NIHL Weekend Action

Sharks bite back to sink Spartans

Solway Sharks          6

Sheffield Spartans    2

With yet another crucial game brought great expectation for Solway Sharks as they continued their playoff push with a home game against Sheffield Spartans on Saturday. Whilst Martin White brought a strong squad of sixteen skaters and two netminders, the Dumfries outfit were two players short of three lines and chose to put Kieran Hobbins between the pipes.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

The Spartans faced off with a view to cause an upset in their bid to avoid a league placement playoff at the end of the season but two-man system David Emmerson and Craig Davison were quick to address Sheffield’s style of play, with Elliot Knell called to the sin bin for a cross check, having been on the ice just nineteen seconds. Whilst the Sharks were unable to capitalise on this power play, they were soon handed a second opportunity when alternate captain Martin Finkes was ordered to the penalty box for tripping. Two minutes with an additional man saw the home side take the lead, Marc Fowley the first to find the net as winger Steven Moore and defenceman Juraj Senko integrated the forward in quick passing play in the Spartans’ defensive zone.

As Solway sought to dominate, it was not long before the puck was again in the back of the net, this time youngster Daniel Abercrombie achieving his first senior goal on 13:49 following a neat setup from alternate captain Ross Murray. With no further scoring in the first period, the Sharks held onto their 2-0 lead against the Spartans ahead of the interval, marking their control of the game with twenty four shots on Andrew Bagshaw’s net.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia – Ian Hanlon

Starting the second stanza, Solway took just twenty seven seconds to score their third, Abercrombie again on target as Murray involved Steven Moore in the action to make it 3-0. A little less than four minutes later, Chris Wilcox found himself sin binned for hooking, handing the home side a power play. With the Spartans effective on the penalty kill, Grubb’s men failed to add to their tally and the visitors returned to full strength. Just over a minute later, Duncan Speirs found himself on the wrong end of a tripping call to see the power play switch hands again but another opportunity was frittered away as the Spartans were unable to capitalise.

Two minutes after Solway’s return to full strength, Stuart Brittle fed the puck to captain Ollie Barron who slotted home past Hobbins to reduce the deficit. Though continuing to outshoot the Spartans by twenty one shots to eight, the Sharks could not light the lamp again in this period and went in at the break with a 3-1 lead. The final instalment of the game saw the Sharks return to the ice with the aim of securing a win to climb into fourth place at the end of the evening. With just fifty nine seconds played in this period, the Spartans lost blue liner Ross Jordan to the sin bin for a hooking offence. Solway, again failing to break down Spartans’ defence, were punished soon after their power play; alternate captain David Pyatt linking up with forward Shaun Wild to successfully send skilled Spartan Nicholas Manning in on Hobbins’ net. Only four seconds were played in the aftermath of this goal before Andrew Turner conceded a minor holding penalty and, the visitors having chipped away at Solway’s three goal cushion to come close to a draw, the Sharks recognised the necessity of a power play goal.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

However, try as they might, the home side could not make their extra man count and it was their continued perseverance on the offence that saw Solway make it 4-2 on 51:20 through Slovakian player-assistant coach Martin Cingel, Murray earning his third assist of the evening. As the game again slipped away from the Sheffield outfit, Head Coach White called a time out to reiterate his game plan and, less than a minute later, a clash between Cingel and Barron meant that both players were sent to the sin bin to serve minor penalties.

If the outcome was ever in question, Solway soon quashed doubts after both teams were restored to five men, Cingel turning assist on this occasion with Fowley on hand to stretch the twine. Struggling to get back in the game with a three goal deficit to overturn, the Spartans  found the game beyond them as a last minute effort from Murray saw the side cement a 6-2 victory, defenceman Stuart Andrews and young prospect Abercrombie with the assists.

Commenting on this victory, Martin Grubb told NIHL Northern Trio: “The game on Saturday was always about the result rather than a pretty performance and we did what we needed to do to get the win. We were fully in control but then we switched off and let the Spartans into the game in the second period. We made some adjustments at the end of the second and stepped our game up to get a good win and an important one as we travel to Sheffield this coming weekend, so we are pleased with that.”

