With four games remaining in the regular season, the Wingham Ironmen are four points back of the Kincardine Bulldogs after splitting two games on the weekend. The Ironmen dropped a 3-1 decision in Walkerton Friday night before edging Mount Forest 2-1 on Saturday.
Walkerton remains in first at 52, while Mitchell has pulled into a tie with Hanover at 44.
The Ironmen have 34 points, with Kincardine at 38 and each team has four games left in the regular season.
Ironmen head coach Chad Haggitt said the team played a great game against the Hawks and worked hard, but couldn’t get the bounces, as well as being assessed 15 minutes of penalties in the first period.
Haggitt said despite the close game in Mount Forest, the Ironmen outplayed the Patriots by a huge margin and if they hadn’t hit several posts, the game wouldn’t have been close.
Friday night in Walkerton, after a scoreless first period, the Hawks took a 1-0 lead at 5:03 of the first before Graham Ashcroft tied it three minutes later.
But the Hawks regained the lead before the period was over and added an insurance goal midway through the third for the 3-1 win.
Both teams had 26 shots, with the Ironmen going scoreless on four chances with the man advantage, while the Hawks converted one of their nine chances on the power play.
Saturday night in Mount Forest, the Patriots took a 1-0 lead early in the first but Chris Corbett tied it at 5:57 of the second before Greg Tiffin notched the winner at 12:51 of the final period.
The Ironmen outshot Mount Forest 51-39 and were one for nine on the power play and killed off all but one chance on six Patriot power plays.
With the Bulldogs on a hot streak, Haggitt said it would be tough to catch them, but the Ironmen probably match up against them better than any other team, although every game against the Bulldogs is physical and they can’t be given an inch.
As they prepare for the playoffs, Haggitt said the Ironmen would be focusing on special teams and making sure they play their own game. “When we do that, we can beat anybody,” said Haggitt.
The Ironmen host Goderich Friday at 8 p.m. before travelling to Hanover on Saturday for an 8:30 p.m. game.