MK Thunder 1 v 6  Peterborough Islanders 

Period Scores: 0 - 1, 1 - 4, 0 - 1 

Penalty Mins:    MK Thunder 33

                        Peterborough Islanders 18                       

Shots on Goal:   On MK Thunder’s   Mark Woolf – 19

   Kim Taylor – 22

 On Peterborough’s         James Moore – 25

MK Thunder: Paul Jamieson 1+0, Josh White 0+1 

Peterborough Islanders: Kristian Simo 2+0, Dale Jowett 1+0, Jason Buckman 1+0, Adam Holloway 1+0, Steve Maile 1+0, Keiron De’ath 0+1, Thomas Perkins 0+1, Jamie Holland 0+1, Fraser Hendry 0+1, Jesse Hammill 0+1, Ross MacKintosh 0+1 

MK Man of the Match – Paul Jamieson 

Thunder entertained local rivals Peterborough Islanders in the ENHL Cup last Sunday looking to put their recent poor cup form behind them and compete against a strong, in form Islanders outfit. However fate conspired against Thunder as they were forced to ice less than three lines, through illness and injury, against the full strength four lines the visitors brought with them.

Despite Islander having the stronger opening, Thunder held their own, defending well and breaking when they had the opportunity. As it turned out it was a game of two halves, a great contest until the twenty seventh minute when Islanders’ Ross MacKintosh slashed Thunders’ netminder Mark Woolf provoking a reaction which saw Woolf ejected from the game for use of the blocker and MacKintosh sitting just a 2 minute penalty. With backup Kim Taylor taking to the ice, Islanders took full advantage and had the game won before Thunder composed themselves for the last period.

Islanders opened the scoring through Steve Maile at 8:02, but neither team managed to get control in the first period. Tom Hurley, recently returned to Thunder after starting the season at  Coventry, had a breakaway chance to level the score and would have done but for a great save from Moore in the visitors net. 

Paul Jamieson silenced the visiting fans less than two minutes into second period when he latched onto a Josh White pass, raced down the right wing and let fly with a slap shot which Moore had no chance of stopping. At 1-1 Thunder began to play a more offensive game and until the MacKintosh-Woolf incident the Milton Keynes side were applying the greater pressure. However, four Islanders goals in the eight minutes following Woolfs departure saw the game won for Islanders. Simo, Jowett, Holloway and Buckman providing the goals for the visitors.

Thunder re-grouped in the period break and despite conceding a sixth at 41:05, they fought their way back into the game and at least made a contest of the last period playing the way they had in the opening twenty six minutes. It will be interesting to see these two teams compete when Thunder have a full team on the ice, that will be a hard game to call!