WEEKEND
PREVIEW
NIHL
NORTH DIVISION 1 MORALEE CONFERENCE
Saturday 9th January 2016
Solway Sharks vs. Sheffield Senators
Sunday 10th January
2016
Blackburn Hawks vs. Whitley Warriors
Solihull Barons vs. Billingham Stars
After only one league fixture last Sunday between
Billingham Stars and Solihull Barons, the NIHL Northern Trio are set to be back
in action this weekend with an encounter between Solway Sharks and Sheffield
Senators; a top of the table clash between Whitley Warriors and Blackburn Hawks;
and a repeat of the entertaining contest between Billingham Stars and Solihull Barons
to look forward to.
Scheduled to take to the ice against Sheffield
Senators for their first game of 2016, Solway Sharks are set to return after a
five week break from league action, their season having undergone some
disruption due to adverse weather conditions which led to the subsequent
cancellation of two home fixtures in December. Placed in seventh with twelve
points, Solway find themselves with three games in hand on Billingham Stars
going into this fixture, and they can only hope for a similar score line to
that of their last two results against the Yorkshire outfit, both of which
signified comfortable wins for Martin Grubb’s line up.
The
Sharks will be missing two key leaders in the form of Alan Crane and Martin
Cingel due to recent injury woes. In response to these absences, Solway are
likely to seek the knowledge of Slovakian player-assistant coach Cingel from
the bench and the side have also reinforced their blue line this week, adding
former Shark James Wallace to their roster as injury cover for Crane. Reuniting
with Solway this campaign, Wallace left the Sharks in 2014 to play for Edinburgh
Capitals in the Elite League, icing on forty nine occasions during his time at
the club. Bringing his experience from the highest division of British Ice
Hockey to the NIHL, Wallace has previously enjoyed success in Division One with
Solway and can only enhance Sharks’ defence further.
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| Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson |
Before
Solway’s break from play, the Dumfries outfit suffered three losses, two of
which were league defeats and the other a narrow loss to Billingham Stars in
the NIHL North Cup. Though struggling to make progress at the beginning of
their 2015-16 campaign, there is little doubt that the Sharks are aiming to get
back to their best, team captain Struan Tonnar informing NIHL Northern Trio: “Future hopes for us, from anyone who has anything
to do with this club, is to be back sitting top of the league…I doubt anyone
will have to wait too long before we get back to the consistent force we were
not so long ago.”
Playing
against the bottom-placed Sheffield Senators on Saturday evening presents
Solway with the perfect opportunity to gain two points from a side that have
yet to win a single game this season. Newly promoted to Division One, the
Senators have found it difficult to contend with their opposition so far and
have failed to adjust to life in the Moralee Conference in the way that
Solihull Barons and Telford Tigers have. That is not to say that the Sharks
should be complacent; the Senators have already proved resilient in the face of
adversity this season and, with the goal scoring abilities of Alexander
Harding, Nathan Parkes-Britton and Thomas Humphries, not to mention the efforts
of netminders Mark Hartley and Robert Browne, the Sheffield side will certainly
give the game their all in the hope to claim a point or two.
Also out to increase their points tally this
weekend, Whitley Warriors will make the trip to Blackburn Ice Arena for a
fourth and final contest against the Hawks this campaign. With victories
against Solihull Barons and Sutton Sting, the Hawks have returned to the top of
the NIHL league table in recent weeks to leave the Warriors five points adrift
of poll position. This presents Blackburn with a distinct advantage going into
this fixture as, the gap between themselves and their title rivals increased,
the Hawks can enjoy a home game on a larger ice surface whereas the Warriors
must now chase every point in order to challenge Daniel MacKriel’s side for the
top spot.
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| Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson |
With this in mind, player-coach David Longstaff
has further strengthened his squad this week with the addition of former
Warrior Adam Reynolds. Having suffered an ankle injury last season, Reynolds
made the decision not to sign for Whitley in September. However, the forward
has since approached Longstaff with a view to integrate himself into Warriors’
starting line-up and it is thought that he will make his first appearance
against the Hawks on Sunday.
Sharing his views, Longstaff told NIHL Northern
Trio: “He asked a few weeks ago if he could come in and start playing again and
obviously he's been successful in a
Warriors shirt in the past so the management decided we had nothing to lose.
We’re already thinking of next season and we thought it would be a good
opportunity to see if Adam was a good fit for our team and also to see if he
was comfortable with the way I coached. It gives us more depth up front and it
also puts pressure on our players to perform every shift or they know they won't
get the ice time they want.”
Should Warriors win on Sunday, and the Hawks lose
out to Sheffield Spartans whom they are set to clash with in a league fixture
on Saturday, the gap between the two teams may be reduced to three points.
However, a four point weekend for MacKriel’s men would see his line-up go nine
points clear with twelve games left to play to significantly enhance the
distance between themselves and the competition in the Moralee Conference.
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| Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson |
Last to face off on Sunday will be Terry Ward’s
Billingham Stars as the side look to repeat last weekend’s positive home result
against the Solihull Barons on away ice, the Teesiders travelling to Hobs Moat
Road. With Paul Windridge and Michael Bowman still likely to be missing through
injury, the Stars will again take on the challenging Barons, the Solihull-based
side having battled determinedly against sixth-placed Billingham last weekend,
eventually losing out by five goals to three.
With the skill of forward Josh Bruce, two-way
player Thomas Soar and impressive Swedish import Niklas Ottosson, the Barons
can certainly contend with the Stars, having already won two of three
encounters against Ward’s team. Racking up twenty two points to date, the
Barons occupy third position and they will no doubt be hunting for victory in a
bid to ensure Telford Tigers do not reclaim the spot and, also, to edge ever
closer to Whitley Warriors who are now just five points ahead.
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| Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson |
Stars’ versatile winger Chris Sykes told NIHL Northern Trio: “January is a massive month for us and we have set ourselves a target so we are going to Solihull on Sunday to continue how we played at home this weekend previous against them; cut out the silly little mistakes and be clinical like we were in front of the net at the weekend against them, and make sure we are defensively sound. They’re a good, solid team and they are a tough team to beat at home so we are going there prepared for a good battle and hopefully take the two points we need from them. We have a cup game on Saturday against Widnes and we won’t take them lightly, but it’s a good chance to see what the league standard below is like as they could possibly get promoted this year.”
For those fans hoping to spectate, Solway Sharks face
off against Sheffield Senators from 7:00pm at the Dumfries Ice Bowl on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Whitley Warriors take on the Hawks from 5:45pm at Blackburn Ice
Arena on Sunday and Billingham Stars encounter Solihull Barons at Hobs Moat
Road from 6:00pm. Also, for those planning to view the Stars’ NIHL North Cup
game against Widnes Wild, face off is at 5:00pm at The Forum on Saturday.
For more photos from IceHockeyMedia, please visit: http://www.icehockeymedia.co.uk/.
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