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The Inferno
Cardiff Devils U18's Match Reports roundup
1st Oct 2012 | Posted by Geraint Walters
Peterborough Phantoms U18s 4 – 7 Cardiff Devils U18s
On Saturday 8th September while the Elite league Devils were getting their league campaign under way on the road in Sheffield, the Devils U18 squad were also hitting the motorway to start their own league challenge against top rivals the Peterborough Phantoms. Two seasons ago at U16s, it was the Phantoms that piped the Devils to the league title after a hard fought season, leaving the Devils as runners up.
The Devils hit the ice fast in the first period and really forced the pace early on, showing their off ice work over the summer has really had improvements to their conditioning. Periods of good fore checking pressure presented the Devils with several early opportunities with Joe Morris and Owen Griffiths both forcing saves from Sam James in the Phantoms net. The Devils controlled large periods of the first period but could not find a way past James to break the deadlock.
The second period saw a much more even period with Peterborough coming out quick and GB international Lewis Hook forcing a superb glove save from James Whiting in the Devils nets in the first minute. Peterborough did break the deadlock soon after on the Power-play, but the Devils hit straight back with Ellis Price forcing a mistake and breaking down the left wing to score from a sharp angle. It was the Phantoms, who would again take the lead half way through the mid frame, as the Devils were punished for a poor line change, and the Phantoms scored on a 4 on 2 break, scrambling home a rebound effort. But once again the Devils managed to tie the game within a minute. This time Zak Shanahan received a breakaway pass from Owen Griffiths to skate in on his own and finish calmly one on one with the keeper. Cardiff managed to take momentum from this and had several controlled spells of pressure which resulted in a Peterborough penalty at 34.39. Giacomo Rafffaelli won the resulting face-off and after several passes, Joe Morris riffled a shot from the point to give the Devils their first lead of the game at 35.15, and going into the second break.
Peterborough came out from the locker rooms early for the final 20 minutes and seemed to get the jump on the Devils scoring twice inside the first four minutes to regain the lead and rock the Devils, resulting in Cardiff’s coach Jamie Elson calling a time out to steady his team. And the break seemed to work as the Devils took charge from this point in. Again Cardiff answered in under a minute to tie the game up. Great work by Kieran Latchford and Owen Griffiths down low, saw Griffiths make the killer pass to Shanahan on the back post who finished first time for his second of the match and the goal of the game. At this point the Devils were really in control and looking the stronger team. They continued to exert pressure on the Phantoms defence and were rewarded with another Power-play chance. And again a Devils defenseman would take the PP opportunity. This time Jack Randall broke up the middle of the ice on his own, beating two players before jamming the puck home from a tight angle to regain the lead for the visitors and send a killer blow to their hosts at 55.39.
The Devils weren’t done though and really put the icing on the win with two more late markers. First of all Alex Stanton-Lewis rounding off a solid personal display scoring for the Devils with a strong shot off the boards, and then Kieran Latchford rounding off the scoring on a 2v1 break, after a good pass from Shanahan finishing off a three point game for him. Final score 7-4 to the Devils and a great road win to start the year off, having come from behind 3 times.
Man of the Match – Owen Griffiths
Shots on goal: Sam James (Peterborough) 43, James Whiting (Cardiff) 31
Scorers: Zak Shanahan 2+1, Ellis Price 1+1, Kieran Latchford 1+1, Jack Randall 1+0, Joe Morris 1+0, Alex Stanton-Lewis 1+0, Owen Griffiths 0+2
Cardiff Devils U18s 11 v 1 Basingstoke Junior Bison
The Devils U18s squad started where they left off in Peterborough in fine scoring form. Basingstoke, in Cardiff with a weaker squad than in previous years battled hard, and had a strong performance from Charlie Hanley in net, who turned away plenty of shots early on, keeping the score much lower than it could have been. The Devils speed and strength and bigger bench enabled them to dictate the pace of the game and control long periods and once the first goal went in from Kieran Latchford the home side never looked back. A second marker on the Power-play from Jack Randall doubled the lead at 8-44, before Latchford hit his second after nice build up work from Owen Griffiths and Callum Buglass left an easy finish from the angle. The Devils ran into penalty trouble before the end of the first period, with defenseman Randall ejected from the game for two 10-minute misconducts following an altercation with the Bison netminder on a delayed penalty.
