The Palmerston 81’s suffered back-to-back losses on the weekend, first to the Drayton Icemen in Drayton, then to the Durham Thundercats at home.
The Icemen earned a 9-5 victory Friday, Dec. 18. Drayton dominated the game both in play-making and scoring, and their net minding wasn’t too shabby either. They got the first goal – Devin McGuire from Mike Doran and Joe Gerbe. The 81’s answered with a goal by Rob Bundy from Brent “Tiny” Cochrane. The Icemen came back with a goal by Simon Johnson (assists – Cyle Hatch and McGuire) and again the Palmerston team tied the score with a goal by Derrick Givens from Brent Dekoning.  The 81’s pulled ahead when Bundy scored his second of the night and Dekoning got another assist. Kevin Beirnes made it 4-2 for Palmerston, assists to Chris Sebastian and Mike Lankshear. The Icemen scored late in the period to close the gap a little, John Chapell from Gerbe and Doran.
The second period was Drayton’s, with four goals – Kyle Raben from Wes Miller, McGuire from Brady Claussen, John Thiel from Miller and Raben, and Raben again from Chappell and Pat Downey. The score at the end of the period was 7-4 for Drayton.
The 81’s redeemed themselves a little when Tod Normen scored unassisted in the third, but Drayton pulled even further ahead with two goals of their own, Hatch from Chappell, and Downey from Doran, ending the game 9-5.
The next night on home ice, Palmerston started off right, scoring two goals early in the first period, Rob Bundy from Brad Kenny, and then Kenny from Mike Lankshear. Durham managed to beat goalie Scott Walls with a goal late in the period, Joel Potkoff from Jeff MacMillan and Cory Andrews.
The Thundercats came on strong in the second, scoring two unanswered goals, Gerry Schenk from Kevin Tremble and Rob LeBlanc, and Brad Cripps from Potkoff and J. MacMillan, putting Durham up 3-2 at the end of the period.
The 81’s never gave up, but they weren’t having any luck around the net. Durham managed to score twice, Potkoff from Keith MacMillan and Bill Terpstra, and again unassisted, before Palmerston got a goal, Kenny from Kevin Beirnes. That was to be the final goal of the night for the 81’s. Durham put the game out of reach with a final goal late in the period, Shawn Hill from Potkoff, for a final score of 6-3.
The 81’s play in Walkerton on Dec. 28, 8 p.m. The next home game is Jan. 2, 2010, 8 p.m.
The Elora Rocks lead the 10-team North group in standings, with Durham in fourth place, Palmerston in eighth and Drayton in ninth place. Walkerton is in last place.