The Ronnie Miller Memorial Tournament returned for the 2nd instalment this weekend (4th & 5th June) at Auchenharvie Ice Rink with teams from the u10s, u14s and u19s age groups.
The home teams of Sabres (10s) Stars (14s) and Devils (19s) faced off against teams from Belfast, Billingham, Kilmarnock, Kirkcaldy, Lanarkshire, Leeds and Solway in what was to be a highly entertaining weekend of Ice Hockey.
The Round Robin games began early on Saturday morning at 8am with a format of 25 minute running clocks and penalty minutes halved. There would be 3 games before an Ice cut. The fixtures and results were as follows.
ROUND ROBIN
Game 1: u14s
N.A Stars 2 – 3 Leeds Knights
Game 2: u14s
L.Lightning 1 – 2 Kilmarnock JIHC
Game 3: u19s
N.A Devils 1 – 1 Kilmarnock JIHC
Game 4: u19s
Fife Falcons 1 – 1 Junior Solway Sharks
Game 5: u10s
N.A Sabres 2 – 0 Fife Eagles
Game 6: u10s
L.Lightning 5 – 3 Belfast Junior Giants
Game 7: u19s
N.A Devils 1 – 1 Billingham Stars
Game 8: u14s
N.A Stars 3 – 2 Inverness Highlanders
Game 9: u14s
Leeds Knights 7 – 3 Kilmarnock JIHC
Game 10: u19s
Kilmarnock JIHC 2 – 3 Fife Falcons
Game 11: u19s
Jnr Solway Sharks 3 – 1 Billingham Stars
Game 12: u14s
L. Lightning 0 – 1 Inverness Highlanders
Game 13: u10s
N.A Sabres 2 – 3 L. Lightning
Game 14: u10s
Fife Eagles 1 – 2 Belfast Junior Giants
Game 15: u14s
Kilmarnock JIHC 1 – 0 Inverness
Game 16: u14s
N.A Stars 0 – 1 L. Lightning
Game 17: u19s
N.A Devils 2 – 0 Fife Falcons
Game 18: u19s
Kilmarnock JIHC 2 – 1 Billingham Stars
Game 19: u10s
N.A Sabres 3 – 0 Belfast Junior Giants
Game 20: u10s
Fife Eagles 2 – 3 L. Lightning
This brought the day’s action to a close just after 7:30 pm and as the players made their way home I am sure they were all looking forward to the final 6 Round Robin games before the semi-finals were decided. It was then a clean-up mission for the excellent staff of Ka Leisure at Auchenharvie as the day drew to a close.
The 2nd day began just as early on Sunday with players, coaches and parents arriving for some tea and coffee before the day’s games began at 8:00 am. The format continued of 3 games before an Ice Cut. First, up on the morning fresh ice was Leeds Knights Again when they took on Inverness Highlanders. Below is the synopsis of play up to the semi-finals
Sunday Results:
Game 21: u14s
Leeds Knights 0 – 2 Inverness Highlanders
Game 22: u19s
Kilmarnock JIHC 3 – 4 Jnr Solway Sharks
Game 23: u19s
Fife Falcons 1 – 1 Billingham Stars
Game 24: u14s
Leeds Knights 0 – 1 L. Lightning
Game 25: u14s
N.A Stars 0 – 3 Leeds Knights
Game 26:
N.A Devils 0 – 4 Jnr Solway Sharks.
This led to the semi-finals looking as follows.
U10s
L. Lightning v Fife Eagles ….Lightning WIN
N.A Sabres v Junior Giants… Giants WIN
U14s
Leeds Knights v N.A Stars…. Knights WIN
Inverness v L. Lightning….. Inverness WIN
U19s
Solway Sharks v Kilmarnock… Solway WIN
Fife Falcons v N.A Devils… Fife WIN
Both the u19s semi-finals went to penalty shots, creating an electric atmosphere for the upcoming Final.
So, the finals were confirmed and looked as follows
U10s
Lanarkshire Lightning v Belfast Jnr Giants
U14s
Leeds Knights v Inverness Highlanders
U19s
Fife Falcons v Junior Solway Sharks.
All three games were tough fought battles with players from all teams giving it their all, but with all sports there can be only one winner, and on the ice on Sunday.
Finals Results
U10s
L. Lightning v Belfast… Lightning WIN
U14s
Leeds Knights v Inverness… Inverness WIN
U19s
Solway Sharks v Fife Falcons…. Solway WIN
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL PARTICIPATING TEAMS AND COACHES.
North Ayrshire Chairman Scott Campbell was once again joined on the ice with vice-Chair Andy Kerr and Ronnie Millers’ Family to present the medals and trophies to the winning teams.
Special thanks were given to all teams and players for a great weekend of Ice Hockey. The parents who get their kids to these events and to all the dedicated volunteers who work tirelessly behind the scenes, also the staff of Ka Leisure for their usual high standards of hospitality and Tommy Allison’s Snack bar for keeping us all fed over the weekend AND his generous donation to the club.
Scott Campbell had this to say after the ceremony. ” I am so proud to have got this event back up and running, and to have it named after a sadly missed friend and irreplaceable member of the NAIHC family and we hope to see you all at next season’s event”
