The teams were basically the same for Saturdays Shetland Dragons competition however the extra space afforded by the Clickimin hall altered the balance of play.
The Ridgebacks played the Horntails in the first game and the pace and movement of Joe O'Connor and Magnus Laurenson caused problems for the Ridgebacks defence from the outset. Magnus scored the winning goal late in the first half when he picked up a loose ball on the right, cut inside and passed Jonathan Sandilands with a well struck wrist shot. The Ridgebacks attack found itself helping out deep in defence and were unable to make any chances, only several good saves from Jonathan prevented more goals from the Horntails. Ridgebacks 0, Horntails 1.
The second game could easily have gone the same way for the Ridgebacks as Ben Davis found space to make several early forays for the Fireballs culminating in a goal from a lone break. James Nicolson dropped a little deeper for the Ridgebacks and his presence helped Donovan Yianni and Alec Watt to settle. In the second half the Ridgebacks started to attack more fluently and their first goal of the competition was a good team effort. James Nicolson passed the ball to Kieran Smith on the left wing and headed towards goal, Kieran took the ball into the corner and returned the pass across the face of the Fireballs net where James coolly shot past Steven Stove. This helped the Ridgebacks confidence and Ruairidh Mackenzie finished off the scoring with a powerful break on goal. The final score was Ridgebacks 2, Fireballs 1.
In the last game the Fireballs started out stronger with Andy Harper and Ben Davis linking well. This partnership created the opening goal when Andy won the ball in the left corner and passed to Ben in front of the crease from where he easily scored. The Horntails pressed for the equalizer but looked like being denied by some athletic goalkeeping from Steven Stove until Magnus Laurenson found some space on the left from where he built up speed and managed to deek passed Steven to score a fine goal. In the second half Christopher Storey dominated in the Horntails defence allowing only long range shots which were easily dealt with. The winning goal came from Joe O'Connor who took a pass from the left wing, fumbled over his first effort but managed to retain control and beat Steven with a low shot to the glove side.
The Horntails won the tournament by winning both their games.
The final game before Christmas will be at the Clickimin Centre on Saturday.