However the Devils were in no mood to sit back, and even whilst a man short Joe Morris sent Ellis Price off down the left wing to finish calmly and give the U18 Devils a commanding 4-0 lead at the end of 20 minutes.
The second period saw a more disciplined Devils performance as they stayed away from the penalty bin and gained several Power-Plays. The special team unit set to work with several impressive controlled spells which saw Hanley in net busy keeping the score at 4-0. Giacomo Raffaelli did however capitalise on the PP, walking off the boards to score on the backhand through the five hole. Cardiff were dressing five U16 players as part of the squad, all of whom contributed with hard working displays, and centre Owen Bradshaw scored next, finishing well for his first U18 goal and showing great potential for the future. With long spells of pressure the score was soon to start ticking over, and first Latchford hit his hat-trick and then Raffaelli hit his second of what was to be a four goal personal display to take the home team to 8-0, before the Bison capitalised on a mix up at the back to get their only marker and an 8-1 score at the second break.
The third period saw the Devils conditioning come into effect. They looked far more the fresher of the two teams, and really moved the puck around the ice well, starting with great control from there core of defensemen. They created chance after chance and looked hungry to keep the score rattling over. It only took them 46 seconds of the period to get their ninth and Raffaelli’s hat-trick goal. The goal that took them into double figures was the goal of the night, as hard working defenseman Alex Stanton-Lewis capped off an excellent personal display. Picking up the puck in the neutral zone hit battled through two checks before firing the puck top corner from inside the blueline. Raffaelli finished off with the Devils eleventh and his fourth to send the Devils joint top of the league after two games, along side title rivals Guildford and Bracknell.
The Devils return to action this Sunday 7th October against local rivals Swindon in what is sure to be a tough, physical match. Face-off 4.30pm
Man of the Match – Owen Griffiths
Scorers: Giacomo Raffaelli 4+0, Kieran Latchford 3+1, Alex Stanton-Lewis 1+3, Ellis Price 1+2, Jack Randall 1+0, Owen Bradshaw 1+0, Owen Griffiths 0+2, Callum Buglass 0+2, Joe Morris 0+1,
On Saturday 8th September while the Elite league Devils were getting their league campaign under way on the road in Sheffield, the Devils U18 squad were also hitting the motorway to start their own league challenge against top rivals the Peterborough Phantoms. Two seasons ago at U16s, it was the Phantoms that piped the Devils to the league title after a hard fought season, leaving the Devils as runners up.
The Devils hit the ice fast in the first period and really forced the pace early on, showing their off ice work over the summer has really had improvements to their conditioning. Periods of good fore checking pressure presented the Devils with several early opportunities with Joe Morris and Owen Griffiths both forcing saves from Sam James in the Phantoms net. The Devils controlled large periods of the first period but could not find a way past James to break the deadlock.
The second period saw a much more even period with Peterborough coming out quick and GB international Lewis Hook forcing a superb glove save from James Whiting in the Devils nets in the first minute. Peterborough did break the deadlock soon after on the Power-play, but the Devils hit straight back with Ellis Price forcing a mistake and breaking down the left wing to score from a sharp angle. It was the Phantoms, who would again take the lead half way through the mid frame, as the Devils were punished for a poor line change, and the Phantoms scored on a 4 on 2 break, scrambling home a rebound effort. But once again the Devils managed to tie the game within a minute. This time Zak Shanahan received a breakaway pass from Owen Griffiths to skate in on his own and finish calmly one on one with the keeper. Cardiff managed to take momentum from this and had several controlled spells of pressure which resulted in a Peterborough penalty at 34.39. Giacomo Rafffaelli won the resulting face-off and after several passes, Joe Morris riffled a shot from the point to give the Devils their first lead of the game at 35.15, and going into the second break.
