NIHL Weekend Action

Spartans at depths of despair as Solway knock Sheffield for six

Sheffield Spartans 4

Solway Sharks       6

The weight of this fixture a great one, Solway Sharks travelled to Ice Sheffield burdened by the knowledge that anything less than a win could be incredibly detrimental in their race for a playoff place. With Sheffield’s larger ice surface enhancing the difficulties of a clash against the unpredictable Spartans, Martin Grubb made the trip with a strong squad, aiming for another two points in a bid to claim fourth place from league rivals, Billingham Stars. 

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Whilst Andrew Bagshaw started in net for the Spartans, Kieran Hobbins took his place between the pipes for the visitors and it was Solway who made their chances count in the opening stage of the first period, alternate captain Ross Murray working hard to set up youngster Daniel Abercrombie who achieved his third senior goal having played just five games for the Sharks to date. Less than two minutes later, defenceman Douglas Jordan conceded a minor for slashing to hand Solway a power play but the Spartans’ penalty kill paid off and, just twenty five seconds after Sheffield had returned to full strength, the Dumfries outfit were the next to be reduced to four men as James Wallace was sinbinned by referee Tom Pering for a hooking offence. Unlike the Sharks, the Spartans took full advantage to capitalise on 9:46, Shaun Wild on target following some neat play from captain Ollie Barron and top points scorer Nicholas Manning.

The score line tied at 1-1, Solway continued to test Bagshaw but it was Sheffield who proceeded to take the lead, scoring less than three minutes after their equalising power play goal when an even-handed effort from player-assistant coach Stuart Brittle made its way past Hobbins; this time Ross Jordan and Will Barron with the assists.

Whilst the Sharks sought an opportunity to draw level, the home side began to rack up the penalty minutes; versatile Spartan Andrew Turner serving two minutes for interference on 15:16 and, just over a minute later, Ross Jordan joined his team mate in the sin bin to create a five-on-three situation in Solway’s favour.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia – Ian Hanlon

Despite this opportunity to get on level terms, Grubb’s line up could not find a way past Sheffield’s sturdy defence to light the lamp. Soon after Turner was reinstated, the Spartans were still one skater short and a further slashing minor for Douglas Jordan created a brief five-on-three power play which also meant that Sheffield were only restored to full strength nineteen seconds into the middle stanza. The score line 2-1 as both teams faced off at the start of the second period, Solway’s hopes of an equalising goal were hindered by a second penalty for Wallace who earned a 2+10 for a check from behind with less than two minutes played. Meanwhile, the Spartans looked to extend their lead as quickly as possible and did so on 24:07, Ollie Barron threading the puck to Brittle who struck to confirm his second of the game.

Sixteen seconds later, Sheffield’s two goal cushion was slashed by the Sharks as Abercrombie continued to impress, sending Marc Fowley in on Bagshaw’s net to make it 3-2. It quickly became apparent that referee Pering still had much work to do in the game however, as moments later forward Scott Morris was side lined for interference. Yet another power play slipped away from the Sharks and soon after their advantage was over, blue liner Stuart Andrews warmed a seat in the penalty box for hooking.

With both teams having their fair share of offensive opportunities in this period, it was little surprise when the score line was adjusted, Sheffield once again extending the gap between themselves and their opposition as Morris slotted home courtesy of Elliot Knell and junior Finlay Ulrick. Trailing by four goals to two, Solway needed to take action and thirteen seconds later, Fowley clashed with Ulrick to see both players serve minor penalties before the interval.

