Author: Adrian Millward
Four games were played by the Knights today in the pre-splits for the 2019 season.
The first game was against the Vectis Warriors. A solid team, and quite methodical in their pursuit of the Knights goal. Most of the play was in the Knights half with some amazing saves by Ollie Dixon. But the Knights on this occasion were outplayed. But if it were not for our boy, Chris Hocquigny scoring the Knights only goal, saved it from being a washout. The final bell declared the Vectis Warriors having taken three goals and giving three fowls whereas the Knights had taken one goal and given one fowl. There was one incident that is worth mentioning, there was a coming together between Darren Eldridge and an opposing player. From the spectators view, there was no mischief involved (and no penalty given) but another of the Vectis players took umbridge at the clash and took Darren clean off his feet with a body check of his own and got a 1.5 minute penalty for his efforts. Most unsportsmanlike! Vectis Warriors 3-1 Windsor Knights.
One and a half hours later, the Knights put on their pads again and went out against the Bordon Bears. There were high hopes that a win was in the offing with the Bears. However, two minutes in they scored which concentrated the minds of our players. Marcus Leppard whacking in a goal after 6 minutes. The Bears managed to score their second goal, only for Chris Hocquigny to slip in a goal to equalise the game. Bordon Bears 2-2 Windsor Knights.
The third game of the day was against the Falcons. It would be prudent to skip through this game as quickly as possible if only to spare the feelings of our players. In the first 7 minutes, the Falcons had scored five goals with not much response from the Knights. The whole game clustered about the Knights goal. Chris Hocquigny tried to get the puck out of the goal area and misjudged, and the puck bounced off the goal minders skate and into the goal. As the Knights were already trounced the error was hardly noticeable. Owen Warne who had already hurt his wrist in the previous game lost a tooth in a tussle with a burly Falcon player. (See picture) That's hockey! Falcons 6-0 Windsor Knights.
The last game of the day was played against the winners of last season’s league, The Black Sheep. The Knights were by now quite tired and cold. It had been a long day. But they mustered enthusiasm from somewhere and put up a good fight. The injured Owen Warne came out to do his bit. Most laudable! Chris Hocquigny managed to put two goals in the opponents net. Black Sheep 7-2 Knights. The 2019 season begins!
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