WEEKEND
PREVIEW
NIHL
NORTH DIVISION 1 (MORALEE)
Saturday 27th January 2018
Whitley Warriors vs. Solihull Barons
Billingham
Stars vs. Solway Sharks
Sunday
28th January 2018
The Dragons vs. Billingham Stars
Blackburn
Hawks vs. Solway Sharks
Telford
Tigers vs. Whitley Warriors
Fixture:
Whitley
Warriors vs. Solihull Barons
Date: 27th January 2018
Venue: Whitley Bay Ice Rink
Faceoff: 5:00pm
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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Currently
situated in fifth place but tied on points with Solihull Barons and Blackburn
Hawks in the league table, Whitley Warriors will head into this fixture with
hopes that they can claim a similar result to that which they managed recently against
the Barons to widen the margin between themselves and their closest
competition in Division One. In their latest home fixture against Solihull, David Longstaff’s
line-up were able to establish a two-goal cushion, with goals from
alternate captain Jordan Barnes and blue liner Harry Harley, only for their
visitors to take the lead which left Whitley little
choice but to throw everything at the side in the third period to claim a 5-3 victory. Always tough opposition, the Barons
will be prepared to fight for the points and just last weekend triumphed on the
road to achieve a 4-3 overtime win against Billingham Stars with only twelve
skaters; Solihull making the ultimate comeback having conceded three goals in
the first period. As a result, it is clear that the Barons have a great deal of spirit and resilience this season to put teams to the test, meaning this game
will certainly prove to be a challenging one for the Warriors who will
ready themselves for another battle as they set their sights
on a win. Looking to build on their recent performances which have
seen the Hillheads outfit collect seven points from their last five games, Whitley will
aim to once again entertain their home crowd on Saturday, knowing that the
application of their intensity, fortitude and work ethic will be crucial in
their attainment of both points.
Fixture:
Billingham
Stars vs. Solway Sharks
Date: 27th January 2018
Venue: The Forum
Faceoff: 5:30pm
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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Facing
each other for a third time in their league campaign, and a seventh time across
all competitions this season, Billingham Stars and Solway Sharks will go
head-to-head this weekend as the Teessiders look to claim their first victory
over the Dumfries outfit, having taken just one point from Martin Grubb’s men in the NIHL National Cup competition. Recently suffering a 5-2 league
loss to Solway Sharks at the Dumfries Ice Bowl, besides
losing out by five goals to three in front of a home crowd in November,
Billingham Stars will be aware of the challenge awaiting them on Saturday.
After taking the lead through captain Michael Elder in their previous clash
against the Sharks, the Teessiders soon found themselves 3-1 down at the end of
the first period courtesy of Solway’s forward Daniel Abercrombie and left
winger Steven Moore. Unable to come back from this, the Stars then conceded
goals from forward Duncan Speirs and blue liner Stuart Kerr before Billingham’s alternate
captain Chris Sykes hit the target to wrap up the scoring in this fixture. As such, Terry Ward’s team will aim to
have the upper hand in this contest on Saturday, particularly as the Stars have
managed to win three of their last five home games to gradually build up their
points tally following their twelve-game losing streak at the start of
their campaign. Prepared to make amends for consecutive defeats to
Solihull Barons last weekend, the Teessiders will look to get back to winning
ways at The Forum, not least because Solway have been one of the side’s closest
rivals in recent seasons. The Sharks, meanwhile, will equally be keen to bounce back
from their own double defeat after losing out in last weekend’s dual purpose
fixture to Sheffield Steeldogs which saw the side miss out on a place in the NIHL National Cup Semi-Final. In consequence, both teams will head into this
game hoping to recover from their respective losses and will no doubt throw
everything into this contest to present themselves with the best chance of
securing a victory.
Looking forward to this fixture, Head
Coach Martin Grubb admitted:
“Games with Billingham are always tight and they have
been playing well, especially at home, so we know it’s going to be a tough
game. We will be looking to bounce back from last weekend and take the
positives from Sunday into this one. We will be short but we will still go
looking for the win.”
