NIHL Opening Weekend

Sharks lose out as Warriors bite back

Whitley Warriors 7

Solway Sharks    4

With both sides taking to the ice for the first fixture of their season, rapid play immediately ensued after the first puck drop and, though Solway travelled light, leaving behind six of their players, they were certainly up for the contest. After some end to end ice hockey, the Warriors were the first to open the scoring less than two minutes into the game courtesy of forward Ben Richards. However, the Sharks quickly took advantage when Whitley’s Harry Harley was sent to the sin bin to serve out a slashing penalty and it was not long before the visitors equalised with a power play goal from Ross Murray.

Before long, Warriors’ player/coach David Longstaff took charge to ensure that the Sharks were not on level terms for long, slotting home a superb unassisted goal which Solway’s young netminder Kieran Hobbins could do little about. As both teams continued to show their desire to win, Warriors conceded a second penalty. On this occasion, Callum Watson was the culprit and, once again, the Sharks looked dangerous on the power play, soon capitalising on their opposition’s misfortune with two goals from Martin Cingel in the space of forty five seconds. As the players returned to the ice for the second period, the scoreboard read three goals to two in the Sharks’ favour. This score line was swiftly changed in the opening minutes when some excellent play from Longstaff and Andre Payette assisted Warrior’s man of the match Callum Queenan in his attempts to light the lamp. But, with the pace of the game not showing any signs of slowing down, Solway’s reply was just minutes away, Cingel achieving a second impressive assist to put youngster Duncan Speirs on the score sheet.

Almost immediately afterwards, Harley was directed to the sin bin for hooking and Warriors found themselves defending a third power play. This time Whitley remained sturdy in their own third and the Sharks failed to take advantage, a move which proved costly. Only minutes after the Warriors returned to full strength, Jamie Tinsley struck one past Hobbins, again Longstaff and Payette assisting. The clock running down, Solway’s resilience was tested further as Watson delivered the puck into the back of the net with only 71 seconds left before end of period.

As these games are often a close contest, both teams returned to the ice believing that two points could be heading their way but, barely a minute into the final period, Watson returned the favour to assist player/coach Longstaff. With the score at 6-4, Solway’s coaching team called for a timeout late in the game and, deeming that it was all or nothing, decided to pull their netminder from the ice. As the tired Sharks struggled to hold onto possession, Longstaff soon chased down the puck, hitting home an empty net goal to dash any hopes of a Sharks comeback.

Stars fail to shine at home to Hawks

Billingham Stars   0

Blackburn Hawks 4

Going into the opening game of the season, this was one that both teams would have wanted to win, especially if last season is anything to go by. Blackburn started the game with seven new additions whilst the Stars found themselves short in defence.

In the early stages of the opening period, Hawks captain Chris Arnone stated his team’s intentions from the off, with a shot on goal approaching the second minute of play. This was followed up by a response from Billingham, but Swedish import Dennis Boström was kept out by Brittle whilst Chris Sykes saw his effort hit the bar. From then on the visitors had the best of play. Tom King scored around the fifteen minute mark and Canadian import RJ Berra added to the Hawks’ tally only a minute later. After what appeared to be a controversial call by officials, former Sharks points’ scorer Richard Bentham made it three for Blackburn at the end of the first period.

When the sides returned to the ice, there was little to report. Five power play opportunities went unpunished by the home side but an efficient Blackburn managed to hold on to their shut-out and when the game resumed for the final third the score line remained 3-0.

As play got underway again, Billingham were running out of opportunities to find a way back and their defensive woes were further added to when RJ Berra struck on the forty-ninth minute. Still, there was time for some last minute drama as Jamie Pattison made an illegal challenge to bring down Jordan Bannon whose subsequent penalty shot was saved by experienced netminder James Flavell.

The Stars will now look to recover from this loss when they face Solway Sharks next Saturday it what will be a challenging game for both sides.