Coventry Blaze NIHL 7-4 Oxford Rising Stars

Highlights Credit: Coventry Blaze NIHL Website.

Match Report from Ian Dibley

Oxford Rising Stars pre season challenge game away at Coventry NIHL Blaze on Sunday 25^th August 2024.

Oxford Rising Stars made the trip to the Coventry Skydome for their only pre-season challenge game. Rising with an impressive array of new signings for the new season, where only able to ice former Oxford City Stars player Josh Oliver and youngsters Felix Hemmings-Maher and Harry Tempest in addition to last seasons squad.

Theo Bundock and Ciaran Wilson went close for the visitors early on before Will Harrison cleared the puck off his own goal line after the puck wriggled away from Rising netminder Kayla Poole. It was the visitors who took the lad when Bundock finished off good work from Chris Beckett. The first period ebbed and flowed and Coventry where unlucky not to equalise when a shot from the point rattled the frame of Pooles` goal. With just over 2 minutes remaining in the period Rising took a 2-minute penalty and it looked like the visitors had seen this out when Kyle Nash levelled for Blaze, with eleven seconds remaining on the clock.

Oxford took the lead in the 26^th minute when Harry Tempest latched onto a loose puck in front of goal. As is quite usual in pre-season games Rising swapped netminders at the 30minute mark when new signing, Charlie Hanley, took over from Poole. Oxford further extended their lead in the 32^nd minute when the impressive George Quinnell finished off a nice move involving Matt Hayward and Beckett. Coventry were on the ropes and used their time out to good effect as first Ashton Rudkin and then Sam Prosser found the visitors net to level it up at 3-3 after two periods.

The third period saw the visitors pick up a series of two-minute penalties, similar to the second period and this seemed to stretch the visitors resolve as first Jamie Lewis fired past Hanley and then Nash added two more goals all within a little over 3 minutes. Rising replied with a short-handed goal from Hemmings-Maher before the hosts rounded out the scoring with Arthur Brookes skating onto a pass from behind the visitors’ goal, late in the game.

So, the final score was 7-4 in favour of Coventry. It was a good work out for the Rising Stars, with many good points, but still with plenty of opportunity to improve.

The league season starts on 14^th September when the Rising Stars travel to play the Invicta Mustangs.