Romford Raiders Vs Swindon Wildcats 8th November 2009

Romford Raiders 8 Swindon Wildcats 3 (2-1 : 1-1 : 5-1)

Romford finally got a mark in the win column, as they cruised to a comfortable victory against Swindon on Sunday night. Romford lined up without injury victims Dan Cox and Darren Cotton, but Michal Timms returned in an unfamiliar position on the blueline.

With Romford desperate to make amends for their poor showing the previous night, they were the fastest out of the blocks. At 2.37, referee Dave Goodwin called the first penalty of the night, as Swindon's Sam Bullas was called for hooking. After buzzing around the Wildcats net for the first 30 seconds of the penalty, Romford moved into the lead, at 3.08. Danny Marshall fired in a shot from the right, and Dallas Costanzo was perfectly positioned in front of the netminder, to redirect the puck into the net. It didn't take long for the next penalty of the night to arrive, as Alan Green was called for high sticks, and again Romford made the powerplay count. Again it was Marshall who set up the goal as he sent the puck across the crease for Frankie Harvey, and the youngster sent a wrist shot into the roof of the net, at 5.19. Harvey fired into the side netting moments later, as Romford dominated the game, but as has happened so often this season a defensive error allowed Swindon back into the game. Andrejs Lavrenovs found Aaron Nell in neutral ice, and he was allowed to skate into the zone, and send a shot into the top corner, unchallenged, at 8.01. Swindon killed off an extended period of 5-on-3 when Joe Baird was called for cross checking, and Jan Krajicek soon followed on minors for hooking and cross-checking.

The start of the 2nd period saw Romford take their only penalty of the night, when Ali Band was called for tripping, but they were able to kill it off with no further scoring. A poor pass from Jon Sitko in the Swindon zone allowed the visitors to break about, but when Raimonds Danilics, and then Lee Richardson both failed to made contact with the puck when attempting shots, it was suddenly Romford who had a 3-on-1 breakaway. Marshall was the man leading the charge, and he showed the Swindon forwards how it is done, and he sent a slapshot screaming into the net, via the underside of the bar. It looked like Romford would take the 2 goal lead into the 2nd break, but with time running down, Swindon hit back again. A clearance from Timms didn't make it out of the zone, and with the Romford forwards backing away from the puck, Wayne Fiddes centred for Danilics to score, at 39.02.

With the score at 3-2 the first goal of the final period was always going to be important, and thankfully for the home fans it was Romford that got it. A long pass from Sitko sent Harvey clear on Geoff Woolhouse, and he cut across the net, before lifting a backhand effort over the netminder, for his second goal of the night, at 44.00. From then on it was plain sailing for the home side. A interference penalty on Danilics gave Romford another powerplay, and when Marshall saw his shot saved, Dean Tonks was in the right place to turn home the rebound, at 47.22. Swindon briefly got back into the game, at 54.51, when Jozef Kohut swept home a pass from Nell, but 3 goals in the final 5 minutes gave Romford a comfortable win. Firstly, at 55.33, Matt Turner forced the puck home from close range to make it 6-3, before another penalty, this time on Nell, gave Romford yet another powerplay. Once again they made it count, as a lovely pass from Mikko Silvennoinen found Jason Buckman, and the former Peterbrough man, slammed the puck over Woolhouse's glove, for his first goal in the Gold & Blue, at 57.41. The scoring for the night was completed, at 58.38, when more good work from Harvey set up Sivennoinen for a simple finish at the back post.

Man of the match for Romford went to the whole team, with the number of excellent performances making it too hard to choose. The Swindon award was given to Baird.