Harper Sercombe
The Footscray Pirates remain undefeated in Ice Hockey Victoria’s summer division 4 season, tying their second game of the season on Saturday night.
The Pirates conceded early against the Ice Wolves Grey Wolves at the O’Brien Icehouse in the low scoring affair.
The Pirates were able to tie up the score in the third period with Daniel Gibson putting one in the back of the net. However the game remained as a 1-1 tie.
Both goalkeepers were fantastic in the game with Ricky Goode from the Wolves saving 26 of the 27 shots taken at his goals, while the Pirates’ goalie saved 14 shots.
Pirates’ player Allan Frith said it was a tough physical match.
“Older players playing against younger players,” he said.
“We’re doing alright… it’s going to be a hard fought season, we’re playing against players that are half our age so I think we’re doing pretty well.
“We play in the summer competition which isn’t as formal as the winter competition because there is a limit on the amount of teams and clubs allowed.”
The Pirates team has an average age of players well into their 50’s who have re-joined the club and played competitively for over a decade after the club was shut down in the mid 80s.
“When the Footscray ice rink closed in 1986, the Pirates had nowhere to go… we reformed 12 years ago when the Docklands rink opened up,” Firth said.
“When that opened up we had a reunion and put the team back together. So half the team is made up of players in their 50s and 60s that were once kids playing for the Pirates in the 70s and 80s.”
Even the coach is the same from when Firth was a junior at the Pirates, with Alan Adamson still at the helm.
“He’s 91 years of age, he first started playing with the Pirates a long, long time ago,” Firth said.
“We have two coaches, Allan Sefton is team manager and co-coach too.”
The games come thick and fast in the summer competition with the Pirates playing against the Demons on Monday night, after deadline.
When they played the Demons in the season opener Gibson was also amongst the scorers putting in one and assisting another in the 5-4 win. Sharon Orgad, Tim Ferguson and Tommy Bawden all scored one each and had an assist and Ferguson had two assists.
The Pirates play again on Thursday against the Monash Monarchs, who had one win and one loss to start the season as of Monday afternoon.
On Saturday, the Pirates will play their fourth game for the week, this time against the Red Wolves at the Olympic Ice Skating Centre in Oakleigh.
The Pirates can then enjoy two weeks off games, before returning to the rink on December 18 for the last time in 2023.