Requiring at least two goals to get back in the game, the Sharks whirled onto the ice with the view of scoring and quickly accomplished their aim, finding the back of the net approximately two and a half minutes into the final period when Slovakian import Juraj Senko zipped the puck to forward Joe Coulter who, in turn, found Duncan Speirs, the young prospect netting his tenth of the season.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia – Colin Lawson

A little over a minute later, ‘D’ man Andrews incurred two minutes for slashing and a further two minutes for cross checking. Undeterred, Solway retaliated with a shorthanded goal to equalise in spectacular style with around five minutes left to play; Speirs getting on the end of a pass from Fowley to earn his second goal of the game with an additional assist from Martin Cingel. The game now level at 4-4, Solway soon returned to full strength and, not content with a draw, continued to plough forward in an attempt to take the lead. Try as he might to disrupt Solway’s creative play, captain Ollie Barron found himself serving a minor for charging. Unable to break down the Spartans’ defence with the additional skater, Solway watched their opposition return to full strength, only to become shorthanded themselves as Cingel served two minutes for tripping. The Sharks were able to prevent the Spartans from snatching a goal, working hard on the penalty kill to keep the score line intact. Five-on-five ice hockey resuming, the Dumfries outfit continued to labour in front of goal and, in the last minute, the visitors reaped their rewards, Murray setting up team mate Steven Moore to take Solway’s goal tally to five.

Unnerved by this sudden change of fortune, Sheffield’s Head Coach Martin White immediately called a time out, pulling shot stopper Bagshaw from his net when play resumed to ice an additional skater in his place. With the Spartans’ net empty, and Solway doing everything to defend their lead, Senko played a pass to experienced forward Iain Bowie who made no mistake in dispatching the puck to make it 6-4 in the last second of the game.

Head Coach Martin Grubb kindly shared his views, informing NIHL Northern Trio: “The Spartans game was the one where we got the early goal and I would have liked to have built on that but we were very sloppy and didn’t play with any tempo for the first two periods and went in after the second 4-2 down. There were a few choice words spoken at the period break and I asked the players to show the character I knew they had and, to their credit, they showed that they could play in the third and we dominated that period to get the 6-4 win. It wasn’t a great performance but, at this stage, it’s all about points rather than performances so we were pleased to beat a hardworking Spartans team.”

Shining Stars steal show against struggling Senators

Sheffield Senators 1

Billingham Stars    9

Making the trip to Ice Sheffield, following an NIHL North Cup defeat to Blackburn Hawks on Saturday, Billingham Stars were in need of a boost, having painstakingly lost out in overtime to the Lancashire outfit. Opting for Mark Watson between the pipes against Andrew Chapman’s ninth placed Senators, the Teesiders set out to grab two points from the struggling side to give themselves the best possible chance of claiming a playoff spot at the end of the season.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia – Colin Lawson

With juniors Alex Preston and Lewis Crisp making the trip alongside Billingham’s senior squad, both the Senators and the Stars had eighteen skaters and two netminders at their disposal; Robert Browne starting in goal for the home side over the less experienced Angus Laing. The faceoff barely over, Terry Ward’s men conceded their first penalty as James Moss made way to give the Senators an additional skater. Working hard to clear their defensive zone of the puck, Billingham returned to full strength unscathed and wasted little time in building up possession before taking the lead on 5:27, Michael Elder netting subsequent to some skilled link up play from Chris Sykes and alternate captain Callum Davies.

Just over three minutes later, the same line struck again, this time hardworking Elder picking up the puck from a Sykes pass to successfully send Davies through on Browne’s net. The shot quickly converted into a goal, the Senators found themselves two goals down less than half way through the first period. Continuing to dominate, the Stars were able to add to their tally with just over thirteen minutes played, player-assistant coach Michael Bowman threading the puck to Swedish import Dennis Boström who made no mistake in firing home to make it 3-0.

Soon after, Elder found himself on the score sheet for a second time, lighting the lamp from Richie Thornton’s neat pass. With a four goal deficit to overturn, the Senators were handed an opportunity when referee David Goodwin ordered Andy Munroe to the sin bin for slashing. The Yorkshire outfit were unable to capitalise however, and filed from the ice with an all too familiar gap between themselves and their opposition.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia – Colin Lawson

 Returning after the break, life was immediately made difficult for the Senators as Matthew Pigott conceded a minor for slashing just fifty seconds into the period to give the Stars a power play. Try as they might, the Stars could not place the puck past Browne with the additional man and it was only when Pigott made his return to the ice that Billingham were able to score their fifth, Boström involving Munroe in some tidy build up play which soon found Bowman who slotted home on 22:54 to gain a six goal lead for his side.

