Evans fires home four in Connah's Quay Cobras triumph
After the rigours of the Summer Classic Cup campaign in recent weeks, this was a 'development' game aimed at giving wider squad members some extra ice time and it proved to be close throughout and highly entertaining to watch.
The match saw a Connah's Quay debut for Jaakko Tulkki and a first full game for Tom Wlodarczyk. The occasion had a nice family atmosphere with a number of junior mascots on the ice before and after the game.
Cobras took the lead on six minutes with a goal from Sam Hunt but the Buccaneers equalised on 13 minutes. Former Dragons 2 and Bradford Bulldogs league player Gez Evans edged the home side back in front with just 90 seconds left on the clock to hand the Cobras a narrow 2-1 lead at the first period break.
Cobras' player-coach Emma Dutton fired the hosts further ahead with a goal just 30 seconds after the restart and a second goal from Evans a minute after that saw the lead stretched out to 4-1.
Blackburn pulled a goal back on 23 minutes and two more strikes saw them draw level at 4-4. A hat-trick goal from Evans on 36 minutes put Cobras' noses back in front and they led 5-4 at the second interval.
A second goal for Dutton on 42 minutes doubled the Cobras advantage early in the third period but Blackburn hit back again on 55 minutes to set up a nail-biting finale.
Gez Evans fired in his fourth goal of the game to restore Cobras' two-goal cushion on 57 minutes but the Buccaneers kept pushing forward, trying to salvage something from the game.
Andy Teece and Theo Coulson split the netminding duties for the Cobras, playing half the game each, and Coulson was called upon to make a number of impressive saves to keep the Blackburn attack at bay in the closing stages.
There was no more goal action, however, and the game finished 7-5 to the Cobras – with Coulson (pictured above) being named MVP for his performance.
Connah's Quay are back on the cup trail for their next game when they face a tricky trip away to last year's champions Don Valley Vikings in Sheffield on June 21 (8pm face-off). They then finish off their qualifying group matches with a game at Whitley Bay on August 2.
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