After the disappointment of elimination from the playoffs at the hands of Nottingham Mavericks the Vikings looked to get back to winning ways against the Oxford Bulls. The Bulls, having triumphed over the Vikings back in October, were expected to be tough opposition - especially since the end of the Oxford term had severely depleted the Vikings' ranks.  Things could not have gotten off to a worse start for the Vikings as the Bulls kept the puck in the Vikings' zone for the entire first three shifts of the match. The pressure on the Vikings defence told as the Bulls took the lead with only 2:43 gone. Things got worse immediately with Bradbury losing the faceoff back to the Bulls pointman who let fly with a pin point slap shot past a screened Peterson. The Vikings started to settle and pose more of an offensive threat with simple short passing through neutral ice preventing the Bulls forwards from intercepting the puck during transition. A nice pass from Dunbar allowed Wheeler to skate in on the Bulls goalie and he made no mistake in sliding a wrist shot off Freeland's left arm and in. If the former Viking thought he could have got more on Wheeler's opener there was nothing he could do about the Vikings' equalizer at the midpoint of the first period. With Young off for Holding the Vikings capitilized just twenty seven seconds into the powerplay with a one timer from Bradbury flying into the top corner past an unsighted Freeland off a perfect feed from Near. At two each the Vikings sensed a change in momentum and continued to press for a go ahead goal. At only 11:53 of the first, Dunbar scored close in, at a tight angle after good work down low by Akatov and Breisner. While the goalie would have wanted that one back, he remained focussed enough to make an excellent save from Akatov, and then a double save from Birmingham, who was free in the slot. He could do nothing about the Vikings' fourth goal as a brilliant pass from Dunbar split the defence and hit the stick of the rushing Bradbury who skated in alone on the goalie and slotted it under the right arm. There was still time for Peterson to make a series of fine saves as the Bulls pressed, with the dangerous Malysa always a threat, however Nevin and Near were able to keep him from having space in front of goal. The first period ended 4-2 to the Vikings who, after a rocky start, were able to score four unanswered goals in the last seventeen minutes of the period. 

The Bulls, clearly motivated in the intermission, came out hard to start the second period culminating in Birmingham taking a Delay of Game penalty. The Viking penalty killers played a tight box with the forwards able to block any blasts from the point and the defence able to move the opposition forwards away from the slot. The inability to generate any significant opportunities on the powerplay seemed to throw the Bulls off their stride and they took a Too Many Men penalty soon after the expiry of the Birmingham penalty. The Viking powerplay was unable to recreate the earlier dominance while Breisner, Bradbury and Akatov all went close, Freeland stood defiant. As the Bulls looked to pull within one and Vikings looked to stretch their lead the play became significantly more physical with both Eklow and George laying some bone crunching checks both in centre ice and in the corners to discourage the Bulls' forwards from holding onto the puck for too long. Nevertheless, the Bulls were able to generate numerous good scoring chances with Malysa and Young linking up well, but each time Peterson was equal to the task with no rebounds available to the eager Bulls. The play swung from end to end with the increased physicality resulting in more dump and chasing as the forwards of both sides looked to offload the luck before being run over. A chip pass off the boards by Bradbury to Breisner allowed him the space and time to split the defence and pick out the rushing Dunbar who was able to slide it home low into the net for his second goal and fifth point of the night. Any thoughts that a three goal cushion would be enough, with little under half the game remaining, were swiftly crushed. The Vikings' committed too deeply in the offensive zone leaving Nevin with the unenviable task of facing Malysa and Young on a 2 on 1. Nevin correctly covered the passing lane but it was to no avail as Young beat Peterson to the short side. Thus the second period ended even, with the Vikings two goal lead maintained.

The third started with a bang as the Bulls were able to exert some concerted pressure resulting in Malysa finally getting free and being presented with an opportunity that he could not miss. Buoyed by this early goal the Bulls pressed for an equalizer often leaving on forward high trying to get in behind the Viking defence. To counter this the Vikings' centres played much more defensively with the result that the wingers were unable to generate many opportunities except on the rush, though Freeland was equal to the task on each occasion. A holding penalty to Malysa with twelve minutes to play was a chance for the Vikings to generate some concerted offence and take advantage of the tiring Bulls. Once again the powerplay clicked perfectly as the pucked was cycled back to Bradbury on the point. This time the shot was an inch too high and hit the netting behind the goal instead of the net. The bounce was kind to the Vikings and Wheeler  was able to get off a quick shot that was saved well by Freeland. Unfortunately for the goaltender, Breisner was on hand to ram home the rebound before any on the Bulls were able to respond. This powerplay goal, coming even quicker than the first with only eleven seconds having elapsed on the Malysa penatly, proved to be vital as, just a minute after coming out of the penalty box, Malysa was finally able to sneak in behind the Viking defence. Coralling the puck, shot down the ice by a Bulls defenceman, he skated in alone on Peterson and calmly cut the deficit to one goal. The remaining ten and a half minutes proved to be no less tense than the preceding forty nine and a half as the Vikings had several chances to put the game away with Akatov, Bradbury, Wheeler and Birmingham all guilty of missing when they should have scored. As time began to run out for the Bulls their desperation manifested itself in a return to the composed offence with which they had started the match and they were able to hold the puck in the Vikings zone and cycle the puck for long stretches. The Vikings positioning, which had been good up to this point started to unravel and it required a good diving block from Eklow to stop a rocket from Krizka, and last ditch hits on players open in the slot from Near and George to preserve the slender lead. With a minute left the Bulls pulled Freeland for an extra forward and stacked the slot for a series of offensive zone faceoffs. Fortunately Bradbury was able to win all of the faceoffs into the corner from where the Bulls were unable to generate the decisive pass. The end arrived when, with three seconds left on the clock Bradbury tied up on a defensive zone faceoff, dropped on the puck and shovelled it to Near in the corner.

Even though only a challenge match, it was a hard fought, close and thoroughly entertaining spectacle for the twenty or so supporters present. It was vital to come out the victors from such a close game, especially when outshot 60 to 44.

Oxford Vikings 6

Oxford Bulls     5