A supercharged South squad, powered by youth and skill, dismantled EW last night 8-0 at Ally Pally. It seems nothing can stop South on their march to the inaugural Gerry's Cup Trophy.
It didn't take long for South to get started as the offensive dynamo known as Tal Elbaz potted the first of his four goals 58 seconds into the game. A blue line bar down bomb by Laurence Hora made it 2-0. By the end of the first the undermanned EW was back on their heels down 3-0 as a shell shocked Nikolai Scsorsz battled keep EW afloat.
South picked up where they left off in the first with an impressive PP zipping the puck around the perimeter doing everything but scoring. Shortly thereafter, a costly EW turnover deep in their zone saw Elbaz pick out a streaking Alipov who batted in a backhander to put South up 4-0. Several minutes later it was the Elbaz show again as he stickhandled his way out of a phone booth, somehow eluding two EW players at the blue line, before walking in alone and burying his second of the night to seemingly put the game out of reach at 5-0.
At the other end South sub tender Mickey was a brick wall stopping 2 1/2 Bender breakaway attempts, several Robert wristers and a few LeMasurier bombs. Before the period ended it was Timur Khalikov getting in on the action to end the period 6-0.
The third period saw a fatigued EW team fighting to get on the board. However continued South pressure resulted in two more goals to end the game 8-0. With the Gerry's Cup final on tap, it appears South is on track for its first title in several years.
Devils South: Scoring
Tal Elbaz- Donnelly
Laurence Hora- unassisted
Tal Elbaz- Dancziger
Andrey Alipov- Elbaz
Timur Khalikov- Wong
Tal Elbaz- Alipov, Donnelly
Tal Elbaz- Alipov
Cody Haddow- Wong, Dancziger
Devils South: Penalties
Dancziger- trip
Devils E/W: Penalties
LeMasurier- trip
Foster- Delay of Game
Devils E/W edged a tight contest to book their spot in the cup final and eliminate Devils North from contention. More to follow...
Devils E/W: Scoring
Bob Chebator (unassisted)
Sam Bailey (A. Lemas)
Jeremy Robert (B. Chebator, A. Cohen)
Devils E/W: Penalties
Bench (too many)
A. Lemas (trip)
A. Cohen (trip)
Devils North: Scoring
James Mulligan (Q. Duble, P. Holbrook)
Frank Walshe (M. Corbiel, G. Malacarne)
Devils North: Penalties
J. Mulligan (trip)
J. Mulligan (slash)
J. Laing (hold)
Devils South came back from 3-1 down to top the North in a see-saw battle at Lee Valley. More to follow...
Devils South: Scoring
Todd Donnelly (A. Dancziger)
Arlen Dancziger (T. Elbaz)
Gavin Gleeson (unassisted)
Tal Elbaz (unassisted)
Arlen Dancziger (A. Alipov)
Tal Elbaz (T. Khalikov, L. Hora)
Arlen Dancziger (unassisted) EN
Devils South: Penalties
M. Neizvestnov (trip)
Devils North: Scoring
Marc Corbeil (J. Mulligan, Q. Duble)
James Mulligan (M. Corbeil, D. Maze)
Marc Corbeil (Q. Duble, J. Mulligan)
Quinby Duble (H. Grant, K. Leizer)
Marc Corbeil (J. Mulligan, J. Laing)
Devils North: Penalties
R. Clark (trip)