Ruthless Sharks attack Senators to
take victory
Solway
Sharks 12
Sheffield
Senators 1
After a punishing start
to their first NIHL season in the Moralee Conference, with double 7-1 defeats
to their local rivals last weekend, the Senators were always going to be
vulnerable against Solway Sharks who were out to attack their opposition in the
hope of snatching their first win.
Playing at home, the
Sharks got off to a fantastic start, despite racking up four penalty minutes in
the early stages of the game, with a shorthanded goal in the fifth minute as
the experienced Iain Bowie assisted Sharks’ exceptional import Martin Cingel.
When this was quickly followed up with an unassisted second from captain Struan
Tonnar, Head Coach Andrew Chapman must have sensed that this was, once again,
going to be another insufferable evening for his striving Senators.
From then on, Senators
net minder Robert Browne experienced an influx of goals, Cingel scoring his
second on 8:41 before linking up with defenceman Stuart Andrews to assist
Duncan Speirs. Solway, now with their foot firmly on the gas and showing no signs
of slowing down, made it five as Bowie repeated his earlier pass to Cingel,
allowing the Slovakian to celebrate his first hat trick in the NIHL.
In pursuit of more
goals, forward Joe Coulter engaged in some forceful play and was subsequently
sent to the sin bin to serve a roughing penalty in the final two minutes of the
first period. However, Sharks only used this time to cause further pain to the
Senators, this time Juraj Senko scoring before the break.
Resuming play after an
undoubtedly interesting team talk, Senators faced off with defender Matthew
Pigott still serving time for interference. Not one to waste a goal scoring
opportunity, Martin Cingel added another to his tally to take the score up to
7-0 which was followed up with two rapid additions to the score line from
Stephen Balmer and Scott Henderson, both of whom were yet to score prior to
this fixture.
The game now well and
truly beyond the Senators, the Sharks tormented their rivals further, Iain
Bowie slotting home another early on in the third stanza. This was shortly
followed up Senko’s second and Solway’s last input of the game. Sheffield were
now frustrated by their substantial loss and the contest began to heat up,
Shark Stephen Adams and Senator Sam Hurst both receiving 2+2 for roughing
around the fifty minute mark. Both sides conceded one further minor penalty
before the sixty minutes were up and, as the teams lined up to shake hands,
Martin Grubb would certainly have been the happier coach, his team achieving their
first win this season after a shaky start.
This victory leaves
Senators adrift at the bottom of the table with a goal difference of -23 but
lifts Solway into fifth place beneath Billingham Stars. This win will unquestionably
give Martin Grubb’s side a much-needed boost as they look ahead to next
weekend’s away fixtures, first travelling to Telford Tigers on Saturday before
stopping off at Solihull for a 6:00pm face off against the Barons. With four
points up for grabs next weekend, these games will be no walk in the park. The
Tigers have already shown that they are more than a match for the NIHL’s top
teams, only losing by a small margin to the Hawks and successfully holding
Whitley to a 3-3 draw whilst the Barons have demonstrated their ability to
fight, whether it be for the puck or against the player. Whatever the outcome,
win, draw or lose, these fixtures will definitely give a deeper insight as to
what we can expect from Solway this season.
Fierce Tigers claw a draw as
Warriors comeback cut short
Telford Tigers
3
Whitley Warriors 3
With much history
between these two sides, and every game always closely contested, Whitley Warriors
kick-started their NIHL action with a difficult trip to Telford, aware that
they were in for a demanding evening. And the home side did not disappoint.
Conceding two early minor penalties, Telford found themselves shorthanded but,
even with five men against three, Whitley could not take advantage of the power
play and were soon punished when youngster James Smith’s strike sailed past
Whitley netminder Richie Lawson to see the Tigers take the lead. Whitley also
suffered a second setback when Alex Lawson was forced to leave the game early
with what appeared to be a knee injury.
Returning for the
second period with a 1-0 deficit, Warriors and Telford engaged in some untidy
play before the Tigers extended their lead around the twenty seven minute mark
with another from talented forward Smith. However, Warriors continued to battle
on and Harry Harley delivered a reply of his own on 38:28 to chip away the
Tigers’ two goal cushion.
Taking to the ice for
the third period, Warriors sought to level with the Tigers, and level they did
on the power play as David Longstaff and Shaun Kippin worked together to assist
goal scoring enforcer Andre Payette. Now on equal terms, Warriors’ experience
began to show and DJ Good managed to put his team in front for the first time
with approximately seven minutes left in the game. Despite this blow, Tigers
pulled netminder Denis Bell from his goal, allowing Smith time to grab his hat
trick with a shot from the blue line that deflected into the Warriors’ goal.
At the end of the game,
Telford’s net minder Denis Bell took the man of the match award for his good
work throughout but David Longstaff decided to make a sharp statement,
declining to nominate his own players for the prize.