With the Senators having five shots on Watson’s goal in comparison to the thirteen aimed at Browne’s net during this period, Billingham’s control of the game was clear and matters were only made worse for the Senators when forward Paul Lofthouse received ten minutes for incitation. As the Stars continued to outshine Sheffield, Elder weaved the puck clear of Chapman’s defence and smashed a shot beyond Browne to claim his hat trick with thirty five minutes played. A last minute penalty in the second period saw Billingham go down to four men as netminder Watson was found guilty of delaying the game, the side’s punishment running into the final instalment of the fixture.

The scoreboard reading 6-0 in the Stars’ favour, the Senators have had much experience in weathering out one-sided games this season and the resilient team took to the ice with the hope of contributing a goal at the very least. Reduced to three men just thirty six seconds into the period, as Sykes served a minor for tripping, Billingham were placed under some pressure but remained composed and returned to full strength before Sheffield incurred a penalty of their own, ‘D’ man Jordan Martin also guilty of tripping. Again, the Teesiders could not find the back of the net on the power play, instead lighting the lamp thirty nine seconds later when Bowman and Boström successfully linked up once again in the game to set up Moss for his twelfth goal of the season.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia – Colin Lawson

Though both sides had their fair share of attempts on goal during this period, Billingham made Browne pick the puck out of his net for an eighth time when the pairing of Bowman and Boström led to the Swede’s second goal of the game on 54:30. Almost two and a half minutes later though, the Senators’ efforts were rewarded with a goal as Jack Dransfield ploughed forward into Billingham’s defensive zone to find Nathan Parkes-Britton who hit the puck over the red line to make it 8-1.

Eager to have the last word, the Stars continued on the offensive, finally snatching a ninth with less than three minutes to play as Bowman and Moss worked in unison to help Boström to his hat trick. With the clock ticking, there was just enough time left for a clash between forwards Billy Nicholson and Joel Aheran which saw both players handed penalties of 2+2 for fighting in the last second of the game.

Reflecting on Billingham’s 9-1 victory over the Senators, Star Chris Sykes told NIHL Northern Trio: “This weekend went well. We managed a point against the Hawks in the cup which means it’s not totally out of reach yet! We need to go there and put in a performance and hopefully we will pinch that silverware. It’s all to play for still. Sunday was a game where we knew if we played like we can, we could blow the Senators away in the first twenty minutes and we did just that; a convincing 9-1 victory and we took the two points in the league that will be good for us! Good weekend, tough pill to swallow to lose in overtime but we bounced back on Sunday in the league.”

Striving Sharks bite back to claim point against Sting

Sutton Sting     3

Solway Sharks 3

Looking to hold onto fourth spot, Solway Sharks were aware that they would need at least a draw to do so, following Billingham’s victory over Sheffield Senators earlier in the afternoon. Both teams icing strong squads, with Sutton’s steely shot stopper Dmitri Zimozdra at one end of the ice and the composed Kieran Hobbins at the other, it was clear that this fixture was going to prove a tough contest from the first face off.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia – Colin Lawson

As the Sharks entered into early competition for possession of the puck, the Sting made the most of their efforts on goal to take the lead with four and half minutes played, defenceman Scott Glover playing the puck to forward Shaun Ashton who quickly found Sergevs Jegorovs, the Latvian import burying his shot to make it 1-0. A little over a minute later, the Sting managed to double their lead, Carl Ashton finding alternate captain Ryan Johnson who hit the target to leave the Sharks stunned at this sudden deficit.

