WEEKEND
PREVIEW
NIHL
NORTH DIVISION 1 (MORALEE)
Saturday 6th January 2018
Billingham
Stars vs. Nottingham Lions
Solway
Sharks vs. Whitley
Warriors
Sunday
7th January 2018
Whitley Warriors vs. Solihull Barons
Sheffield
Steeldogs vs. Solway Sharks
Telford
Tigers vs. Billingham Stars
Fixture:
Billingham
Stars vs. Nottingham Lions
Date: 6th January 2018
Venue: The Forum
Faceoff: 5:30pm
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
|
Preparing to
play Nottingham Lions for the first time this season, Billingham Stars will go
into this game with the belief that they can achieve two points, having claimed a 4-3 win over Blackburn Hawks last
weekend. Due to a difficult start to their 2017-18 campaign, the Stars currently find themselves
situated just one place above Matt Bradbury’s
Lions after edging out of the league placement playoff spot last
weekend. As such, Saturday’s meeting against Nottingham will be an incredibly
important one for the Teessiders as they look to widen the margin between
themselves and their opposition to ensure that they are not caught up in a
relegation battle in the latter stages of the season. With two games in hand on
the Lions, Billingham will be eager to make these fixtures count with the hope
that last weekend’s victory will provide them with the momentum required to
alter their fortunes, having so far recorded fifteen defeats from eighteen
games.
Likewise,
Nottingham Lions have managed just three wins from twenty games and
have consequently found themselves constrained to the lower positions of the
league table since September. Though not reflected by their present league position, the
newly promoted outfit have fought hard so far this season to notch some
respectable results, not least their victories over Solihull Barons, Whitley
Warriors and The Dragons. As Nottingham’s encounters against the Barons and the
Warriors were particularly closely contested, the Lions winning by a goal on both occasions, the Stars will be aware that
Saturday’s visitors are more than capable of challenging difficult
opposition, the side having demonstrated their excellent work rate throughout the
first half of the season with a view to maintain it in the second. In effect,
this clash will be a demanding one for both outfits as they set out to make a
positive impact in their first game of the New Year and prepare to give their all to improve on their current league position.
Fixture:
Solway Sharks vs.
Whitley Warriors
Date: 6th January 2018
Venue: Dumfries Ice Bowl
Faceoff: 7:00pm
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
|
Set to play host to Whitley
Warriors on Saturday evening, Solway Sharks will hope that they can build on
last weekend’s monumental 5-4 overtime win against former EPL outfit Telford
Tigers to continue to compete with those at the top of NIHL North’s Division One. Having played each other twice already this season, both sides have each
taken a victory in front of their home crowd, with Whitley losing out by three
goals to one at the Ice Bowl in their opening game of the season and the Sharks
suffering a 4-2 road defeat at the end of October. Whilst forward Iain Bowie
scored twice against the Warriors alongside Czech defenceman Marek Charvát in
September and Whitley picked up a consolatory goal through Canadian import
Philip Edgar, it was Sharks’ captain Struan Tonnar who opened the scoring at
Hillheads a month later only for Edgar to grab two goals either side of efforts
from captain Dean Holland and alternate captain Jordan Barnes. Trying to change
his side’s fortunes, power forward Ross Murray sought a fight with Barnes
in a bid to fire up his teammates at the end of the second period but, this tactic not having the desired effect in this
instance, the Shark then turned his energy goalwards to complete his team’s scoring in the
latter stages of the final stanza, though unable to change the overall outcome
of the game.
Currently sitting in fourth
position with twenty seven points, though having played three more games than
that of Jason Hewitt’s third-placed Hull Pirates, Solway Sharks will be eager to collect as
many points as possible as they continue to compete for the highest possible
position in the league standings. The Warriors, meanwhile,
will equally be chasing two points as Whitley strive to move ahead of the Solihull Barons prior to Sunday’s home clash against the outfit.
In consequence, neither team will be prepared to lose out on the points with
Martin Grubb’s Sharks aiming to take the momentum gained from last weekend’s
win into this clash whereas their visitors will be eager to get back to winning
ways after going two weeks without a game over the Christmas period. Meetings between these two outfits certainly have the
potential to be of a fiery nature and this game may prove to be no exception as
the rivals go head-to-head in what should be another highly entertaining
encounter.
