This weekend (23rd/24th) seen North Ayrshire Wild represented at two different tournaments.
EMF Tournament
On Thursday afternoon two u16s players Flynn Massie and Liam Houston jetted out to Bratislava Slovakia to don the uniforms of their country when they took part in the EMF Tournament. Scotland u16s would face off against Elite Slovakia Hockey, Hamikovo and England.
Scotland u16s, unfortunately, lost out against England in a hard-fought game. They did however come away Tournament winners overall with both Flynn and Liam amongst the goals that brought the trophy home!
Annual Ice Hockey Tournament in Telford
Meanwhile, the North Ayrshire Wild u12s, u14s, and u16s were travelling south to Telford to take part in their annual tournament.
U12s
The u12s pitted their skills against Coventry in the first game on Saturday and came away 5-2 winners. The second game was against Dundee which was a tighter game but they still managed a 3-2 victory. Their only loss came in the 3rd game against Swindon where they were narrowly beaten 2-1. The final game was against hosts Telford which was a close high-scoring game which Wild won 4-3 booking their place in the final on Sunday.
U14s
Wild u14s were just relentless in every game they played. First up was Chelmsford, Wild dominated the fame from the first puck drop and won 7-3.
Coventry were the next opponents and a similar scoreline of 7-2 saw them off comfortably.
In the third game, Wild were pushed a bit by a well-drilled Swindon team but again Wild prevailed and run out winners by 4 goals to 2.
The final game against the hosts Telford was a rampant 7-0 demolition, seeing the u14s book their spot in the final.
U16s
Wild u16s had a slightly harder bu ch of games but laid it all on the ice for coach Jamie Easton before the coach hangs up his whistle on a lengthy career at North Ayrshire as a coach.
The games started off with a good 3-0 win over Cardiff in the opening game. This was followed by a 1-1 draw against a strong Coventry side.
Game 3 was against high flying Leeds Knights which Wild lost 2-1.
The fourth game against Swindon was one they would like to forget as the slipped to a 4- defeat before securing 3rd spot with a 2-1 victory over hosts Telford.
This put them in a playoff game of 3rd v 4th against Coventry which they won 1-0 to secure 3rd place overall!
Finals
The u12s final against Swindon finished 0-0 which seen them enter overtime of 3 minutes, which finished with them still locked at 0-0…… Penalty shots loomed, however some great saves from Brad Ruxton between the pipes secured the tournament win for the u12s team.
The u14s then took to the ice looking to secure their own Tournament win and set about picking holes in the defence of Chelmsford who they had beaten in the opening game. Lennon Deeney and Rocco Murray who have played together at this club for many seasons dictated the game and were inspirational in securing a 7-2 victory to lift the trophy.
For North Ayrshire Ice Hockey Club the trophy count now stands as follows:-
U19s Scottish Cup Champions
U19s Ronnie Miller Memorial Champions
U14s Telford Tournament Champions
U12s Telford Tournament Champions
This coupled with all age groups having phenomenal league performances securing positions in the top 3 of their respective age levels speaks volumes of what this club is all about and can achieve.
We are already building towards season 23/24 and are already recruiting at all age levels from u10s to SNL to solidify a stronghold on the trophies we already have and to secure more going forward.
Details can be found on our Facebook pages or website www.northayrshireicehockeyclub.co.uk
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