Nationals Review | D team take redemption Silver

Written by club volunteer, Leon Higgins.

A year on from suffering Silver Cup heartbreak, the D’s wrote their wrong’s to leave IceSheffield with the Non Checking Tier 3 Silver Cup after James Wilson’s winning penalty in the dramatic shoot out defeated Leeds Gryphons D’s 2-1 in the silver final.

Coming into this weekend as the dark horses for the competition, The D’s had an early start with the first game against Southampton Spitfires D starting at 6:34am. A tough opening game saw the Metro’s lose 2-0 to the Hampshire side after late goals from Austin Glover and Reece Thompson. Next up was the Birmingham Lions D’s who the Metro’s had beat 14-3 in a challenge match in Altrincham just a week before. This time was a closer affair with the Lions getting off to a quick start with Alexander Lind scoring after just over one minute. The Metro’s would then respond two minutes later through James Wilson. Wilson was then in the goals again with just over a minute left of the game before a last second power play goal from Campbell Blanchard secured the Metro’s their first win of the day and yet another win over the Lions. The next test for the Metro’s was against Warwick and Coventry Panthers B which ended in a 0-0 draw. Unbelievable the Metro’s would have the same fate in the their last fixture of the day against Northumbria Kings C finishing 0-0.

The Metro’s were first on the Ice on day two against Glasgow Stags C. And guess what, just like the last two games the Metro’s kept another clean sheet without scoring for a third consecutive 0-0 draw. Goals were finally scored in the final group stage game against the home side and favourites, Sheffield Bears F. It was ultimately the Bears who came out on top after going ahead after 7 minutes through Nathan Dickinson a minute before James Wilson got his third goal of the group stage which didn’t prove to be another for a fourth draw as Harry Owen scored with just over 40 seconds left on the clock to give the Metro’s their second defeat of the group stage to go with the one solitary victory and the three consecutive draws.

Finishing 5th in the group meant the D’s would enter the Silver Cup, something the Metro’s came so close to winning last year. The Semi Final placed the Metro’s up against Norfolk’s UEA Avalanche (University of East Anglia). The Metro’s couldn’t have asked for a better start with Kate Gleave scoring after just 45 seconds. In a extremely tight affair with both teams going all out for a place in the final, it was Gleave’s goal that was enough to see the Metro’s defeat the Norwich side and make it one step closer to redemption of claiming the Silver Cup. In the War of the Roses final, the Gryphons took the lead with Aidan D’Arcy linking up with Eve Fausak to fire Leeds into a dream early lead. With just under 5 minutes to go James Wilson got his 4th goal of the tournament to fire the Metro’s level. After finishing 1-1 after the 20 minutes of regulation time, the final went to a penalty shootout.

The penalty shootout which was the best of 3 before sudden death and first up for the Metro’s was Campbell Blanchard who had his penalty saved. Goalkeeper Beth Harrison then made a brilliant save with her glove to keep it level. Adam O’Neill then was next to step up but had his low shot saved. Harrison then stood tall in the Metro’s net to prevent Jakub Wiszniewski. The Metro’s starman James Wilson then stepped up and scored his penalty with Leeds captain Viola Castellani knowing that he had to score to keep the Gryphons chances alive. He did so putting the shootout into sudden death. James Wilson stepped up again and this time he hit the post with a carbon copy of his last penalty. Leeds then missed their next penalty before Wilson stepped up for his third penalty. This time Dexter Duffy-Howard made a good save to give Leeds another match point. Another miss from O’Neil followed drama as Leeds hit the crossbar to come inches away from Silver glory. Both sides then missed three more penalties before James Wilson stepped up and scored his. After some early celebrations in the centre of the ice from Wilson and Harrison, Patrick Hall knew he had to score for Leeds. Brilliantly though Beth Harrison made the save to win the Silver Cup for the Metro’s after a long and dramatic shootout.

Group 1 Final Table:

Sheffield Bears F - 4-1-1 - 9 Points

Northumbria Kings C - 4-1-1 - 9 Points

Glasgow Stags C - 3-2-1 - 8 Points

Southampton Spitfires D - 2-3-1 - 7 Points

Manchester Metros D - 1-3-2 - 5 Points

Warwick and Coventry Panthers B - 0-2-4 - 2 Points

Birmingham Lions D - 0-2-4 - 2 Points

Metro’s Gamesheet:

Metros 0-2 Southampton D

12:20 - Austin Glover SOUTHAMPTON

14:52 - Reece Thompson SOUTHAMPTON

Metros 3-1 Birmingham D

01:25 - Alexander Lint BIRMINGHAM

03:15 - James Wilson

13:45 - James Wilson

14:59 - Campbell Blanchard (Power Play)

Metros 0-0 Warwick and Coventry B

Northumbria Kings C 0-0 Metros

Glasgow C 0-0 Metros

Sheffield F 2-1 Metros

07:25 - Nathan Dickinson SHEFFIELD

08:45 - James Wilson

14:14 - Harry Owen SHEFFIELD

Silver Play Offs:

SF - Southampton D 0-1 Leeds D

SF - UEA B 0-1 Metros

00:45 - Kate Gleave

Silver FINAL:

Leeds 1-1 Metros (Metros 2-1 Penalties)

04:54 - Eve Fausak (Aidan D’Arcy) LEEDS

13:59 - James Wilson

Bronze Final - Warwick and Coventry B 2-0 Birmingham Lions D

Gold Final - Glasgow C 0-3 Bristol Bloodhounds