WEEKEND
PREVIEW
NIHL
NORTH DIVISION 1 MORALEE CONFERENCE
Saturday
11th March 2017
Billingham Stars vs. Blackburn Hawks
Sunday
12th March 2017
The Dragons vs. Whitley Warriors
Blackburn Hawks vs. Solway Sharks
Solihull Barons vs. Billingham Stars
With
very few games of the season now remaining, the Northern Trio are set to resume their league
campaign this weekend. As Billingham Stars face a double header against
Lancashire outfit Blackburn Hawks and Perry Doyle’s Solihull
Barons, Whitley Warriors journey to Deeside as they strive to steal
points from The Dragons. Also featuring this Sunday, Solway Sharks are set to encounter the Hawks when they make one last trip to Blackburn Ice Arena to take on last season’s champions.
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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First
to ice this weekend, Billingham Stars are set to host Steven Duncombe’s
Blackburn Hawks on Saturday evening as the Teessiders look to build on their recent
form, having recorded four wins in their last five league games. Heading into
this game with momentum from last Sunday’s 6-3 victory against The Dragons, Terry
Ward’s team will be looking to add to their points tally as they take on the
Hawks whom they have already defeated twice in the league this season, not to
mention the three further victories that the Stars gained over the side in the North Cup competition. Currently
in sixth place with eighteen points, Blackburn are a far cry from the team they
were last season, having lost so many players over the summer months, but under
no circumstances should the side be underestimated going into this contest; the
Hawks were able to claim a 5-2 league victory over the Stars on home ice in
September besides a 7-4 cup win in October. As such, Duncombe’s
outfit are more than capable of putting the Teessiders to the test on Saturday
and will go out in search of success, having claimed just one point from a
possible eight since defeating Sutton Sting by nine goals to three last month.
With top points scorer Richard Bentham making his return to the Hawks’ line-up
in recent games following a suspension for his accumulation of penalty minutes,
Blackburn will also have the strength and skill of forwards Aaron Davies, Mikko
Sierman and their player-coach Duncombe, all of whom have now achieved twenty points or
more in the league this season. The Stars, on the other hand, will have the
league’s top points scorers on their side in the form of forward Chris Sykes and Swedish
import Dennis Boström, not to mention the strong work ethic of alternate captain Callum Davies who now
has thirty one points from twenty two games, hardworking forward Michael Elder,
Swede Daniel Palmebjörk and former EPL player Jack Watkins. With a victory for
the Stars simply signifying momentum now the team have secured a playoff place,
the points could make far more difference to Blackburn Hawks who are competing
alongside Solihull Barons, Whitley Warriors and Sutton Sting for one of those
two remaining playoff positions. As a result, this game will be an incredibly
important one for the Lancashire line-up and one they cannot afford to lose.
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| Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson |
Following
this game, Billingham Stars will travel to Hobs Moat Road on Sunday where
they will take on Solihull Barons for the last time this season. First facing
Perry Doyle’s side in January, Billingham were disappointed to record a 7-5
road loss to the Barons which was followed by a second defeat to the outfit on
the first weekend in February, the Stars losing out by a single goal on this
occasion after taking the lead in the early stages of the game. More recently, the Teessiders were able to claim a 6-5 win over Solihull on home ice
in what was another great clash between the two teams. With Stars’ forwards Sykes and
Watkins and Solihull’s Thomas Soar each grabbing two goals in the previous meeting between the sides, goals are often plentiful in these encounters and
collectively, across the three games Billingham and the Barons have featured
against each other, there have been thirty four goals scored. As a
result, this fixture is likely to be another lively event as both teams will no
doubt go all out to win the contest. Hoping to even their
head-to-head form against the Barons, Billingham will look to build on their
latest triumph over Solihull whereas Doyle will encourage his team to avenge
their most recent defeat to the Stars in the hope that his
side can widen the gap between themselves and their competition, with the Barons
now close to claiming a playoff spot. Speaking to NIHL Northern Trio, Star
Chris Sykes looked ahead to Billingham’s upcoming double header and what
victory would mean for his side: “It’s a double header for the Stars this
weekend, something we haven’t been used to since the start of 2017 with having
lots of Sunday games and Saturdays off. This weekend is still a big weekend;
the teams we are playing are fighting for a playoff spot and we are playing to
keep our form going into playoffs so we aren’t taking this weekend lightly. We
want four points and we aim to do that. We are at home on Saturday against
Blackburn who we haven’t played for a long time but we know it will be a tough
game and we will be wanting to win, especially on home ice. Sunday is an away
trip to Solihull for the last time this season. We’ve had some high scoring
close games and I expect this to be the same thing, hopefully again with the
Stars coming out on top!”
