Raiders ruin weekend for Devils after Hornets win

The Gosport-based side defeated the Bracknell Hornets 3-1 on Saturday night, before succumbing to an identical defeat at the hands of Wightlink Raiders 24 hours later in their first home outing of the new campaign.

Starting the weekend well, Alex Murray, Richard Facey, and Mason Wild were all on target for the Planet Ice, Gosport, side as they ran out convincing winners in Bracknell.

The Hornets’ goal was scored by Brandon Miles during the third period.

But the high of an away win was all of a sudden replaced by the low of a home defeat to the Raiders – watched also by Mayor of Gosport, counsellor Lynn Hook, who started the game with a ceremonial puck drop following the national anthem.

The visitors took an early lead after Jordan Gregory beat netminder Christian Cole, who was in goal for the second night in a row.

The game was fast and passionate, with neither team giving up, but it took the Devils until halfway through the third period to get the equaliser.

Mitch Murray was credited with the goal after good work by Facey.

Unfortunately, the Devils couldn’t build on the momentum gained.

Wightlink managed to break through and take the lead, before registering a third goal which finished the game off.

The visitors’ goals were scored by Alex Sampford and Danny Ingoldsby.

When talking about the infrequent use of the penalty box, Devils coach Alex Murray said: ‘I think the ref has played it quite well, he could see it was two teams playing quite hard and decided not to call everything.

‘I liked it, it kept the game going, it’s much better than stop-start hockey.’

Counsellor Hook presented the man of the match awards following the game, and stayed around for a chat.

‘The speed is incredible, end-to-end play, it was fantastic, I will definitely be back,’ she said.

The Devils host Bracknell Hornets in their next game on Sunday, October 16 (7pm).