NIHL Weekend Preview

WEEKEND

PREVIEW

NIHL NORTH DIVISION 1 MORALEE CONFERENCE

Saturday 23rd January 2016

Blackburn Hawks vs. Billingham Stars

Solway Sharks vs. Whitley Warriors

Sunday 24th January 2016

Whitley Warriors vs. Sheffield Spartans

Billingham Stars vs. Solway Sharks

With Solway Sharks set to face Whitley Warriors and Billingham Stars in back-to-back fixtures, this weekend promises to be highly enthralling on all levels with much at stake for all teams concerned.  

Terry Ward’s Billingham Stars will be the first to faceoff on Saturday as his team prepare to face league leaders Blackburn Hawks; the Teesiders last encountering Daniel MacKriel’s side in a 5-2 league defeat to the Lancashire outfit back in December. Though missing Paul Windridge and Jamie Pattison due to long term injury, player-assistant coach Michael Bowman could make his return this weekend, all being well in training, and it is likely that Jack Davies, who was rested last Sunday after taking a knock against Sutton Sting, will be available for the trip.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Continuing their climb of the NIHL table, Billingham have made great progress in recent weeks and, though the side suffered defeat to Sutton Sting last weekend, the Stars picked up two points against Sheffield Senators to take them into fifth position. Closing in on the playoff spots, Billingham have a great opportunity this weekend to put pressure on Solihull Barons and Telford Tigers who are both just one point ahead of the Stars. With a four point weekend up for grabs, Ward’s line up could make it into third position should they win both of their fixtures and Solihull lose to either the Spartans or the Hawks. In recent weeks, the link up of Michael Elder, Chris Sykes and Callum Davies has been particularly important for Billingham with these three creative players collectively involved in nine of Stars’ goals over their last four games. Likewise, Swedish import Dennis Boström has also been incredibly influential, scoring a hat trick against Solihull Barons at Hobs Moat Road before snatching two against Sheffield Senators last Sunday. As Billingham’s highest points scorer this season, the right winger accumulating twenty two goals and ten assists to date, Boström will definitely be one to watch when it comes to the Stars’ offensive play against Blackburn on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Hawks have the perfect opportunity to extend their lead at the top of the table this weekend and, should they triumph over Billingham on Saturday, and Solihull on Sunday, Blackburn will hit forty points to ensure a significant gap remains between themselves and the Warriors. Having lost uncharacteristically to Solway Sharks last weekend, MacKriel’s men will be hunting for a win to bounce back from this disappointment and with Richard Bentham, RJ Berra and Adam Brittle the NIHL’s top three points scorers at present, Billingham’s defence will be severely tested on Saturday as the Hawks intend to exhibit their goal scoring capacity in front of a home crowd. 

Taking the time to speak to NIHL Northern Trio, Stars’ player Chris Sykes expressed his views ahead of this weekend: “This weekend couldn’t be any more important: two of the biggest games of the season. Solway beat Blackburn last weekend so they’ll be on a positive but, first things first, we have Blackburn away on Saturday which is massive for us, and a win would see us jump into the playoff spots. Equally, on Sunday we need to dig deep and beat Solway at home and that’s two points up on them to push them further away from those all-important playoff spots at the end of the season. This weekend, there isn’t much really to put into words. We know as a group how big this weekend can be for us and we are in training this week, working on a few certain things which will hopefully see us take some points from both games this weekend.”

Prior to their game against the Stars on Teesside, Solway Sharks are set to play host to Whitley Warriors on Saturday evening before making the trip to The Forum on Sunday. Following their momentous win over Blackburn Hawks, the Sharks will take to the ice against the Hillheads outfit with the knowledge that they have already defeated the side at the Ice Bowl this season, claiming a 4-2 victory over the Warriors back in October, courtesy of goals from Struan Tonnar, Marc Fowley, Juraj Senko and Duncan Speirs.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Solway currently sit in seventh, having earned sixteen points in sixteen games. With several games in hand on their NIHL opposition, the Sharks need to win back-to-back games against two of their closest rivals this weekend, and require Sheffield Spartans to suffer two successive defeats, to finish the weekend one point away from sixth place. Starting 2016 with a landslide victory over Sheffield Senators, and working cohesively to defeat league leaders Blackburn Hawks, Solway have shown their strengths in recent games but the team need to build up a good run of form, having missed out on NIHL action in December due to adverse weather conditions. Whilst Solway have not let this interruption hold them back, the Sharks are in need of points if they are to make it into the playoff places by the end of their campaign.

