Pitbulls 6 – 2 Steeldogs
Steeldogs 3 – 2 Sharks
Over the weekend of 24/11 and 25/11 the Steeldogs took 2 valuable points to add to their total in the league standings. First up a trip to Bristol to take on the Pitbulls, who were bolstered with a couple of new signings. Then a home return to iceSheffield face the Sharks.
First period action in Bristol was relatively even between the teams, with the Steeldogs working hard to protect netminder Nick Winters. Neither team was able to dominate or carve out a goal.
During the second period, the Pitbulls took the game by the scruff of the neck with goals from Smith, Landsbergs, Feasey and Birbraer. Jonathan Kirk scored the Dogs goal leaving the Steeldogs trailing 4-1.
With a mountain to climb in the third, Kirk was on hand to score his second and the Dogs second of the game. But further goals from Feasey and Harding sealed the deal for a 6-2 victory for the Pitbulls.
Onto Sunday and the return to iceSheffield after 4 consecutive away games. After the 13 goal thriller last week, the game had a lot to live up to. Since early season, the Sharks have made massive improvements and are a team who are tough to break down. The Steeldogs took 16 minutes to beat the Solway defence as Hewitt scored the opener, after persistence paid off.
Solway came out for the second with determination and Peacock showed good hands to score on 20:14. This gave the Sharks a spring in their step and they added to their goal tally 6 minutes later through Gardiner. Sheffield picked up their intensity again and worked, pressured and dug in for Spurr to equalise. 2-2
The final period saw both teams going for goal, creating chances and giving the defences things to think about. But Sheffield began to show their grit and ground out the result. Bissonnette scored a cracking game winner and the delight of the Steeldogs team was visible for all to see.
A well-deserved bounce back win, the team worked hard for each other.
Defencemen took both man of the match awards this weekend, Jonathan Kirk on Saturday and Ben Morgan on Sunday.