Fixture:
The Dragons vs.
Billingham Stars
Date: 28th January 2018
Venue: Deeside Leisure Centre
Faceoff: 5:45pm
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
|
After
playing host to Solway Sharks on Saturday evening, Billingham Stars will make
the trip to Deeside where they will be faced with The Dragons for their final game against the Welsh side this season, having already recorded three victories over the tenth-placed
team. Beginning their season with an 11-3 win over the Deeside outfit, the
Stars then went on to triumph on the road before scoring
fourteen unanswered goals against the side two weeks ago. Struggling at
the foot of the table, the Dragons have won just two league games against
Solihull Barons and Nottingham Lions to reside in the relegation places of
NIHL North’s Division One for most of the season. After suffering their heaviest
defeat to Telford Tigers last weekend, the Dragons found themselves on the
wrong end of an 18-1 scoreline, though they had just one skater less than the
Shropshire outfit. Realising the need to strengthen their side, the Dragons
have since acquired the services of defencemen Kenneth Williams, Rob Griffin,
Chad Wynne and Jake Orr whilst former player-assistant coach Marc Lovell also returns
to bring further experience to the side’s offensive line-up. Consequently,
Billingham will hope that the Dragons’ altered roster will not alter the
fortune of the Stars on Sunday as the side set out to secure another two
points to continue to narrow the gap between themselves and seventh place. With
Stars’ player-coach Michael Bowman, captain Michael Elder, alternate captain
Chris Sykes and Latvian forward Deniss Baškatovs each earning at least a hat
trick against the Dragons so far this season, Billingham will prepare to employ
the firepower of this quartet should they be available on Sunday evening to ensure they can generate some momentum in their league campaign whilst the Dragons will also
strive to get on the scoresheet; their most recent goals against Billingham
delivered by captain James Parsons, left winger Simon Furnival and forwards
Jordan Bannon and Chris Jones. With this game set to be an important one as both
sides are situated in the lower positions of the league standings, neither will
give up the points without a fight which will make for an interesting event.
Looking ahead to Billingham’s double header, Stars’ alternate captain Chris Sykes acknowledged:
“It will be another tough weekend with players away and
working. We have Solway at home on Saturday and hopefully we can get two
points. Then it’s The Dragons away on Sunday again. I’m not sure how many
players we will take but we will do our best for maximum points this weekend.”
Adding to this, Dragons’ captain
James Parsons told NIHL Northern Trio:
“This weekend will be another tough one for us. We have
added a few players to our team so it will be good to see how they get on and
having Marc Lovell back among the lads and playing again is massive for us all.”
Fixture:
Blackburn
Hawks vs. Solway Sharks
Date: 28th January 2018
Venue: Blackburn Ice Arena
Faceoff: 5:45pm
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
|
Continuing
their road trip, Solway Sharks will journey to Lancashire for a clash against
Steven Duncombe’s Blackburn Hawks on Sunday evening. So far winning four of
their six games against the Hawks across all competitions this campaign, Martin
Grubb’s men will aim to add another victory to their record, though the side will be aware
of the difficulties of this contest as Blackburn prepare to recover from last weekend’s
double defeat to Whitley Warriors which resulted in the Hawks slipping down the league table to find themselves situated in seventh place but tied on points with Whitley and Solihull. With one win
from their last eight games, the Hawks will head out onto the ice with the objective
to make amends for their recent poor form as they look to resume their ascent of the league standings. Solway, by comparison, have won five of their last eight
fixtures and will set out to put their consecutive losses to Sheffield Steeldogs in
their combined league and NIHL National Cup Quarter Final fixture behind them
as they continue to pursue one of the top spots as defending champions of their league title. Having so far won both of their league games against the
Hawks on home ice, Solway will aim for no less than a victory against Blackburn
on the road, knowing that they have what it takes to defeat the side. Their usual threats in front of the net being Slovakian import Jozef Ištocy and
forwards Rick Bentham, Aaron Davies and Lee Pollitt, besides injured youngster
Kieran Brown, the Hawks further strengthened their side last week with the
return of Corey Stones who was able to grab a goal in the two games he has so
far featured for Blackburn. As such, Duncombe will be hoping for more of the
same from his newest signing as well as his regular goal scorers whilst Grubb
will call upon his usual core players to be the difference on
Sunday.