Looking
forward to this fixture, Solway’s Head Coach Martin Grubb shared:
“Games against
Whitley are always tight and I don’t expect this game to be any different. The
Warriors have had a good season so far and beat us the last time we played so
we will need to be ready as we look to improve on that result. We will work
hard in practice, try to get some injured players fit and look for the two
points.”
Fixture:
Whitley
Warriors vs. Solihull Barons
Date: 7th January 2018
Venue: Whitley Bay Ice Rink
Faceoff: 5:00pm
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
|
Following their road trip to
Dumfries on Saturday, Whitley Warriors will return to Hillheads to take on
Solihull Barons for the second time this season, having endured a 5-2 road loss
against the side in November. Currently just a point behind the Barons, although with the potential to be ahead of the
outfit going into this fixture, Whitley Warriors will strive to take full advantage of
Solihull’s recent points deduction to move into sixth place in the hope that
they can continue to compete with Division One’s challenging opposition for the remainder of their campaign. In their previous encounter against the
Barons, Whitley conceded a goal within the seventh minute of play but responded
with an equaliser sixty four seconds later to make the clash a difficult one
for the home team. The second stanza peppered with penalties, it was only in
the final period that the Barons’ attacking play could really make a difference, the side scoring three goals in just under nine minutes. Though the Warriors were
able to retaliate with a second goal courtesy of alternate captain Shaun Kippin,
David Longstaff’s line-up were subsequently punished for pulling netminder Richie Lawson when Barons’ forward Andrew Whitehouse
grabbed an empty net goal to secure his team’s victory.
Whilst out to
avenge this defeat, the Warriors will also know that this task will be no mean feat,
particularly as Solihull will be aiming to recover from their recent points
deduction with a win on the road. Boasting a strong roster which includes
forward Thomas Soar, Swedish import Niklas Ottosson and captain Josh Bruce, not
to mention Brittle brothers Luke, Daniel and Adam, the Barons continue to be tough competition despite a difficult start to the season which culminated in
the departure of Head Coach Daniel MacKriel. Losing three of their last five
games, Solihull will look to improve on their recent form, knowing that they
are more than capable of collecting two points against the Warriors on the road
this weekend, meaning Whitley will have to display the fortitude that they have shown in recent home games to ensure they triumph over their visitors.
Considering
Whitley’s double header, Warriors’ player-coach David Longstaff shared:
“We face two hard
games and we have most of our players playing, although some are sick so have
not been training. I would expect two pretty close games, hopefully.”
Also, reflecting
on his side’s season so far and looking ahead to Sunday’s road trip, Barons’
forward Adam Brittle acknowledged:
“We have had a
mixed season so far. We strung a good run together from mid-October but
performances were indifferent in December. With the controversy surrounding the
Telford game behind us and a good break over Christmas and the New Year, we
hope to get back to playing the way we know we can. The Warriors will be a big
test of character for the team. It’s always tough going up to Whitley and this
year is no different. The Warriors have improved their team again this year and
ran us close on home ice so we expect Sunday to be one of our biggest
challenges of the season so far. It’s always a physical, fast-paced game in a
momentous rink where the fans can get right behind their team. It is up to us
to make sure that doesn’t happen by eliminating the early pressure and taking
our chances as they arise. To come away with anything from the Bay on Sunday,
as a team, we all need to be ready from the start.”
Fixture:
Sheffield
Steeldogs vs. Solway Sharks
Date: 7th January 2018
Venue: Ice Sheffield
Faceoff: 5:30pm
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
|
Travelling to Ice Sheffield for the
first time this campaign, Solway Sharks will prepare to confront the Steeldogs
following November’s overtime loss to the former EPL team in which the
Dumfries outfit snapped up the lead within forty six seconds through blue liner
Kyle Horne, only for their visitors to snatch it back again with goals from
Slovakian import Adrian Palak and forward Cameron Brownley. Equalising just
over a minute after Brownley’s goal however, the Sharks were able to take the
game into overtime and finally conceded defeat when skilled
Slovakian Milan Kolena netted forty three seconds later. Still two points clear of Telford Tigers at the top of the table, the
Steeldogs will be hoping that they can claim four points on home ice this weekend against The Dragons and the Sharks to increase this margin, particularly as
close rivals Hull Pirates sit just three points behind the outfit and will
also have their sights set on the top spot.
