Disaster as Lightning crash out of cup to Bees
A disastrous 20 seconds saw Lightning throw away the chance of qualifying for the EPL Cup Final at Planet Ice.
Starting the game with a one goal advantage from the first leg in Bracknell the previous week the hosts had control of the tie during the first period but could not make it count with goals.
And they continued to have the better of the second period when they increased their aggregate lead.
But two defensive lapses on the 45 minute mark saw the balance of the game switch to Bees.
The first penalty of the game fell to Lightning when Daniel Croft was called for interference after 6mins 52secs. However Lightning defended the short-handed spell mostly in the Bees half of the ice.
Toni Alasaarela went closest to scoring while Bees' Joe Baird was in the sin bin for interference in the 10th minute but his shot was well saved by goalie Gregg Rockman.
It was more of the same in the second period when it was not until 28mins 18secs that there was a penalty as Lightning's Adam Carr was called for slashing. Even then Bees made little impression in front of goal.
Carr played a role in a great chance for Lightning when his pass was fired past the post by Gary Clarke on 33 minutes.
Seconds later the home side were given a powerplay opportunity as Matt Foord was sent to the sin bin for holding.
Just over a minute into the spell with the extra man Lightning capitalised with Greg Randall setting up Clarke to net from the left hand side of goal at 34mins 53secs.
With a 1-0 lead on the night – and a two goal aggregate lead – going into the third Lightning looked good for another goal to all but seal the tie.
Instead it was Bees who got back into the game when Jan Melichar's pass was redirected into the net by an unmarked Tom Carlon on 45mins 1sec.
While Lightning were reeling from the shock Sam Oakford found Peter Jasik to score Bees' second at 45mins 21secs.
There followed a frantic end to end battle for the next goal with video evidence showing the clock mysteriously speeding up for a while so several minutes of the game were lost.
Chris McEwen sent Matt Towalski away up the left and his blast put Lightning back in front on aggregate at 54mins 55secs.
But back Bees came with Matt Foord firing high into the goal to secure overtime at 56mins 40secs.
Foord then turned provider to sink Lightning with 31 seconds of overtime left, his shot was parried by Hollyhead but only as far Baird to slot home to make it 4-2 to Bees, 7-6 on aggregate.
Lightning scorers: Gary Clarke 1+0, Matt Towalski 1+0, Greg Randall 0+1, Ales Parez 0+1, Chris McEwen 0+1
Nets – Barry Hollyhead 29/4
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Weather for Milton Keynes
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 11 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 11 C to 25 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: North east
