Spartans Loose Opening Game But Get Back On Track

Monday, November 16th, 2009 / 12:54 / Match Reports

Posted by James Glover

The opening weekend of NIIHA Under16 games seen the Castlereagh Spartans take on the defending champions the Bangor Chiefs in Bangor on Sunday morning. The Spartans players many of whom had no experience playing Inline Hockey were up against it from the off, with a number of the guys struggling to find their feet. Throw in the fact that there were no players on the bench to allow for a change things were not looking good.

Dispite the early start and the odds being stacked against them the young Spartans (Thomas McKinnon, Gareth Smyth, Reece Floyd, Marty McMillan & Rory Sempey) went out and gave it their all. Sempey must have seen 60 shots in the game and turned away the majority of the Chiefs scoring opportunities, however the Chiefs were the much more comfortable team. Had the roles been reversed and the game played on ice the story may have been different, however the Chiefs experienced players managed to pick apart the Spartans best efforts and eventually win the game 12-1.

The one hilight from the game was Marty McMillans rocket slapshot that would spoil the Chiefs shutout. As he was falling to the floor (not for the first time) he managed to latch on to a pass from Gareth Smyth that he one timed making a sweet clang noise as it smashed into the roof of the net.

A short break, a cheesy chip and the addition of Scott Bickerstaff made all the difference as the Spartans took on the ECB Ladies team later in the afternoon. In a complete contrast to the first game, it took the Spartans just 10 seconds to get on the board when Marty McMillan sired in a shot that the ECB netminder couldnt handle leaving Thomas McKinnon to tap in the loose puck sitting in the crease.

ECB got back on level teams just over a minute later when Trish McKay shot through a crowd of players and found the back of the net hight over Sempeys blocker side. From this point on it was all Spartans pressure and somehow the boys couldnt manage to put the puck in the net. Reece Floyd gave the Spartans the lead that they well deserved going into the period break when he dangled his way through the centre of the rink finishing off a 2on1 with Scott Bickerstaff.

ECB again leveled the score at 2-2 when Jennifer Gowdy beat Semepy short side and it looked as if there might be some work to do if the Spartans were to take points from this game. 4 un-answered goals from Scott Bickerstaff and another from Reece Floyd were enough to give the Spartans their first points of the season as they defeated ECB by a score of 7-2.