WIDNES Wild had a disappointing weekend, losing 5-1 away to Bradford Bulldogs on Saturday and then 3-4 at home to Altrincham Aces on Sunday.

In the game at Bradford on Saturday, the Wild actually took the lead after just four minutes, with a short-handed goal from Jakub Hajek. Bradford, however, hit back with two quick-fire short handed goals of their own within 17 seconds of each other.

Overall, this was a fairly evenly matched game and, while both teams had their chances in front of goal, it was the Bulldogs who were able to make the most of their opportunities.

The home game against the Aces on Sunday started badly for the Wild as Altrincham scored the opening goal just 49 seconds from the face off.

Widnes equalised six minutes later with a goal from Shaun Dippnall and then edged into the lead with two minutes to go in the period with a strike from former Aces player Jakub Hajek.

This game was incredibly close and played at a frantic tempo – it was end-to-end hockey throughout, very entertaining to watch and the result was in doubt until the very dying seconds. The Wild actually out-shot Altrincham by a considerable margin over the 60 minutes but were unable to convert that superiority into goals.

The Aces equalised on 35 minutes and took the lead exactly as the buzzer was sounded.

The third period began with a fight at the face off and the Wild went on to level the score again just 3 minutes into the period with a power play goal from captain Danny Bullock.

The remainder of the game was incredibly tense, with the Wild threatening to force a late equaliser but not quite managing to do so. They were hampered when a couple of late penalties saw them having to defend a 3-on-5 situation for a two full minutes and they then pulled netminder Jonah Armstrong out for the last 43 seconds of the game in favour of an extra attacker but it was to no avail and the Aces came away with a narrow 3 – 4 victory.

The MVP Awards were presented by young Wild fan Thomas Sprawson, who was celebrating his recent birthday at the game. The recipients were captain Andy Dunn for the Aces and Jakub Hajek for the Wild. A raffle for a signed Widnes shirt was held in aid of Stick ‘n’ Step, Wild’s chosen charity for the season, and £120 was raised.

The weekend results overall see Bradford Bulldogs move back to the top of the Laidler Division table while Widnes currently occupy seventh spot, albeit with games in hand over all the other teams. The Wild are away to Nottingham Lions in the Midland Cup this Sunday 10th November - 7.30 p.m. face off - and are next at home the following Sunday 17th November when they take on the Telford Tigers2 team in the Laidler Division at Planet Ice Widnes – face off 5.30 p.m.

The Planet Ice rink in Widnes is the host venue this Sunday 10th November when the Leeds Chiefs team take on the Swindon Wildcats in a National Division game – face off 5.30 p.m.

Saturday 2nd November 2019: Wild Academy Under 11s 1 – Kingston (Hull) U11s 9 (EIHA North U11 Div 3)

The Wild Academy Under 11s continued their roller coaster debut season of competition with a 1 – 9 defeat at home to Kingston at Planet Ice Widnes on Saturday.

The Wild youngsters were up against it from the start with very experienced opponents and were out-shot over the course of the game by 50 to 10. Having said that, it was a very spirited performance from a group of players, many of whom were only playing their third ever competitive game and several of whom are actually Under 9s players who are playing up an age group.

Kingston opened the scoring after 3 minutes and led 0 – 3 at the first break. A fourth goal just 25 seconds into the second period edged the visitors further ahead and they were leading 0 – 7 by the time Widnes scored their first and only goal of the game. This was a superb debut goal by Caleb Eddleston and came just seconds before the end of the second period.

Kingston scored again at the start of the third period and rounded off the scoring for the game with a ninth goal on 33 minutes. The remaining 15 minutes of play saw chances for both teams but no further scoring and the end result of 1 – 9 to the visitors may seem a little harsh on the fledgling Widnes side.

Miks Kirsteins put in a good performance in goal for the Wild team, turning away 41 of the 50 shots that were fired at him, while Caleb Eddleston picked up the MVP Award.

The Wild Under 11s are at home again this Saturday 9th November when they take on league leaders Manchester Storm Under 11s at Planet Ice Widnes - 6.15 pm face off.

The Wild Academy Under 18s team are at home on Saturday when they take on Nottingham at Planet Ice Widnes -

7.45 p.m. face off. This is the same opposition to whom they very narrowly lost away last weekend and this should be a thrilling encounter to watch.

Admission to both Academy games is free.

The Wild Academy Under 13s team are away to Billingham U13s on Saturday, - 5.30 p.m. face off.