MUSKIE DEFENCEMAN Derrick Robson swats a loose puck away in front of goalie Rob Senay while Doug Horan clears the crease in WOAA Senior Men's hockey action against Palmerston at the CDRC this past weekend. Photo/MIKE MALONEY

It did not turn into the hockey battle many had expected but for the Shelburne Muskies, it was still a win as the Fish doubled up over Palmerston 8- 4 this past Saturday night.

With first place in the Western Ontario Athletic Association Senior Mens Northern division on the line, most fans were were looking to see a classic Muskie - 81's battle unfold as the last two remaining undefeated teams took to the ice of the CDRC.

To the disappointment of many, this was not to be.

After having played to a tough game in Durham the night before, the 81's dressed only 14 skaters and it wasn't long before a well rested and prepared Muskie squad wore down the opposition.

Brad Horan got the ball rolling for Shelburne on the power-play, taking a well placed pass from Sean Conner to open the scoring just under four minutes into the opening frame.

Penalties would prove costly for Shelburne as Palmerston made the most of their chances, scoring three powerplay markers over the remainder of the first.

Muskie Luke Downey would record his first of the season with an assist from Josh Duerden sending the teams into the second with Palmerston leading 3-2.

Midway through the midframe, however, the 81's started to slow and the Fish began to pick up their game.

Playing short-handed late in the period, Connor and Mark McArthur found themselves deep in the 81's zone on a twoon one breakaway with McArthur sliding the puck across to Connor, who made no mistake tipping it upstairs to tie the score at 3-3.

Anthony Potoschnik added another for Shelburne less than a minute later, snapping a shot just under the crossbar with 4:07 remaining in the second.

Palmerston would tie the score at four when Ryan Black capitalized on a sloppy clearing effort by Shelburne but that would be all the scoring they could muster as the Fish continued to crank up the pace.

Zac Duerdin snagged a pair of back to back goals for Shelburne, the first a beauty backhanded up and over a sprawling Scott Walls in goal for Palmerston, followed two minutes later when he tossed one into the wide side on a pass from Derek Smith.

Chris Greer recorded his second assist on the night, setting up Potoschnik cruising in down the left side then scored one of his own by slipping around chaos in front of the crease with a backhander to make it 8-4 with 3:30 left on the clock.

As usual, Rob Senay stood his ground in goal for Shelburne through the remainder of regulation time as the Muskies went on to post this their seventh consecutive win of the season.

For coach Joe Bakes, the win was welcome but had hoped for more from Palmerston. "Sure it's going to be a lot different when we go into Palm'y on December 27th but you want it that way. Right now were number one, undefeated, and that's huge for us".

Bakes is also quite encouraged by the play of a number of his young guys including Kevin Tuckey, Potoschnik and Zac Duerdin.

Playing centre Saturday night for the first time this year, Duerdin was happy to finally get things happening on the ice. "It was good when we got are legs going, staying out of the box and playing Shelburne hockey". He says it's a great feeling to be sitting at 7-0 and, with the chemistry on the team, is looking forward to the rest of the season.

Action continues for the Fish this coming weekend when the Ripley Wolves make their first appearance of 2008-09 at "the Tank" on Saturday night, game time 8 p.m.