HOV Hotshots Under 14’s 7

Howardian 6

The Hotshots under 14’s got the New Year off to a thrilling start, with a tremendous game of skater hockey against the Cardiff based Howardian’s, although the coaching staff from the Valley’s side may have another opinion!

Liz Baker started in the Hotshots goal, and was called into action from the outset, conceding a very early goal.

Within seconds of the game restarting, the Blaenau Gwent youngsters were level, as defender Joseph Heard broke from the back to score a great individual goal.

From this point onwards, the first period was all Hotshots, with Captain Thomas Heard leading by example.

He gave the Hotshots a 2-1 advantage after receiving a pass from brother Joseph and duly netting.

Sarah Rodgers made it 3-1, with Dan Symonds doing all the hard work before laying the ball off for her to score.

Thomas Heard made it 4-1, a great goal considering the Hotshots were a man down at the time due to Alex Symonds being sinbinned; Heard then made it 5-1 right at the end of the period.

If the first half belonged to the Valleys side, then the 2^nd belonged to the team from the capital.

For a long time the scores stayed at 5-1, with Owen Price, the replacement for Baker in goal, pulling off a string of great saves.

Peter Rodgers, Stewart Rickwood, David Robinson and Rachel Grovell all played a great defensive roll, but it all went badly wrong as team play, as so often happens with the Hotshots, giving way to individualism.

The Howardian’s fought back in style following a 6^th goal for the Hotshots from Alex Symonds, and from 6-1 down, the Cardiff outfit found themselves going into the final 2 minutes of the match 6-5 adrift as they tore the Hotshots apart.

Alex Symonds was able to net again at the death to give the Hotshots a small comfort zone, but again the Cardiff side scored. Luckily that was the end of the goals for either side, but despite the scare, it was a great game for the neutral, and all credit to the Hotshots for not giving in at the end.