Though Solway set their sights on goal as much as the Sting, the Dumfries outfit found it difficult to find a way past Zimozdra who pulled off some fantastic saves as ever, to keep his side’s lead intact. To hinder the Sharks further, Struan Tonnar received a minor roughing penalty from two-man system Lorenzo Broadbelt and Richard Adams before the fifteen minute mark to hand Sutton a power play. The Sting failed to capitalise however, and soon ran into penalty troubles of their own, blue liner James Goodman warming a seat in the sin bin for holding. Unable to score with the advantage of an additional skater, Solway went in at the break two goals down, their fifteen shots having evaded Zimozdra’s net.

Subsequent to the interval, Solway made their way onto the ice with the objective to get back in the game and were handed their second power play opportunity when Jon Woolhouse took a seat in the sin bin for tripping. Again, the Sharks found it difficult to halve the Sting’s two goal cushion but their aim was clear as the side began to look dangerous in front of goal, dominating in their offensive zone but still unable to light the lamp as shot stopper Zimozdra continued his outstanding performance in net.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia – Colin Lawson

A third power play opportunity proved to be one too many for the South Yorkshire outfit though as a hooking penalty for Glover awarded Solway a five-on-four situation once again. Working hard to get off the mark, it initially appeared that Grubb’s men would be unsuccessful but, with just sixteen seconds left of the advantage, Tonnar and Slovakian player-assistant coach Martin Cingel teamed up to find Marc Fowley who slotted home to make it 2-1.The remaining seven minutes of the period saw Solway continue with their attacking play but the score line was unchanged as the side headed off the ice for the second intermission.

Starting the final period with some skilled play, the Sharks were then able to draw level on 44:18 when winger Steven Moore integrated Stuart Kerr into play to assist junior Daniel Abercrombie in his efforts to get on the score sheet for the fourth time in six games. Five seconds later, Abercrombie was called to the sin bin for a tripping offence which saw Solway give everything on the penalty kill to prevent the home side from going ahead once again.

The penalty over, Solway continued to persevere and their determination to take the lead soon paid off as Moore went clear of Sutton’s defence to fire home his unassisted effort on 48:37. Less than two minutes later, Kerr conceded the first of three disruptive penalties for the Sharks, giving the Sting a power play opportunity. Though the home side failed to benefit from this situation, Solway were returned to five men for almost a minute when Sutton hit back with an equaliser, Goodman receiving the puck to set up Carl Ashton with six and a half minutes of the game left to play. Shortly afterwards, an interference call was made against alternate captain Ross Murray but, after a successful penalty kill from Solway, the forward was reinstated only for Joe Coulter to take his place in the sin bin nine seconds later. With a timeout called by Grubb on 59:45, the Dumfries outfit managed to hold onto their point but could not snatch a late winner. As a result, the side remain in fourth place but are now tied with Billingham Stars on thirty points with three games in hand, two of which will be played for double points.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia – Colin Lawson

Taking the time to express his views on this game, Grubb added: “On Sunday, we started very slow and gifted Sutton two goals and they were better than us the first period and we needed to change the way we were playing. We started to create a little in the second and got a power play goal but Dima [Dmitri Zimozdra] was able to see the puck in their net and we knew we needed more traffic around the net. The third period, we again showed our strength of character and two great goals from Abercrombie and Moore put us 3-2 up but we switched off a little to let them back to 3-3 and we killed a few penalties at the end to grab a valuable point. We wanted a four point weekend but, with being behind in both games, we have to be satisfied with three from four. I would also like to wish Ian Johnson from Sutton Sting all the best for the future after that was his last home game with the Sting. He has been a credit to his club and the league, and made Sutton a major part of improving this league and he will be missed.”

NIHL Northern Trio would also like to join Martin Grubb in wishing Ian Johnson the best of luck for the future following his final home fixture with Sutton Sting.

