Raider hosted the Pitbulls once again at the Sapphire on Saturday night after last weekend’s triumph over them and the team needing to repeat the same outcome to maintain their play-off aspirations.
As expected, the Raiders came out flying as early on Jesper Eriksson was given an open net off a Dean Skinns rebound for the opening goal. Shortly after, Raiders doubled their lead and began to get into their stride as Zack Milton netted shorthanded.
The lead was extended through a powerplay goal Bayley Harewood was called for tripping, when Zack Milton went bar down from long range. The Raiders continued their domination extending the lead to five through Jesper Eriksson and Brnadon Ayliffe after a great stretch pass from Jack Cooper. Adam Harding did find the back of the net for Pitbulls giving the Raiders a 5-1 lead heading into the second period.
Raiders changed netminders for this period to rest Ethan James in preparation for the next game, which saw Micheal Gray enter the ice. This period was a slow start in comparison to the first, as it took seven minutes to see our first goal of the period, which was another powerplay goal for the Raiders after a soft tripping call on Jay Warren, Adam Laishram this time on the mark.
Pitbulls grabbed a second shortly after the goal after good individual play from Juha Lindgren. A moment of concern for Raiders and Brandon Ayliffe nearly saw his game come to end as he needed on ice treatment but was able to continue minutes later.
The Raiders did not take long to put the game to bed in the third period after another powerplay goal right off the restart, through Eriksson which saw him complete his hat trick which gave Raiders a five-goal cushion with 19 minutes remaining.
The Raiders found the net once again through Jake Sylvester but that was replied with a Pitbulls goal, Reece Cochrane the scorer. Raider’s youngsters saw plenty of ice time in the final period and began to show their potential with Ewan Hill scoring his first goal as Raider and 16-year-old Brynley Capps finding the net for the third time this season to bring up double figures.
Pitbulls picked up a consolation goal in the dying moments, Elliot Lewis skating in to score on the backhand to make the game 10-4 to the Raiders.
Man of the matches were awarded to Juha Lindgren for the Pitbulls and Jesper Eriksson for his hat trick display.
Raiders scoring: Jesper Eriksson 3+1, Adam Laishram 2+1, George Norcliffe 0+3, Zack Milton 1+2, Brynley Capps 1+1, Brandon Ayliffe 1+1, Ewan Hill 1+1, Jake Sylvester 1+1, Tom Relf 0+2, Tjay Anderson 0+1, Aaron Connolly 0+1, Joe Tomalin 0+1, Jack Cooper 0+1.
Bristol Scoring: Juha Lindgren 1+1, Reece Cochrane 1+1, Adam Harding 1+1, Bari McKenzie 0+2, Daniel Hardie 0+2, Elliot Lewis 1+0, Bayley Harewood 0+1.
