 2004-05
The Meltdown Season started Sunday October 3rd with an early
face-off in the newly formed breakaway Flintshire Inline Hockey League. Game
one matchup against local rivals Heywood Hawks. A repeat of last Seasons first
game in the NIHL where Meltdown fought to a disappointing 5 all draw. Clive
was hoping for a better performance to start this season off and the lads
were raring to go after a good summer break.
Shortly before the faceoff it was confirmed that Meltdown Fan favourite Mike
Rawles would play. After spending the second half of last season on the Injured
Reserve list due to a fractured Fibia Rawles confirmed he was match fit after
a pre-season medical shortly before warm-up. Mark Griffiths would make his
Senior League debut in the Macc Goal. Meltdown were without Coach Nick Crawley
(family comittments), Pete Yarwood (work committments), and Tom king (Ice
Hockey game) but got off to a good start with Robbie chipping in after less
than 2 minutes. The lads were glad to be back on the big rink and it soon
showed. Rawles working well with the twins and Sykesy to break the puck out
nicely. Up front we kept control early forcing Heywood to do a lot of the
work in their end. Jimmy caught hawks defence out with a nifty move on the
left point and broke in 1 on 0 to beat the goalie upstairs he didnt have a
chance. Heywood skated well and we had to be disiplined to dominate the game.
Our experience began to pay off after the first break as we moved the puck
around better. we wore them down with some good defensive rushes from the
twins and the goals soon went in. Mark was unlucky to lose his shutout in
the start of the third. Final score was 12-2 a good warm-up and a good start
to the Season.
Game two was bound to be a tougher game with Teeside Renegades despite being
short benched putting a stop to our early attempts on goal. It took a funny
rebound on Fordys shot from the high slot which hit the goalie in the shoulder
before popping up out of his sight and landing just over the goal line after
three minutes had expired. It didnt take long for Renegades to tie it up though
catching us short handed in their end a 2 on 1 passing play and a nice shot
off the rebound beating Cube for their first goal. The game was close-fought
from then on with neither team willing to give up many good chances. Jimmy
and Robbie put two more goals on the board in the second period, Teeside didnt
give up though and the game stayed locked at 3. A close call for their goalie
after a Jim Burgess shot caught him in the neck. After treatment he carried
on frustrating the Meltdown Forwards making several point blank stops that
had the lads shaking their heads. Rawles missing some sitters (must be rusty),
Craig hit the post and Sykesy was unlucky not to score on a breakaway pass
from Dan. Cube made some excellent saves on short handed breaks, time and
time again our forwards getting caught too far in their end with Teeside taking
advantage of a fast break pass. Sykesy got called for tripping with 9 minutes
to go and the Lees boys took control of the PK, Teeside unable to manage a
single Powerplay shot. By this time our longer bench started to pay off, teeside
tiring and Sykesy was able to chip in the rebound off Dans shot from the left
circle to put the game on ice with less than a minute and a half remaining.
Final score 4-3.
End of the 2004 Season
Friday July 23rd Meltdown Seniors travelled down to Lord Roberts Rifle Range in Bisley for the annual end of Season NSHL Tournement. We are defending champions from last year so will be the team to beat. We started out well for a change winning all three games on the saturday beating NA Knights, Gaer Alstarz, and Chelmsford Stars. Cube making his Meltdown Debut by picking up 2 shutouts along the way. We went straight through to the quarter Finals on Sunday morning with an early Face-off against Titans B. This was a physical game but we managed to beat them and progress to the semi final against Cambridge Lightning. This was also a physical game but we managed to stray focussed, play our game and win but not without losing Jimmy to a game misconduct for a scuffle by the timekepers box. The big Final was against Sandhurst Alstars who had a big squad. We got drawn into hitting though, after some questionable hits sent Danny off injured. With a short bench we quickly tired. Sandhurst took the lead with only 2 minutes left to make it 3-2 and it looked like it was all over. We managed to tie it up though with only seconds left and it went to OT. Our legs were tired and Sandhurst took advantage scoring on the break and winning the game and the tournement. With 1 or 2 more players with fresh legs the result could well have been different. Robbie and Dan were rightly selected for the tournement Dream Team. A well-earned summer break for everyone.
26/06/2004
End of the BIPHA Season
Seniors traveled to Rotherham 26th June faceoff against
the league-leading Hornets. This was always going to be a tough game as the
Hornets have a really strong squad again this year. Hornets took the lead
as we didnt pass the puck around as well as we can, we can get away with this
against the weeker sides but against the Hornets who pass the puck really
well its not good enough to beat them. The final score was 10-4 to them. Next
match was against the Ravens who we beat 5-2 but still didnt pass the puck
enough.
June 27th the last day of the 2004 season and we were awarded the 1-0 win
as Durham didnt turn up for the match on time. The final game of the year
was against the Raptors who we beat 7-2 in January. We finished the season
well by working as a team and everyone was doing their jobs we closed their
attacks down really well and created a lot of scoring chances by making quality
decisions on the puck. The final score was 9-2 to us, so in the final league
standings we narrowly missed out on 3rd place 1 point behind Durham.
05/06/2004
Stampede and Pinegrove
Sunday 4th April saw the Seniors travel to Virtual Ice Inline for two games against 10th place Stampede and 12th place Kings in the Northern League. In the early faceoff, Stampede came out strong with two quick goals as Meltdown struggled to put their game together. Goals from Sykesy leveled things up by the half though and Meltdown got their game on in the second half moving the puck better despite losing Tom for 2 minutes roughing at 26.32.Fordy put Meltdown ahead before Sepp finished them off with an empty netter with 16 seconds remaining.
The Kings game started out with a replay of the earlier game as we went quickly behind 2-0 again just to get Clive worrying. The Lees boys soon took control though and we were level by the 8 minute mark. Goals by Robbie, Sepp, Jimmy, Craig, Tom and Ben and Dan put the game out of reach. Sepp picking up the Hat-trick. Tom went off for his third rest in the box after a boarding charge that we killed off no problem. Beddoes making some great point-blank saves to deny the kings any chance of getting back in the game.
Meltdown stepped up a gear and the final score was 13-2.
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