Considering the Sharks’ upcoming
clash with the Hawks, Solway’s Head Coach Martin Grubb added:
“Blackburn will be looking to improve on our last game
and we know they are much better than they were that night so we will need to be
ready to battle. They are a good team and are dangerous and we will again be
short but looking to win the game with the players we have available.”
Fixture:
Telford Tigers
vs. Whitley Warriors
Date: 28th January 2018
Venue: Telford Ice Rink
Faceoff: 6:00pm
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
|
Following
their home encounter with Solihull Barons on Saturday evening, Whitley Warriors
will make the long journey to Shropshire on Sunday with the knowledge that this
will be a highly challenging game and the hope that they can at least contend
with Tom Watkins’ Telford Tigers during this encounter. The
Warriors fought hard and with intensity in their first game against the former
EPL outfit in October, initially establishing a two-goal lead on home ice
through forward Ryan Sample. However, it was not long before this margin was
destroyed by the Tigers who made the most of their power plays to leave
Hillheads with a 6-3 victory. Over a
month later, David Longstaff’s line-up then journeyed to Telford Ice Rink for
their first road trip against the side which saw the Warriors lose out to the
Tigers by seven unanswered goals which were scored by captain Jason Silverthorn,
alternate captain Rick Plant, forward Scott McKenzie, defenceman Daniel Rose,
injured forward Jack Watkins and retired right winger Joe Miller. With Telford’s compact squad capable of maximum damage, the Warriors will have a great challenge on
their hands and must travel well to stand the best chance of competing with
Watkins’ tough team. So far this season, Silverthorn is Telford’s top points
scorer by quite some margin, the Canadian racking up twenty six goals and
twenty six assists in eighteen league games to make a huge impact for his team.
Meanwhile, Whitley’s top points scorer remains to be player-coach David
Longstaff who has accomplished thirty seven points from twenty four games,
thirty two of which are assists. Also contributing a great deal to Whitley’s
offensive play is alternate captain Shaun Kippin who has tallied fourteen goals
and eighteen assists in twenty two games, and Canadian import Philip Edgar who is the side’s top goal scorer with twenty two goals in twenty games. Setting
out with the aim to make this firepower count and to maintain discipline to
give themselves a fighting chance, the Warriors will aim to play to the best of
their ability with the knowledge that they have been able to put the ex-EPL
outfit to the test once already this season.
Speaking ahead of his side’s
difficult double header, player-coach David Longstaff shared:
“I
think we have a fairly strong team for Saturday and I’m scared to ask the
players for Sunday! We’ve had players miss training with sickness but hopefully
they’ll be back for Saturday.”
Reflecting on Telford’s past
encounters with the Warriors, forward Scott McKenzie shared:
“To
be honest, I didn’t expect the result to be 7-0 when Whitley last visited. They
have a good side when everyone travels so we need to ensure we are prepared and
ready to battle. All league points are extremely valuable to us now so we must
take each game seriously and avoid slip-ups.”
Adding to this, the former Dragon
also took time to look back at last weekend’s landslide victory over his former
club:
“It’s
always a little awkward when returning to a place you once called home but
that’s the nature of the game. We turned up, played all our players and put in
a professional performance. I feel for The Dragons’ lads as I have a lot of
mates on that team. I understand how tough it must be for them to keep turning
up each week and to be on the end of each result but I am focused on Telford
Tigers now and happy with where we are as a team. There’s still lots of hockey
left to play!
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