Anything Can Happen In The Next Half Hour!

The Belfast Giants made their first ever journey to the Hull Arena for the cross-over game against the Hull Stingrays. The travelling Giants fans hoped that this encounter would be a lot more interesting than the game played out in the Odyssey Arena in December, which seen a boring game settled in the final period with the Giants scoring the only 2 goals of the match.

The Giants fans were joined by a number of Manchester Phoenix fans who had travelled down the M62 to see their former captain George Awada line out for the Elite League leaders.

And George didnt disappoint, a mistake by the Hull defence in trying to clear their own zone placed the puck to Jason Bowen on the blue line, a quick tap to Awada in the slot who skated in and flipped the puck past the Hull netminder. Awada turned and gave the Manchester and Giants fans a nod of satisfaction as the Belfast side took a 1-0 lead into the second period.

Midway through the second period Fredrick Nasvall was handed a 2 minute penalty for slashing.Though the Giants were shorthanded they broke through the hull offence and pushed forward with a three on one, Tony Hand linking up well with Shane Johnson as they moved the puck from the left to the right in two easy passes to Todd Kelman. And it was Kelman who cracked the puck into the top left hand corner of the Hull goal with a fantastic shot from the right circle. 2-0 and the Giants were looking comfortable.

Hull didn't stop working however, a high workrate and some good possession play gave them some hope of getting back in the game, however these hopes were set back when Curt Bowen pushed the puck passed the Hull netminder for a third goal.

This didn't stop Hull. In the offensive zone they were finding it difficult to break down the Giants defense, but it was a momentary lapse in the Giants defense that allowed Hull's Evgeny Alipov to pick the puck up between the two Giants D-men on their own blue line and break into the slot, firing passed Martin Klempa with only five seconds of the second period remaining.

A well fought third period brought no joy for the hardworking Stingrays and the Giants picked up two well earned points from the first of the weekend two road crossover games.

The Giants would then travel up the A1(M) for their next away fixture, against the Newcastle Vipers.

Patrick Smyth