Already occupying a playoff place at present, Whitley Warriors bounced back from a 4-3 loss against the Hawks to take two points from a short benched Telford Tigers last Sunday. With the Warriors exhibiting some neat ice hockey against the Shropshire side, and the Sharks showing resilience to beat Blackburn, an intense battle is likely to arise from the first face off as the teams go head to head for the third time this season.

With Slovakian import Martin Cingel back in Sharks’ line up following a broken collarbone, and Struan Tonnar, Steven Moore and Ross Murray all in form of late, Whitley’s defence should be up for a challenging sixty minutes on Saturday. Equally, the Warriors also have several goal scorers in their midst this season, with Shaun Kippin achieving a hat trick last weekend, and Callum Watson, Callum Queenan and Jamie Tinsley collectively hitting home thirty goals so far this campaign. Though Solway will be hunting for another much needed win to climb the NIHL table, Whitley require a victory if they are to stand any chance of closing the seven point gap between themselves and the Hawks, meaning Longstaff’s line-up will hope to triumph over Martin Grubb’s side.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

The Warriors will then head back to Whitley Bay Ice Rink on Sunday for the second fixture of their double header, this time playing host to Sheffield Spartans who have proved unpredictable opposition throughout the season, winning ten games, losing eleven and drawing once against third placed Telford Tigers. With a draw, a victory and a loss making up Sheffield’s first three games of 2016, it is difficult to know how they will approach their latest fixture at Hillheads. Taking on the David Longstaff’s line up at Ice Sheffield in November, the Spartans were able to claim a 2-1 victory over the Warriors, captain Ollie Barron and Scott Morris with the goals. Head Coach Martin White also has an excellent talent in player-assistant coach Stuart Brittle who continues to pose a threat in front of goal as he utilises his EPL experience to the Spartans’ advantage. Playing the Spartans on home ice prior to this fixture, the Warriors displayed pace, power and punches against the Yorkshire outfit, hammering home six unanswered goals past Brandon Stones before forward Alan Yarrow and Spartan Stephen Weeks exchanged blows in the middle of the third period. As a result, this fixture has the potential to be a fiery one, with Sheffield Spartans requiring a victory to leap frog Billingham Stars to regain fifth position, and the Warriors hoping to pick up every point available to remain as close to the Hawks as they possibly can in the coming weeks. Player-coach Longstaff told NIHL Northern Trio: “This weekend will be very difficult against Solway and the Spartans. The last game we played against both teams, we lost so we know we’ll have our work cut out to win.”

Last but not least, Billingham Stars host close league rivals Solway Sharks at The Forum. Having already lost two league fixtures to the Stars this season, as well as an NIHL North Cup fixture at the end of November, Grubb will be hoping that the score line favours his side on this occasion. Despite these losses, a narrow gap of no more than two goals has separated the teams in the past, with the North Cup game settled by penalties, suggesting that fans will be in for another close contest on Sunday.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Whilst Solway’s defence will have to prevent Swedish import Dennis Boström from lighting the lamp, the Stars must contend with skilful Slovakian Martin Cingel who remains just one of Sharks’ greatest assets. As captain Struan Tonnar and his teammates aim for the playoff spots, with Ross Murray already indicating his team’s desire to make it into the top four in a recent interview with NIHL Northern Trio, the Stars will look to snatch the points from their rivals in a bid to stall Solway’s progression. With as many wins as they have losses, Grubb will urge his side to triumph over their closest rivals this weekend as the Sharks look to increase their chances of a playoff spot in the coming weeks.

Speaking to NIHL Northern Trio, Martin Grubb had the following to say about Solway’s latest fixtures: “We look forward to the visit of Whitley as we look to take the confidence from last weekend’s win into this game. We know it is another tough game against a very good team and we need to show that last weekend was not a one off. David Longstaff has done a great job, has his team playing well and has lots of depth in his team so he will want the points but we will be ready to stick to our game plan and battle for the win. The players all did their job last weekend, we have a great mood in the dressing room now and we are focused on another two points this weekend. Billingham are a team we are chasing and that will be another good game but we need to play smart and take our chances, and we hope for four points.”

For those fans hoping to make it to any of these games, Billingham Stars face Blackburn Hawks on Saturday at Blackburn Ice Arena from 5:45pm whilst Solway Sharks take on Whitley Warriors from 7:00pm at the Dumfries Ice Bowl. On Sunday, Whitley will then play host to Sheffield Spartans from 5:00pm whilst the Stars clash with the Sharks at The Forum from 6:30pm.

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