Peterborough came out from the locker rooms early for the final 20 minutes and seemed to get the jump on the Devils scoring twice inside the first four minutes to regain the lead and rock the Devils, resulting in Cardiff’s coach Jamie Elson calling a time out to steady his team. And the break seemed to work as the Devils took charge from this point in. Again Cardiff answered in under a minute to tie the game up. Great work by Kieran Latchford and Owen Griffiths down low, saw Griffiths make the killer pass to Shanahan on the back post who finished first time for his second of the match and the goal of the game. At this point the Devils were really in control and looking the stronger team. They continued to exert pressure on the Phantoms defence and were rewarded with another Power-play chance. And again a Devils defenseman would take the PP opportunity. This time Jack Randall broke up the middle of the ice on his own, beating two players before jamming the puck home from a tight angle to regain the lead for the visitors and send a killer blow to their hosts at 55.39.
The Devils weren’t done though and really put the icing on the win with two more late markers. First of all Alex Stanton-Lewis rounding off a solid personal display scoring for the Devils with a strong shot off the boards, and then Kieran Latchford rounding off the scoring on a 2v1 break, after a good pass from Shanahan finishing off a three point game for him. Final score 7-4 to the Devils and a great road win to start the year off, having come from behind 3 times.
Man of the Match – Owen Griffiths
Shots on goal: Sam James (Peterborough) 43, James Whiting (Cardiff) 31
Scorers: Zak Shanahan 2+1, Ellis Price 1+1, Kieran Latchford 1+1, Jack Randall 1+0, Joe Morris 1+0, Alex Stanton-Lewis 1+0, Owen Griffiths 0+2
Cardiff Devils U18s 11 v 1 Basingstoke Junior Bison
The Devils U18s squad started where they left off in Peterborough in fine scoring form. Basingstoke, in Cardiff with a weaker squad than in previous years battled hard, and had a strong performance from Charlie Hanley in net, who turned away plenty of shots early on, keeping the score much lower than it could have been. The Devils speed and strength and bigger bench enabled them to dictate the pace of the game and control long periods and once the first goal went in from Kieran Latchford the home side never looked back. A second marker on the Power-play from Jack Randall doubled the lead at 8-44, before Latchford hit his second after nice build up work from Owen Griffiths and Callum Buglass left an easy finish from the angle. The Devils ran into penalty trouble before the end of the first period, with defenseman Randall ejected from the game for two 10-minute misconducts following an altercation with the Bison netminder on a delayed penalty.
However the Devils were in no mood to sit back, and even whilst a man short Joe Morris sent Ellis Price off down the left wing to finish calmly and give the U18 Devils a commanding 4-0 lead at the end of 20 minutes.
The second period saw a more disciplined Devils performance as they stayed away from the penalty bin and gained several Power-Plays. The special team unit set to work with several impressive controlled spells which saw Hanley in net busy keeping the score at 4-0. Giacomo Raffaelli did however capitalise on the PP, walking off the boards to score on the backhand through the five hole. Cardiff were dressing five U16 players as part of the squad, all of whom contributed with hard working displays, and centre Owen Bradshaw scored next, finishing well for his first U18 goal and showing great potential for the future. With long spells of pressure the score was soon to start ticking over, and first Latchford hit his hat-trick and then Raffaelli hit his second of what was to be a four goal personal display to take the home team to 8-0, before the Bison capitalised on a mix up at the back to get their only marker and an 8-1 score at the second break.
The third period saw the Devils conditioning come into effect. They looked far more the fresher of the two teams, and really moved the puck around the ice well, starting with great control from there core of defensemen. They created chance after chance and looked hungry to keep the score rattling over. It only took them 46 seconds of the period to get their ninth and Raffaelli’s hat-trick goal. The goal that took them into double figures was the goal of the night, as hard working defenseman Alex Stanton-Lewis capped off an excellent personal display. Picking up the puck in the neutral zone hit battled through two checks before firing the puck top corner from inside the blueline. Raffaelli finished off with the Devils eleventh and his fourth to send the Devils joint top of the league after two games, along side title rivals Guildford and Bracknell.
The Devils return to action this Sunday 7th October against local rivals Swindon in what is sure to be a tough, physical match. Face-off 4.30pm
Man of the Match – Owen Griffiths
Scorers: Giacomo Raffaelli 4+0, Kieran Latchford 3+1, Alex Stanton-Lewis 1+3, Ellis Price 1+2, Jack Randall 1+0, Owen Bradshaw 1+0, Owen Griffiths 0+2, Callum Buglass 0+2, Joe Morris 0+1,
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