Sara MoultonFree Press Staff
It was a winning weekend at Ghostriders HQ, adding two more victories to the books as well as a significant boost to the club’s scholarship fund.
The Riders kicked off their home-and-home weekend against the Golden Rockets with a cheque presentation from Fernie Ford, contributing $4,000 to assist with the cost of the players’ further education. Ghostriders president Barb Anderson and team captain Dylan Robertson gratefully accepted the donation, which was raised during the Drive One 4UR Community event in September.
“We look forward to hosting this event each year; it gives us an opportunity to help with the Ghostriders’ scholarship fund while at the same time showing off our new vehicles,” said Loretta Johnson, fixed operations manager at Fernie Ford.
“It is important to us that we are involved in community events and this is a perfect chance to raise funds towards such a good cause.”
Ghostriders head coach and general manager Craig Mohr also expressed his appreciation to the community for their ongoing contributions to the club.
“Kudos to Ford for doing this; it’s such a fun event and I had a blast. It's pretty awesome to have $4,000 to help out the guys as they start their life after their time with the Fernie Ghostriders.”
Dylan Robertson and Barb Anderson accept a $4,000 cheque from Fernie Ford's Jesse Johnson. Photo: Sara Moulton
With the formalities taken care of, the Riders set to work against their divisional rivals. While the scoreboard remained empty at the first buzzer, the Rockets entered the second with a lit fuse to put two markers past Brandon Butler early in the second period. However, Golden’s celebrations were to be short-lived as Spencer Bender tallied two for the Riders, split by one from Evan Reid.
The Golden boys proved that the battle wasn’t over by tying the game up again in the opening minutes of the third period, but with two more for Fernie from Doan Smith and Dustin Watt, the Rockets found themselves diffused by a 5-3 final result.
The following night, the Riders hit the road for a rematch in Golden’s barn. History seemed to be repeating as the first period came and went without a goal, but things heated up in the second when a marker from Jason Yan was quickly answered by the home side. In the end, it was again Smith who came through with the game-winning goal in the third to secure a 2-1 victory for the Ghostriders.
The Fernie squad will now be on the road for five games in two weeks as the regular season rapidly comes to a close. Their final two home games will both be against the Columbia Valley Rockies on Feb. 13 and Feb. 15, with the two teams on opposite ends of the divisional standings.