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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Also
icing on Sunday, though facing off a little earlier than the Stars, Whitley
Warriors will make the trip to Deeside ahead of their fixture with Scott
McKenzie’s Dragons. Recently hit hard by the absence of key players in defence,
the Warriors have battled on over the course of their last three away games
which comprised of a 5-2 win over Sutton Sting as well as back-to-back defeats
against Solihull Barons. Despite working hard to achieve maximum points in
consecutive clashes with the Barons, scoring a total of ten goals to Solihull’s
nineteen across these two fixtures, the Warriors were unable to find their edge
against their opposition and, as a result, will be looking to get back to
winning ways on Sunday. So far, David Longstaff’s line-up have a one hundred
per cent win rate against The Dragons to date, having first recorded an 11-4
victory against the side when on the road in November. Since then, the Warriors
have achieved two home victories over the Welsh outfit, though these contests
were certainly not without their difficulties. Competing against the side prior
to the Christmas break, Whitley were required to make a comeback against the
newly promoted team who took the lead with just fifty five seconds played and
appeared to be in control for a large part of the game. The Warriors then achieved success on home ice for a second time against the Deeside-based club at
the beginning of the year, the Dragons again dominating in the early stages
of the game to score two goals with just three minutes played. Having also
travelled in their last three games, the Dragons have notched five losses in their last five
fixtures and will therefore hope that they can get back to their best on home ice where
they have claimed ten points from fifty percent of their clashes in Deeside as
opposed to just six on the road. Pulling off some excellent results this
season, the Dragons are far from out of the race just yet and, whilst sitting
at the foot of the table, the side are sure to give their all as they look to
escape the automatic relegation place, two points from this clash
potentially allowing the side to go seventh should Telford Tigers lose out to
Sutton Sting. Meanwhile, the Warriors will not give up on their target of a
playoff spot and will equally prove difficult competition, particularly with
former Dragon Shaun Kippin on their side. Already the forward has scored five
goals against his previous club this season and will surely be out to print his
name on the score sheet as his team take to the ice on Sunday. Preparing
for Whitley’s fourth consecutive road trip, player-coach David Longstaff revealed
that the Warriors will once again be without several key players: “We’ll
be travelling with just two teenagers in defence this weekend, [Craig] Johnson and [Liam] Smedley, so we’ll have to shuffle some of our players around. With that in
mind, we’re expecting a very difficult game.”
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| Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson |
Facing
off at the same time as Whitley Warriors, Solway Sharks will clash with Blackburn
Hawks on the road as they look to continue their excellent form and thus build
momentum ahead of playoff weekend. Triumphing in three league games over the
Hawks this season, Solway will head into this fixture with the knowledge that
Blackburn are capable of damage despite their league position, having lost out
to the side by five goals to three in a cup encounter at the beginning of the
season. Since this loss, the Sharks have been careful not to lose another point
to the Hawks in both competitions to claim an emphatic 9-1 league win over Steven
Duncombe’s team in December, before managing back-to-back victories against
Blackburn in last month’s double header. With this game the second in a busy weekend for the Lancashire outfit, the Hawks will be hoping that they go into this game in a position to
complete a four-point weekend. However, should they lose out to Billingham
Stars, the side will need to show a great deal of heart in front of a home
crowd to battle back against the league leaders who have appeared dominant from
the first game of their campaign. Aiming to demonstrate the skill, strength, power and pace that they have shown all season, Martin Grubb’s men will not
slacken in their efforts to claim a victory now that the Sharks have been
confirmed as champions of the NIHL’s Moralee Conference. Instead, Grubb will
ensure that his players give their all from faceoff to the final buzzer as his
team strive to challenge their opposition in their remaining games. Though a
win would allow Solway to move up to forty eight points, victory for the Hawks
is of the utmost importance as Blackburn set their sights on a top four finish
whilst equally avoiding a steady decline into the league placement playoff
position, with Telford Tigers still just one point behind them. As such, four
points for the Hawks this weekend could make a great difference to the outfit should they achieve
this feat but the Sharks will certainly pose a threat where
possible and will not give up the points without a fight. Considering this clash, Solway’s Head Coach Martin Grubb observed: “We will go
into Sunday’s game knowing that we will be facing a Blackburn team who have a
big weekend and who will be desperate for the points in their playoff push. We
will go there and try to win as always but we are facing a few fitness tests so
we may have to juggle our line-up around. We know we have ability in our
line-up regardless of who is available and we will try to keep our momentum
going ahead of playoffs.”
For
those fans hoping to attend one of these games over the weekend, Billingham
Stars encounter Blackburn Hawks at The Forum from 5:30pm on Saturday before
travelling to Hobs Moat Road to take on Solihull Barons from 6:00pm on Sunday.
Also icing on Sunday, Whitley Warriors travel to Deeside for a clash with The Dragons
from 5:45pm whilst Solway Sharks faceoff at the same time at Blackburn Ice
Arena where they will battle with Steven Duncombe’s Hawks.
NIHL
Radio Listings
Saturday
11th March
5:30pm
on NIHL Radio 1
Billingham
Stars vs. Blackburn Hawks
Sunday
12th March
5:45pm
on NIHL Radio 1
Blackburn
Hawks vs. Solway Sharks
For more photos from
IceHockeyMedia, please visit: http://www.icehockeymedia.co.uk/.
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