The Whitley Bay Islanders consolidated their place at the top of the NRHC Northern Conference standings with a hard-fought win against a spirited Kingston Cobras side.
The Humberside based outfit arrived at Hillheads with just 10 skaters but managed to push the Islanders for the full 60 minutes and even surprised their hosts by taking the lead early in the second period. However, not for the first time this season the Islanders were thankful to Simon Leach who bagged a brace of goals to turn the game in his side’s favour.
The Cobras have been one of the top teams in Rec hockey over the past few years. However, last season represented a downturn in results, and nobody knew what to expect from them this year. But, right from the first puck drop the Cobras showed they were not going to be any pushovers, which was particularly re-assuring given the ease with which the Islanders won their previous two games against Durham Dragons and Newcastle Predators.
The first ten minutes of the game saw both teams still trying to work each other out, that was until the 11:34 mark when David Cowey’s persistence paid off. Having collected a pass from Richard Crowe, Cowey drove to the net and got a shot away, but Steven Hudson proved a formidable barrier in stopping the initial shot. He couldn’t prevent the rebound from going in though and Stephen Brown duly delivered to give the Islanders the lead.
Any momentum the home side were starting to build was soon taken away with a series of relatively soft calls against them. A tripping penalty against Calvin Khass, who was starring as a defenseman in the number 69 jersey, was looking like being killed off until Kingston scored with a second left of the powerplay. Aaron Jordan converting Michael Fletcher’s pass.
Soon after that, calls on Kevin Bucas and Ben Buckley 44 seconds apart gifted the Cobras a two man-advantage which went into the second period. The Islanders were doing a great job of killing the penalties off but with 19 seconds left on that one the visitors scored again. This time Jordan turned provider for Fletcher who shot high over the glove side of Antony Markham.
The Cobras had shocked the Islanders, but the home side knew they had to shift up a gear and they did just that. Simon Leach collected the puck from Liam Telfer in the high slot before drilling a low shot in the far corner of Hudson’s net to tie the game. Then with less than 90 seconds left in the period, Ross Tomlinson let fly with a fierce drive from the left wing which Leach was able to get a tip on and direct it into the net. The score was turned around and the Islanders were back ahead.
There were no further goals in the final period but with the Islanders having already done enough they seemed content to control the puck with Markham once again proving what a quality goalie he is when called upon.
At the halfway stage of the competition the Islanders have taken seven points from eight and it certainly appears as though it will be them and Durham who will fight it out for top spot in the conference. On this evidence Kingston shouldn’t be written off either though. They know their opponents in the group well from their Summer Cup days and are still capable of beating anyone on their day.
Islanders are next in action in two weeks’ time against the Cleveland Comets [Saturday, June 22nd12pm Faceoff].