Battling Barons

bag points against weakened Warriors

Solihull Barons      6

Whitley Warriors    4

Making the trip to Hobs Moat Road with nine key players missing from their squad through injury, work, family commitments and suspension, this fixture was always going to be a difficult one for Whitley Warriors with the Hillheads outfit encountering a strong Solihull Barons side who were aiming to secure their playoff spot with a victory against their visitors.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia – Colin Lawson

Though both teams proved to be up for the contest in the opening stage of the game, it was player-coach Perry Doyle and his team mates who were able to claim the lead on 7:53 when versatile Slovakian Tomas Janak slipped the puck to Joe Henry who delivered his shot past netminder Richie Lawson to make it 1-0. The Barons’ celebrations were short lived however, as the Warriors hit back just twelve seconds later to draw level, long-serving forward DJ Good using his skill and experience to set up blue liner Harry Harley for his tenth goal of the season. With offensive play from both sides, the game continued to be closely contested but Solihull were able to recover their one-goal lead when Henry threaded the puck to Rob Eley who helped it on to Stephen Heape, the forward achieving his first goal of the season having more recently been noticed for his accumulation of penalty minutes.

With less than three minutes left in the period, player-coach David Longstaff incurred a minor holding penalty which the visitors worked hard to kill, to head in at the break with just one goal separating themselves from the Barons.

Looking to find an equaliser for the second time in the game, Whitley were handed a power play when Solihull’s Edward Eaton was sinbinned for interference. Despite several shots on Sam Hewitt’s goal, the Warriors could not find the back of the net but, soon after the home side returned to five men, Good claimed his second assist, this time setting up Longstaff on 26:13 to make it 2-2.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia – Colin Lawson

A goalless seven minutes elapsed, though shots were fired at both netminders with Solihull’s Hewitt called into the action more often than shot stopper Lawson at the other end of the ice. Scoring was eventually resumed with an unassisted effort from the talented Niklas Ottosson to put Whitley under pressure once again. Down, but not out of the running, the Warriors retaliated with a goal four minutes later, neat build up play allowing Good to achieve his third assist of the evening as prospect Ben Richards wrote his name on the score sheet, slotting home less than two minutes before the interval.

With nothing separating the sides, both were set for the first face off of the last period, hoping to put some distance between themselves and their opposition. Three minutes into the period, Whitley conceded a bench minor for too many men on the ice but Solihull’s power play lasted all of thirteen seconds as Thomas Soar took a seat in the sin bin for a hooking offence. The level playing field was soon undone however, as Warrior Josh Maddock was directed off the ice to serve two minutes for interference. Yet, with just three Whitley men against the Barons’ four, Harley made his mark on the game with a shorthanded effort which allowed the Warriors to go ahead for the first time in the game. This sudden change of fortune for the Barons prompted a timeout from Perry Doyle as blue liner Ryan Selwood made his way off the ice to serve a ten minute misconduct penalty for his actions subsequent to this goal.

Not yet back to full strength, the visitors’ lead was scrapped as Doyle’s words resonated with his team to inspire a power play goal from Eaton, Josh Bruce with the assist. Over thirty seconds later, the Warriors were restored to five men but the draw was quickly snatched away from them as alternate captain Bruce became goal scorer on this occasion, following some skilled creative play from Soar and Henry.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia – Colin Lawson

The score line 5-4 in the Barons’ favour, Whitley chose to switch netminders in the hope that they could get themselves back in the game to at least take a point. Despite this, the situation was made worse before the half way point of the period when Eley lit the lamp with an unassisted attempt on 48:11 to make life difficult for the Hillheads outfit. Determined to find a way back into the game, Whitley continued to pressure Hewitt in net but it wasn’t to be. A final power play for Longstaff’s line-up was awarded in the fifty seventh minute of play, when Janak was made to serve a minor for hooking, but the visitors were unable to chip away at their deficit and the Barons held onto their 6-4 lead to claim their first win against the Warriors this season whilst simultaneously confirming their place in the NIHL’s 2015-16 playoffs.

Speaking to NIHL Northern Trio, David Longstaff commented on the end of Whitley’s recent game winning streak: “I’m not overly concerned. We played very well against a very strong Solihull team, considering the players we had missing. I’m not sure on the players coming back next week; we’ll see at training this week.”

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