The Bristol Pitbulls battled it out against the Slough Jets

Bristol Pitbulls 1-2 Slough Jets (After overtime)

Slough set the tone for the game after coming out and collecting the puck after face-off to automatically test Tommy Nappier in goal for the Pitbulls. Some good opportunities went in favour of the Slough Jets for the first 10 minutes of the first period with some good defensive plays coming from Fynn Page in the Pitbulls’ defensive zone. As the first period went on the Pitbulls began to build up momentum but this was not enough to make it past Slough netminder Nathan Gregory, who faced 4 shots during the period in comparison to Tommy Nappier who faced 13 shots, and after 20 minutes of play and multiple penalties the first period ended 0-0.

Going into the second period Lipsey, Lewis and Morris battled for the face-off win but not long into the period the Pitbulls found themselves with a man advantage due to a penalty that was called against the Jets. Scrappy chances for the Pitbulls in front of the Slough goal saw some words exchanged between the two sides but nothing major broke out. Moments later Brandon Miles hits the puck past Nappier to get the first goal of the game for the Jets at 28:31 with Sebastian Mohr receiving the assist on the goal. Christian Mohr found himself struck with a 2-minute Hooking penalty but the Jets were able to see through being short-handed for the 2-minute. But Rhys Smetham found himself with the perfect opportunity at centre ice to steal possession of the puck and equalise the game with an assist awarded to Neil Liddiard timed at 35:55. During the second period Tommy Nappier faced 9 shots on goals while Nathan Gregory faced 13 shots.

Good start to the third period for the Pitbulls with a chance for Reece Cochrane with a shot that went wide but in response to this Sebastian Mohr and Jack Goodchild had a good chance to regain the lead but were unable to make anything come for the opportunity. With 2 minutes remaining in the third period, Kyle Bradburn got hit with a 2-minute penalty and the Pitbulls opted to call a timeout to evaluate their options and then straight after the Pitbulls completed their 30 seconds timeout the Jets also decided to call a timeout out but after the 60 minutes was played the decision was made to go into overtime to decide the winner. Sebastian Mohr wedges the puck into the corner of the Pitbulls’ goal after an attempted wrap-around to secure the win for the Jets. Man of the match was awarded to Nathan Gregory for the Jets after an outstanding game in goal and then Ewan Hill for the Pitbulls.

Slough Jets 1-6 Bristol Pitbulls

A better start to the game for the Pitbulls in comparison to the Saturday home game with the Pitbulls setting the tone for their intentions for the rest of the game clear. A goal early in the game as Cam Hamill scores his first goal for the Pitbulls as he gains possession of the puck in the Slough defensive zone to take the lead at 04:10. Both teams were hit by penalties as Pryce entered the penalty box for Pitbulls and Ross and Bradburn entered the penalty box for the Jets. After both teams returned to full strength Cam Hamill found himself with another opportunity to extend the lead as he skated from centre ice into the Slough defensive zone past all their defensemen to create a 2 goal gap on the scoreboard at 09:31 with an assist awarded to Mason Lipsey. Rhys Smetham received a 2-minute slashing penalty at 10:11 but as soon as he had finished serving his penalty he came straight back onto the ice and made his presence known as he got the puck to the back of the Jets goal at 13:14 to get his second goal against Slough. Then at 16:27, Nick Pryce got the puck to the back of Matt Smitals' goal to get his first goal for Bristol. This saw the period come to an end with the score standing at 4-0 in favour of the Pitbulls.

The first 10 minutes of the second period saw Ben Davies and Rhys Smetham get penalties but the penalty kill were able to see them both through. After Bristol returned back to 5 skaters as Rhys Smetham returned back to the bench Nick Pryce managed to get his second goal of the game at 33:09 with Elliott Lewis and Fynn Page both receiving the assists on the fifth goal. This goal saw the second period finish 5-0 in favour of the Pitbulls.

The Jets come out strong in the third period but Garry Simpson found himself having to sit 2-minutes, which gave Jack Goodchild the perfect chance to end the Jets’ silence as he managed to slip the puck to the back of Tommy Nappier’s net to get Slough onto the scoreboard for the first time on the night. A lucky chance fell into Garry Simpson's hands and he was able to capitalise on the situation and get his first goal for the Pitbulls and the sixth goal of the night. With just 1 minute left, Bari McKenzie saw himself sitting the last minute out due to a 2-minute penalty but this had no impact on the game as the final score was Slough Jets 1-6 Bristol Pitbulls and Rhys Smetham picked up the beers from man of the match.