Knowing that their loss to the
Steeldogs was a narrow one when they last played the side, Solway will be
spurred on with the knowledge that they are more than capable of contending
against the best in the league should they play with a similar work rate to
that which they exhibited against the Tigers last Saturday. Accomplishing
twenty seven points from nineteen games, the Sharks will look to build on their
present league position this weekend, though their opposition currently have two games in hand. With neither team ready
to hand over the two points which could make all the difference when the end of
the season approaches, this game is certain to be another challenging encounter
for both sides as the Sharks look to bridge the gap between the former EPL
outfits and the long-established NIHL teams.
Acknowledging
the strengths of Sunday’s opposition, Grubb added:
“Sheffield are a
team who are very strong and have lots of skill, speed and depth so we will
need to execute our game plan to perfection. We proved last weekend that we can
beat the ex-EPL teams and hopefully that gives us confidence as we look to
compete and take the points on offer.”
Meanwhile,
considering this clash, Steeldogs’ captain Lewis Bell admitted:
“We have had a
busy schedule recently with a lot of cup fixtures in our increasingly tight
group so we haven’t really been able to look too much into the future as far as
fixtures go. However, as always, we are aware Solway are one of the strongest
teams in the league, as seen by their recent win over Telford, so we’ll be
ready for another tough, close game against them.”
Fixture:
Telford Tigers
vs. Billingham Stars
Date: 7th January 2018
Venue: Telford Ice Rink
Faceoff: 6:00pm
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
|
After Saturday’s home clash against
Nottingham Lions, Billingham Stars will prepare to make the lengthy journey to
Shropshire to take on Tom Watkins’ Telford Tigers. Previously facing the outfit
on home ice at the end of September, the Teessiders put up a strong fight
against their visitors and subsequently found themselves unlucky to lose out to
the side by a single goal. Establishing a two-goal lead in the first period,
the Stars then conceded on the power play early in the second stanza before Telford equalised ahead of the interval. Though the score line was tied at
2-2 going into the third, it was not long into the final period that the Tigers
took the lead for the first time in the game. Despite this setback though, the
Stars remained determined to hit back with another as player-coach Michael
Bowman levelled the scoring to put Telford to the test, although, in the end,
this would not be enough as Billingham were disappointed to concede in the
fifty second minute when forward Joe Miller made it 4-3 to secure the points
for his team.
Aware that they proved to be challenging opposition against Telford once already this season, the Stars can
take encouragement from their previous performance against the Tigers in spite of their loss and
will set out to make life difficult for the side in the hope that
they can take something from this game. Meanwhile, Watkins’ men will be aiming
for maximum points on Sunday with the objective of displacing Sheffield
Steeldogs from the top spot in the coming weeks as the outfit continue to
target silverware to ensure a successful season in NIHL North’s Division
One. With both teams ready to battle their way to a win, it can only be hoped
that this game is as entertaining as the last meeting between these two sides with much at stake at either end of the table.
Prepared
for Billingham’s double header, Stars’ captain Michael Elder reflected:
“We had a great
end to the year last weekend with our 4-3 win over Blackburn after a bad run of
results. We know it wasn’t good enough but it was only a matter of time before
we got that win we needed. We are going into this weekend with a bit more jump
in our steps and things have looked good this week. Hopefully, we can start
this year off the same way we ended the last one with two points on Saturday
and then it’s onto a tough road game in Telford on Sunday. Who knows what can
happen.”
Reflecting
on last weekend’s defeat to Solway Sharks and looking ahead to Sunday’s upcoming fixture against Billingham Stars, Tigers’ forward and Player of the Month Scott
McKenzie shared:
“You know what, Solway
deserved to win last weekend. We weren’t at the races and got punished for a
poor performance. Compared to the Southern teams, we barely played over
Christmas. We got a good break and feel refreshed, ready for the rest of the
season. We have a tough challenge ahead of us but of course, we are up for
whatever comes our way.”
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