Thunder returned to home ice looking for improvements from a loss against Oxford Rising Stars the weekend before. With some changes made through the lineup by Coach Fry, Aaron Wilkins returned, partnered by new signing Marlon Williams, with prospect Ivo Gaytanski also coming back into the line up. The opposition, Slough Spitfires, made the trip north confident after recording their first ever win against Haringey Huskies, and were hopeful of continued success in their first season together.

The first period started as expected, with a fast tempo and both teams pushing hard to test each other’s defensive capabilities. Thunder looked strong in the opening exchanges, controlling possession well and generating a couple of early chances on McGibbon in the Spitfires net. However, a poor line change on 2:53 saw Harmon cross the blue line completely unopposed, and punish Thunder’s error with a good finish low on Burton. The home side showed good character, and responded by pushing forwards once again, only to be met with a brick wall in the form of McGibbon who throughout the entire game demonstrated his quality with some outstanding saves. On 11:30 it was another error by Thunder that gifted Slough their second. A messy breakout from behind the net fell to Williams, and with Thunder’s formation completely broken he was able to slide the puck across the netfront to Nicholson who gave Burton no chance with a calm finish into the top of the net from close range. Thunder were handed a lifeline with minutes remaining in the first, with Merry already in the box for slashing, a boarding major called on the Spitfires gave the home side a 5 on 3 advantage, which led to McGibbon’s resilience finally being broken by Ryan Wonfor on 18:05 as he managed to kick the puck onto his stick blade and poke it home before the Slough netminder could get across to his back post.

The second period was a chippy and stop, start affair. Both teams generating the odd chance off the rush, but both also lacking discipline – 4 minor penalties called on Slough and 3 on Milton Keynes as each side traded the man advantage but all penalty kill units coming off the winners as the score remained the same heading into the final period. Given the struggles Thunder have had so far this season with the second frame, a scoreless period, where they outshot their opponent 11-9 will have provided a huge confidence boost heading into the last, it was just McGibbon who continued to stand in their way.

Thunder returned the ice flying. Three early chances could easily have tied the game up, and Slough struggled to get through the neutral zone to relieve the pressure, which finally told on 43:26 when Kanins was able to take advantage of another powerplay opportunity to level the game with a smart shot from the circle into the top far corner of the net. An abuse of official penalty called after the goal provided Thunder a huge opportunity to take the lead, but again McGibbon stood on his head, making one save in particular that left everybody in the rink wondering how on earth the puck hadn’t crossed the line. As the powerplay finished, Thunder were able to complete the comeback, catching Spitfires on a chance, Kanins won the race to a puck behind the goal, finding Lewis Conroy in the slot to put the home team in the lead for the first time on 47:37. This kicked Slough into gear, and after pushing hard for the next few minutes, the scores were tied once again when Scott Anda snuck the puck through Burton’s legs from a tight angle on 53:53. This, however, did not last long. From the following faceoff Kanins collected the puck on the half wall in his own zone, and beat 4 Slough players on the rush before again finishing smartly from the circle on his forehand, goal timed at 54:23. Slough did their best to rally once more, but were met with a calm and composed Thunder defence who stood firm to prevent the Spitfires from being able to generate any chance of real quality or threat in the remaining moments. The game was sealed on 58:50 when Kanins completed his hattrick with a smart finish around McGibbon’s far pad.

Thunder demonstrated their progress over the course of 60 minutes. Where in previous matches adversity has seemed to lead to games drifting away from them, here they stayed mentally resilient to falling 2 behind and patiently and meticulously clawed their way back into the game before gaining complete control and going on to get the job done. A sign of things to come? Maybe! But for now, compliments to both teams for putting on a great advertisement for NIHL 2 South hockey.