Cardiff Devils 7 Mobilx Newcastle Vipers 4

Mar 8 2010 by Peter Adams

EMBARRASSED on Saturday night by losing 7-1 at home to bottom-of-the-table Hull Stingrays, the Vipers looked to be on course for a morale-boosting away win when Mike Berry’s 32nd-minute powerplay marker put them 3-0 ahead.

However, the Vipers conceded a goal a minute before the second break, two in the 42nd minute, and then a further two in just under five minutes to go 5-3 behind.

The scorer of the Vipers' opening goal on four minutes, Matic Kralj, then got his second of the night and 26th league goal of the season to give the Vipers hope of getting something out of the game on 49 minutes.

Six minutes later, though, Mark Smith hit the insurance marker and, with netminder Michel Robinson withdrawn to the bench, Phil Hill shot home an empty net goal with 19 seconds remaining to make it 7-4.

Earlier, Brent Hughes struck his fifth goal in the 11 games he has played for the Vipers to make it 2-0 on 15 minutes.

The Devils’ fightback began with Max Birbraer's score on 18 minutes and continued after the break with Tylor Michel netting two goals in 24 seconds, the first a powerplay marker and the second a coast-to-coast effort.