Warriors win close contest against
battling Barons
Whitley
Warriors 2
Solihull
Barons 1
Last Sunday’s
spectacular showdown with Solihull Barons was enough to entice a large crowd to
Hillheads, but fans were to be in for a very different game to the one played
by the two sides just seven days ago. From the first puck drop, frantic play
ensued but it was the Warriors who enjoyed the better share of possession and
soon capitalised just four minutes in with a superb goal from defenceman Josh
Maddock. Not a team to give up easily, the Barons dug in deep and, both outfits
beginning to engage in some untidy play, the game became an end to end war of
attrition. Neither side racking up the usual number of penalty minutes, referee
Anthony Boynton made his first call with almost fifteen minutes played, dishing
out a boarding penalty to Solihull captain Rob Eley. Unable to take advantage
of this power play, Whitley were then punished just minutes later by two-way
player Thomas Soar.
Before the break,
impressive youngster Callum Queenan was sent to the sin bin for a hooking
offence which ran into the early stages of the second period. But the Warriors
had no sooner made it back to full strength when Josh Maddock was served two
minutes for interference. In recent games, however, Warriors have defended so
systematically in such situations that they have managed to run down the clock
when under pressure and did so again on this occasion.
With both sides having
opportunities on goal but unable to convert chances, it appeared that whichever
side bagged the next goal would come out of the match victorious and, as the
period struck thirty minutes, the puck found its way to Callum Watson who
happily clipped it past Barons’ netminder Sam Hewitt. The possibility of points
heading Solihull’s way appeared to spur the team on and they certainly did not
give up hope, striking the crossbar and creating numerous offensive openings of
their own. Yet, try as they might, Barons could not alter the score line in the
second stanza and saw themselves leave the ice a goal down.
In an uneventful third
period, the Warriors and Barons failed to impact the goal count, though
Solihull were on the power play in the forty first minute as Andre Payette was
dealt a two minute interference penalty. Barons called a time out late on and
Whitley followed suit as the attacking visitors looked set to take a point from
the game. In the last crucial minutes, Solihull’s Hewitt was pulled from his
goal to give the Barons an extra man going forward but Whitley’s defensive
tactics prevailed to take the Warriors to the top of the league.
Now on seven points,
player/coach David Longstaff will prepare his team going into their home
against Telford Tigers on Sunday and, though his team managed a fantastic three
from a possible four points, he will perhaps feel that the Warriors style of
play was very different to that of Whitley’s first two fixtures. Despite this,
the fact that Whitley have gained top spot over the weekend is a great
achievement and should not be detracted from, particularly as the team had
reached the depths of a relegation-promotion playoff battle only six months
ago.
Stars seize win to topple Spartans
Billingham
Stars 4
Sheffield
Spartans 0
With Spartans having
only played a double header against their fellow Senators this season, it was
always going to be difficult to measure the true potential of the club who
finished fourth last season. Going into the game off the back of their first
win, the Stars whirled onto the ice and very quickly made their aims clear as
Tom Keeley struck the back of the net with little over two minutes played. In
the same vein as the fixture at Hillheads, the opponents were closely matched
as chaotic and fragmentary play ensued.
This goal was followed
by two minor penalties from each side but neither team were able to capitalise
on the power play, though Billingham had their fair share of chances. Sheffield
then went on to find the back of the net in the seventeenth minute, but the
goal was ruled out for a blatant high stick which went uncontested by Head
Coach Martin White.
After the interlude,
both teams appeared ready to go again from the first face off and the Sheffield
line-up had by no means written itself off. On the contrary, the visitors
battled hard but failed to make the most of their attempts on goal and soon
found themselves 2-0 down as Chris Sykes broke away to hit the puck into the
top corner of Brandon Stones’ net. Continuing to fight back, the Spartans were
soon stopped in their tracks when a confrontation between Stars’ player Jamie
Pattison and Sheffield’s captain Ollie Barron escalated into a full blown fight
in the twenty ninth minute.
Both men served minor roughing penalties, though
Ollie Barron was delivered an additional two minutes for a cross check by
referee Michael Evans. It was during this time that Swedish import Dennis
Boström decided to add to Spartans’ woes, beating netminder Stones on 31:05
after an assist from Michael Bowman before achieving his second of the evening
just over four minutes later.
The Stars returned to
the ice for the final third with a four goal advantage which easily could have
been five had Boström’s shot not pinged off the bar. Chris Sykes and James Moss
also had their sights set on goal and a glimmer of the Spartans’ spirit shone
through as they attempted to break down Billingham’s defence. Regardless of
this effort, neither side could carve out a goal and the score remained 4-0 to
allow Billingham to take two points and claim third position in the NIHL league
table. Next week, Terry Ward’s
Stars have no fixtures and will therefore have more than enough time to prepare
for their next encounter with the Spartans at Ice Sheffield on the Saturday 3rd
October. Stars now have a total of four points and could easily make up for
lost ground in the coming weeks as they sit behind last season’s league leaders
Blackburn Hawks and the promising, if not unpredictable, Whitley Warriors.
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