While the end result wasn’t to the Wellington fans liking, not many of the nearly 1,100 that jammed Lehigh Arena Friday could state with authority they weren’t entertained.

The Dukes and the visiting Golden Hawks met up for the third time this season but it was the first return visit for former Wellington Coach and General Manager Derek Smith. While the contest had all the earmarks of a classic junior hockey grudge match, the frenetic action on the ice muted any subtext that might have been simmering in the stands.

Trenton would emerge as the leaders after 20 minutes of play.

After David Fournier broke the ice at the 4:18 mark, finding a hole in the paraphernalia of Wellington starter Jack Lisson, it was the Dukes turn to get on the board.

Afforded an early power play, Wellington’s Corey Jewitt would get his stick on the puck during a scramble in front of Trenton’s Brady Spry at 8:07 to tie the game at 1-1.

The tie didn’t last long however as Owen Wilson beat Mr. Lisson at 10:31.

Trenton would fire home the only goal of the second as Thomas Kuipers beat Mr. Lisson from range at 3:45 and the Golden Hawks pushed ahead 3-1.

But a late penalty by Trenton’s Kayson Un Yi set up a Dukes power play early in the third. Mr. Un Yi emerged from the sin bin just in time to get a good view of Wellington’s Pana Efraimidis taking a feed from Mr. Jewitt at 1:37 of the third.

The joint was jumping as the Dukes were within a goal of the visitors.

Mr. Jewitt, Wellington’s best player on this night, was in on the tying goal as well. He and Colin Smith teamed up to find Connor Hunt and the Centre Hastings native put his 23^rd goal of the season behind Mr. Spry with just over eight minutes to play. The hometown crowd, minus a glut of salty Trenton faithful, cheered lustily.

Mr. Spry, a former Picton Pirate, came up big for his team in overtime as the Golden Hawks were tasked with killing a penalty in the first extra period.

After neither scored in the four-on-four session, Trenton would take control in the three-on-three session and it was former Duke Luc Lapalm springing Mr. Fournier who would bookend the scoring on this night with his 17^th tally of the season.

Despite the overtime setback, Wellington remains undefeated in regulation time in 2024. The Dukes managed to carve out a 4-1 win Monday in Coburg. Mr. Hunt, Mr. Jewitt, Logan Sitlani and Dmitri-Alexander Tzaferis all scored for the visitors. Mr. Jewitt in particular has been on a hot streak for his club. The Clinton, ON native has four goals and five helpers in his last four games.

Wellington is in Aurora on Thursday. Their next home action is Sunday, Feb. 18 when they host Markham.