Ice Hockey – Edinburgh Capitals v Dundee Stars
Edinburgh end a four game losing streak with a home win over Dundee
Dundee Stars visited the Murrayfield arena in the latest round of the EIHL on Sunday night, but, despite their relative league positions – Stars 4th, Capitals 10th – they couldn’t overcome a determined Edinburgh side to take the match.
The Capitals started the game well and had the Stars on the defensive for long periods with the occasional break up the ice, and it was to be the home side that opened the scoring. With about nine minutes on the clock, the thrust of the attack came down the right, with No. 88, Tomas Horna, left free to the left of the goal. A sharp pass through the defence left him with an easy strike past the flailing Dundee ‘keeper, Dan Bakala to open the scoring. The rest of the first period was mostly dominated by Edinburgh, with Dundee’s attacking plays being, seemingly, cleared up with relative ease. The tension was released at one point following a fairly violent check by a Dundee player which ‘face planted’ his opponent into the wall. The short scuffle which broke out was easily defused by the officials and the offender was sent off to cool down in the bin.
The second period was a lot more evenly contested with both sides attacking well and puting pressure on the opposition’s defence. But it was to be the home side that scored the only goal of the mid-20 minutes. With both teams having chances and the goalies doing their bit, an attack by Dundee while Edinburgh were a man down came to an end as the puck was cleared or deflected up the ice. No. 36, Jade Porterwood, pounced on the loose puck and drove, unopposed, toward the Dundee goal. With only the ‘keeper to beat, he slid the shot past and into the net. 2-0 for Edinburgh.
With less than two minutes of the third period played, the Stars struck back with a goal from Mike Wirll, but that was matched in the 10th minute as Richard Hartmann found the net for the Capitals to restore the two-goal lead. Dundee struck back again after another two minutes of play with a fine goal from Nico Sacchetti to make it 3-2 to the home side. The rest of the period was played out with, again, both side having opportunities, but defending well and the last couple of minutes of the match fizzled out with Edinburgh doing their best to hold possession and run the clock down to zero.
A fine win for the home team, overcoming a Dundee side six places above them in the table. They always looked in charge, managing to keep themselves ahead throughout, and were probably unlucky not to add to their goal count.
A gallery of the match will be viewable here within the next couple of days.