WEEKEND
PREVIEW
NIHL
NORTH DIVISION 1 MORALEE CONFERENCE
Saturday 7th November 2015
Solway
Sharks vs. Solihull Barons
Sunday 8th November 2015
Whitley
Warriors vs. Sheffield Spartans
Billingham
Stars vs. Sutton Sting
After a weekend without NIHL ice hockey, Solway Sharks take to the ice
against Solihull Barons at the Dumfries Ice Bowl on Saturday, looking to
achieve their first consecutive win of their 2015-16 campaign. The Sharks go
into this game on the back of league victory, having defeated Whitley Warriors
4-2 to end their rival’s unbeaten run two weeks ago. Martin Grubb will be
hoping that this win has boosted his side’s confidence going into the fixture
against Perry Doyle’s Solihull Barons. The newly promoted side have appeared
strong of late, storming into third place last Sunday and, after triumphing in
six successive league games, they are only two points away from second place,
meaning they could seize the spot this weekend.
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| Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson |
Whilst Solway have their own strong unit, which perhaps has not been
reflected by recent score lines, the Dumfries outfit will encounter the
wide-ranging ability that lies within the Barons’ line-up, from the might of
player/coach Perry Doyle to the skill of imports Niklas Ottosson, Erik Bakalar
and Tomas Janak as well the unstoppable Thomas Soar who has racked up an
impressive thirteen goals and thirteen assists so far this season, making him
the NIHL’s third most valuable player at present.
Meanwhile, Solway were dealt a blow this week when their Slovakian
import Martin Cingel received confirmation that he has a fractured collarbone,
an injury sustained against Blackburn Hawks in the NIHL Northern Cup which is
likely to leave the left winger side-lined for the foreseeable future. As a
result, Grubb will encourage the rest of his team to pull together in the hope
that his side can gradually reverse the poor start they have made this season.
Solway have a strong leader in captain Struan Tonnar, who managed to bag a goal
against Whitley Warriors alongside Marc Fowley, Juraj Senko and Duncan Speirs, but
the team must work together more cohesively in order to narrow the gap between
themselves and league rivals Billingham Stars. Victory on Saturday is crucial
for Solway; a win would provide the Sharks with eight points, meaning Grubb’s
side would be one point from sixth place; a loss, on the other hand, would give
Sutton Sting the opportunity to go level with Solway should they beat
Billingham, leaving the side’s league placement very much in the balance this
weekend.
Following this action, Whitley Warriors take on Sheffield Spartans at
Hillheads on Sunday, having beaten the team’s sister club 6-1 last Saturday. The
Warriors will be hoping to improve on their previous performance which saw them
hold a 1-0 lead against the bottom-placed Senators for a large part of the
game. Managing just six goals against a side which had conceded on seventy nine
occasions in just nine games prior to this fixture may be considered average by
many a fan, suggesting that the Warriors need to refocus going into their game
against the Spartans who have so far proven to be unpredictable opponents this
season.
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| Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson |
Whilst Martin White will need as many players at his disposal as
possible for the trip, he will particularly require the creative play of
forwards Stuart Brittle, Nicholas Manning and Ollie Barron whose creative play
makes them Spartans’ top points scorers. Whitley, on the other hand, continue
to suffer from injury woes with Ben Richards, Dan Pye, Dean Holland, Alex
Lawson and Craig Johnson all doubtful. Despite these possible absentees, David
Longstaff will expect his players to track down two points from this game which
could see his side go level on points with Blackburn Hawks, though the league
leaders will have two games in hand after this fixture and therefore more than
enough opportunity to increase their lead once again. However, the Warriors
also face competition themselves this weekend as Solihull Barons are within two
points of second place and, playing two fixtures to Whitley’s one, could go
ahead of the Hillheads outfit on Sunday.
With so many teams contending for the top spots, the Warriors must
ensure that they perform to the best of their ability in the coming weeks to
cement their place in second as Telford Tigers are only three points behind the
side and one point behind the Barons, meaning they could also catch Whitley out
should the form of Longstaff’s line-up start to slip.
Likewise, the Spartans will be hoping to hold onto fifth place but
having played more games than any other side, the teams around them in the
middle of the table have fixtures in hand and could easily displace the club
which has five wins and seven losses to its name after varying displays, the
most prominent being a 10-3 defeat to the ascending Solihull Barons.
Aside from this, Billingham Stars prepare to play host to Sutton Sting
on Sunday evening in what will be their second consecutive game against the
club following their encounter last weekend which ended in a 3-1 victory to the
Teesiders. A hard-fought game, the Stars will be wary against the Sting who are
capable of scoring goals and making life difficult for the opposition. Though
Sutton have failed to win in their last five games, they have battled well in
defence, a quality which has been reflected in fairly low score lines with few
goals between themselves and their challengers.
Once again, Billingham’s forwards must face the excellence of shot
stopper Dmitri Zimozdra, who prevented twenty four of the twenty seven shots he
encountered and pulling off some impressive saves to keep his side in the game.
Another of Sutton’s most valuable players is Latvian import Vjaleslavs Movko
who assisted Sting’s only goal in their home game at Ice Sheffield last weekend
and has so far accumulated eleven points for his side, scoring seven goals.
Similarly, the Stars will require Dennis Boström to continue his good work in
against the Sting as he managed a goal and an assist in last weekend’s fixture
and he has made a contribution in most of Billingham’s games so far,
demonstrating both his skill and his ability. Boström also has also racked up
sixteen penalty minutes but as one of Stars’ most influential players, it is
important to his team that he remains on the ice as much as possible on Sunday.
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| Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson |
Terry Ward requires his team to gain a further two points in the hope
of covering lost ground between themselves and fourth position whilst Sutton
remain just above the Senators with four points and will be eager to climb the
table as soon as possible. Should Billingham miss this opportunity and Solway
win on Saturday, there will be just one point separating the Northern rivals
going into next weekend, and Solway could have the upper hand as the Sharks
have two fixtures to Billingham’s one on the 14th and 15th
of November which will make for interesting viewing and perhaps provide an
interesting outcome.
As ever, for fans hoping to catch a glimpse of the NIHL this weekend,
Solway Sharks are in action first against Solihull Barons at 7:00pm on Saturday
whilst Whitley Warriors face off at Hillheads against Sheffield Spartans from
5:00pm and Billingham Stars clash with Sutton Sting from the later time of
6:30pm at The Forum.
For more photos from IceHockeyMedia, please visit: http://www.icehockeymedia.co.uk/.
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