SHELBURNE CDDHS Royals held off a late charge by the Norwell Redmen to preserve a 6-6 tie in District 4/10 Senior Boys hockey action. Photo/MIKE MALONEY By the look of things after the first period, anyone stopping by the CDRC on Tuesday would have thought CDDHS was well on their way to another victory in District 4/10 Boys hockey. Sometimes looks are very deceiving and the Royals found themselves fighting down to the final seconds of that game, to preserve a 6-6 tie with the Norwell Redmen.

Coming into this game riding a wave of early season success, Shelburne wasted no time establishing themselves as the team to beat in this game.

Clearing the puck out of their own end, Kevin Whitten fed a pass to Chris Allison, putting CDDHS on the board just over a minute into the game.

Following up minutes later, Curtis Montgomery showed some grit digging the puck out from behind the net, then tucking it in from the side for his first of the game.

Shelburne cycled quickly from defence to offence on their third goal with Tyson

Montgomery cashing in on a pass from Nick Glassford trailed less than a minute later by Allison banging home a rebound through traffic to put the Royals into a commanding 4-0 lead with 6:11 remaining in the first.

Sloppy play on the part of Shelburne, possibly from over confidence, gave Norwell a chance to kink the Royal armour when they beat Brandon Davis down low to get on the scoreboard.

Off the top of two, they narrowed the gap to 4-2 before Travis Galbraith scored for Shelburne on the power play at 11:42.

Following hot on the heels of Tallon Martin breaking in on the Redmen goal, Curtis Montgomery picked up the rebounding loose puck, tossing it up and over the sprawling Redmen cager to restore Shelburne's four goal lead.

Undaunted, Norwell dug in and were soon rewarded for their efforts.

Playing four on four, a two on one breakaway cut the goal deficit to three at 6:25, then they caught the Royals' defence napping ten seconds later to make it 6-4.

Shelburne's inability to control the puck and clear their own end proved costly when the Redmen closed to within one, setting things up for a battle in the third.

Sensing an opportunity, Norwell stepped up their pressure coming off the break.

With a short bench and only two defencemen, Royal forwards had to take turns back on the blueline and the extra ice time started catching up with them.

At the 9:22 mark, Palmerston's efforts were rewarded with a goal to tie the game and end the day for Davis.

Both teams continued to press through the final moments in an attempt to get the go ahead goal to no avail.

When the final buzzer sounded, Shelburne had hung on for the single point and a 6-6 tie and with the single point, preserve their first place position in the standings.