NIHL Weekend Preview

WEEKEND

PREVIEW

NIHL NORTH DIVISION 1 MORALEE CONFERENCE

Saturday 21st November 2015

Solway Sharks vs. Sheffield Spartans

Sunday 22nd November 2015

Whitley Warriors vs. Sheffield Senators

Billingham Stars vs. Solway Sharks

Going into their home fixture against Sheffield Spartans on the back of a stunning four point weekend, Solway Sharks should be full of confidence, having beaten the Yorkshire side away from home just last Saturday. Though player-assistant coach Martin Cingel will once again be missing through injury, the Sharks can will be encouraged by the recent strong performances of Slovakian import Juraj Senko, skilful left winger Steven Moore and forward Michael Corbett who have facilitated Solway’s ascension of the National Ice Hockey League table, the side clawing their way back from eighth place to now find themselves just outside of the top four spots.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

In what has been a vast turnaround, coach Martin Grubb can only hope that his side continue to build on their current good run of form; the Dumfries outfit have now won five of their last seven NIHL league fixtures. Close to returning to their best, Solway no longer carry the burden of poor league placement and, with a home advantage on their side, the Sharks can only improve on the 2-1 edge they held over the Spartans at Ice Sheffield. With this in mind, victory would increase Solway’s points tally to fourteen before their contest against Billingham Stars on Sunday at The Forum to leave the Sharks just two points adrift of fourth placed Solihull Barons. However, should the unpredictable Spartans surprise the Sharks with their fortitude on Saturday, Sheffield will displace their opponents to reclaim their former league position. Martin White’s team have played fifteen league games, two more than any other NIHL side, of which they have won six and lost nine. Despite some substantial defeats, most notably a 10-3 loss to Solihull Barons, both tenacity and strength have empowered the Spartans in their mid-table battle thus far.

Currently, Sheffield’s joint top points scorers are player-assistant coach Stuart Brittle who achieved an impressive eleven goals and twenty sixth assists in Spartans’ 2014-15 campaign, and loyal forward Nick Manning who is now in his twelfth season with the club. If anything, a lack of discipline has let the Yorkshire outfit down it would seem as, racking up three hundred and twenty penalty minutes, more than any other team in the league, Brittle, forward Ollie Barron and Scott Morris have been sin binned for more than forty minutes each this season.

In comparison, Solway have trouble maker Ross Murray in their ranks who has, at present, served an astounding fifty four minutes in the sin bin, twenty six minutes of which were misconduct calls. In spite of this, Murray is able to pose a considerable threat in front of goal. The forward has lit the lamp on four occasions to date, also assisting his team mates seven times, proving that, as alternate captain, he is an asset to his club and is more than capable of leading his team to success when disciplined.

Whether or not Murray will be able to maintain such discipline in Solway’s second league game of the weekend against Billingham Stars on Sunday evening remains to be seen. As Terry Ward’s team go into this fixture on the back of a 6-3 loss to Solihull Barons, Grubb’s line up will be looking for a win against the Spartans in the hope that victory against the Sheffield outfit on Saturday will spur Solway on to further success against Billingham, particularly as the Sharks and the Stars are extremely close rivals.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Plummeting to seventh last weekend, Stars fans will be extremely dissatisfied with their team’s performance, their displays having varied so far this season from a landslide win over Sheffield Senators to a tight 3-2 loss against Telford Tigers. With last weekend’s defeat in mind, Billingham will find a way to climb the table and what better way than beating former league title champions Solway Sharks? The Stars will be encouraged by the fact that they have already triumphed over the Sharks this season by five goals to three on away ice, Callum Davies, Michael Elder, Scott Ward and Chris Sykes scoring for the visitors.

Interestingly, Murray picked up a 2+2+2 for misconduct in the first twenty minutes of this game and likewise Swedish import Dennis Boström also received 2+2 for misconduct when two man system Steven Wardell and David Emmerson saw fit to punish both players. However, the Stars must employ Boström’s skill and pace rather than his tempestuousness in order to challenge the Dumfries outfit. In spite of their defeat, other standout players for Billingham last Sunday were Ben Davison who achieved a goal and an assist for his side, and Tom Keeley and Jack Davies also managed to put their names on the score sheet. If anything, it is perhaps Billingham’s unpredictability which poses a threat to Solway; in their last five games the side have won twice, lost twice and drawn once. Whatever happens this weekend though, the Stars are unlikely to encounter the last minute blow they were dealt last weekend when player-assistant coach Richie Thornton missed out on Stars’ away game due to issues with travel, resulting in a Level 2 qualified coach switching from the Barons’ bench to Billingham’s to ensure that the game went ahead.

In the midst of these fixtures, Whitley Warriors take on the newly promoted Sheffield Senators at Hillheads on Sunday. It is the first time that the Senators have visited Whitley Bay Ice Rink, the Sheffield unit having formed in 2010 to start out in Division 2 of the English National League. After a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Sheffield Spartans at Ice Sheffield last Sunday, David Longstaff’s Warriors look to hunt down two points to maintain their current league placement which is the best it has been since Whitley finished second to Billingham Stars in their 2011-12 campaign.

There is no doubt though that the Warriors are a far better side than the one that iced last season with eight wins now under their belt. This means the team have already exceeded the amount of points earned in their last campaign; a season in which the Hillheads outfit finished second bottom with only Manchester Minotaurs preventing the side from suffering certain relegation.

The addition of alternate captain Andre Payette, the return of Shaun Kippin and the consistency of new defencemen Stu Tomlinson and Joe Stamp to Warriors’ roster has improved the side considerably, allowing long serving forwards Callum Watson and DJ Good to score on a more frequent basis.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Meanwhile, Senators’ top goal scorer is Alexander Harding who has so far racked up ten points for his team but the team do not appear to have a consistent goal scorer in their midst which has compounded their inability to achieve a win this season. Though the struggling Sheffield side have found it difficult to light the lamp this season, the Warriors found their first clash with the side a difficult one, holding onto a narrow 1-0 lead up until the forty third minute when Harding equalised. This score line was overturned in due course, however, in comparison to Senators’ previous results, this 6-1 defeat was by far their best effort in Division One to date, Sheffield’s concession rate at its lowest, its defence at its strongest and netminder Mark Hartley producing some excellent saves to keep the Warriors at bay. With the leadership of captain Andrew McEwan, and alternate captains Nathan Parkes-Britton and Arran Bell, the Senators continue to battle on through the season. As a result, Whitley should not by any means be complacent as, though Sheffield’s form is unmistakably poor, Longstaff and his side have experienced first-hand the threat that the Senators pose and anything less than a show of strength and skill from the Warriors could put their chances of winning in jeopardy. With the only absences likely to be Dean Holland and Alex Lawson, both of whom are recovering from long term injuries, the Warriors should be back to full strength as Callum Watson returns to the line-up, having missed out on Warriors’ clash with the Spartans at Ice Sheffield last weekend.

For those fans hoping to watch an ice hockey game over the weekend, Solway Sharks take on Sheffield Spartans from 7:00pm on Saturday evening at the Dumfries Ice Bowl. Ward’s Billingham Stars then play host to the Sharks with a face off of 6:30pm at The Forum whereas Whitley Warriors encounter Andrew Chapman’s Sheffield Senators at the earlier time of 5:00pm in the hope of maintaining their current league status.

For more photos from IceHockeyMedia, please visit: http://www.icehockeymedia.co.uk/.