Venue: Bracknell
  Date : 29th August 2008

Hi Hockey Fans,

The Bracknell B52s welcomed their local rivals ,Basingstoke Hyenas to the Hive. The last
encounter at Bracknell between both teams saw the Hyenas put on a good team effort and come
out clear victors on the night,so the B52s were training hard leading up to this game hoping to make
amends. Both teams icing 3 full lines took to the ice for the warmup.The ice on this occasion not quite ready
for hockey with puddles of water still visible, so a patient extra few minutes wait and a ref on hand who was
happy to also give the ice another once over with the zamboni (thanks Tony) helped build the suspense. Both teams
taking their time with warming up along the boards ,then the pucks were released as both teams went about their warm
up drills. Shots from the blueline, horseshoe drill, followed by 2 on 1 drill and a final warm up skate. The buzzer went and the
pucks gathered as both teams took to their respective goals for the pre game team talk. Both teams giving a shout, then the starting
line ups got into position for the faceoff as the rest of the players took to their bench. The ref ( Tony Lack) setting up centre ice to start
the game.
The game starts and both teams set off at speed and it was good to see Bracknell take early control of the puck and settle into some good
passing with the B52s getting the first few shots of the game.The Hyenas, having to go hard were slowly getting into the game and claiming
possession of the puck, they too, began working well with some good skaters and some swift passing, Bracknell had to back check hard to
prevent the Hyenas from shooting on Robbie (silver) Birch the B52s netminder.( Paul Munson acting as backup for this game) The tempo of the game
was building and both goalies were now taking shots. Again Bracknell looking composed on the puck continued to work well with some good breakouts and rink wide passing which at times had the Hyenas skating hard to close the gap on the open player.Some good shots on the Hyenas goal were well saved by their netminder Dedman to keep the game tight. Robbie (silver ) Birch also equal to the task soon found himself on the end of some good shots.
The first few penalties of the game coming in the 7th minute for both teams as tensions started to build. The game now being played at a fast pace and both teams swift with their short shift changes kept up the pressure with end to end hockey.The first goal coming in the final minute of the 1st period.
The B52s opening the scoring with some good passing in the offensive zone which set up Andy Downs in the slot where he calmly found the space to fire an accurate wrist shot beyond the reach of the Hyenas goalie. ( scored at 19:50 ) With Mitch Stead and Neal (colgate) Porter getting the assists on
the play both playing a solid role in defense. The period finishing on a high for the B52s.The 2nd period starting with both teams playing some good hockey,
the pace still quick with shoots finding both netminders who continued to keep this a low scoring game with plenty of good saves.
Harman, Wybrott and Downs all working well and creating some good team give and go passing.

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