Warriors’ harpoon short benched Sharks to confirm unbeaten home run

Whitley Warriors 6

Solway Sharks    3

With Whitley Warriors aiming to secure their unbeaten home run against Solway Sharks, and Martin Grubb’s Dumfries outfit looking to advance further up the NIHL league table in their quest for a playoff spot, this game was always going to be a challenging one for both sides. This challenge was made greater for the visitors however, as the Sharks travelled with only eleven skaters and netminder Kieran Hobbins. Meanwhile, missing for the Warriors were home alternate captain Andre Payette, who was serving the first of a three game ban, defenceman Phil Pritchard, forward Adam Reynolds and injured parties Alex Lawson, Callum Queenan, Stu Tomlinson and Scott Cooper.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

The opening period started at a fast pace with both teams throwing themselves into the game and with less than four minutes played, referee Michael Evans made his first call, Dean Holland at fault for interference. Whitley’s penalty kill working like clockwork with rapid line changes and a strong defence, Solway could not find a way past netminder Richie Lawson and the Sharks were soon punished for their failure to capitalise; David Longstaff winding his way through Grubb’s defence to light the lamp with a neat unassisted effort on 6:45. Both teams fighting for the puck in all areas of the ice, and the Sharks beginning to take their frustrations out on Whitley a little, blue liner Josh Maddock retaliated and quickly found himself on the wrong end of a 2+2+10 for an attempted spearing with just over two minutes in the period still to play. Despite this setback, Whitley went in at the break with their narrow 1-0 lead in tact.

The second stanza opened with the Warriors trying to add to their tally and the home side soon succeeded; DJ Good slipped the puck to Ben Richards and the young forward, finding Longstaff, looked on as the experienced player-coach doubled Whitley’s lead with twenty two minutes of the game played. Exactly one minute later, the Warriors conceded a bench minor for too many men on the ice and the Sharks pounced on the opportunity to make it 2-1, James Wallace and Joe Coulter working together to set up Slovakian Martin Cingel for a power play goal.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

The Warriors were quick with their response, taking less than three minutes to find the target as versatile defenceman Harry Harley picked up the puck and fired it beyond Hobbins, Longstaff and Richards with the assists. Hobbins was again under fire when Harley raced into the Warriors’ offensive zone to hit a shot at the netminder. Ensuring that his effort did not make its mark on the game, Hobbins was surprised by youngster Kyle Hindmarsh-Ross who snatched the puck from behind the net to wrap it around the post and into the goal, taking the  score line up to 4-1 in Whitley’s favour.

Soon after, the Warriors’ defence of their lead saw the puck loop into the crowd. Warming a seat in the sin bin for his delay of the game, Harley remained there all of thirty seconds as Solway were again successful on the power play, this time Ross Murray picking the puck up from captain Struan Tonnar and delivering to Coulter who slotted home to give Solway a fighting chance. A final interference call saw Callum Watson ordered off the ice but the Sharks could not find a third power play goal and headed in at the interval with a difficult, albeit achievable, task on their hands.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

However, the dawn of the last period brought another goal for the Warriors as Watson received the puck from behind Hobbins’ net to move into space, the forward finally unleashing a shot which quickly resulted in his sixteenth goal of the season. Approximately four minutes later, Solway conceded their first penalty of the game as Marc Fowley was made to serve two minutes for holding. Whitley were unable to make their chances count with the additional skater and, soon after, the Sharks found the back of the net through Tonnar, with assists from Murray and Fowley.

Despite Solway’s attempt to get back on track, the puck ended up in the net for Whitley once more, this time a skilled effort from Richards lighting the lamp on 53:52 with a single assist from youngster Craig Johnson. The score line 6-3, the Sharks sought a way through on goal but Lawson stood his ground in net to make life difficult for the visitors. A tripping penalty around the fifty sixth minute mark for Daniel Abercrombie made Solway’s undertaking a more challenging one and, as the clock ticked away those final minutes, it became apparent that there was no way back for the Sharks.

Speaking after the game, player-coach David Longstaff observed: “We’re obviously thrilled to go through the season unbeaten at home but I thought we were very sloppy tonight, and lacked energy and intensity, and that’s something we’ll be looking to sort out in training before we go to Sheffield for the playoffs.”

Meanwhile Martin Grubb shared his thoughts: “We knew going to Whitley would be tough but to go in short benched made it an even tougher task. I thought we started well enough and had a few chances but we lost a soft goal to go in behind after the first period. The disappointing things were we didn’t build on a decent first and we gifted Whitley goals by making mistakes and we need to cut that out. We scored a couple of power play goals and I can’t fault the boys as they battled hard until the end but, when you gift teams soft goals, it’s always tough to win. We will now look to regroup and get ready for a big weekend ahead on the road.”

Close call as Stars

scrape draw against tricky Tigers

Billingham Stars 4

Telford Tigers     4

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

With both teams still fighting tooth and nail for their invitation to the NIHL playoff weekend, Billingham Stars went into this game aware that two points would be a great step in the right direction for their club. The significance of the game was evident from the first faceoff, Andy Finn handed a minor penalty from referee David Emmerson for an elbow just forty six seconds in. With Telford advancing on the power play, a save from netminder James Flavell rebounded and the Star could only watch on as Tiger James Smith failed to bury the puck in Billingham’s net. The Stars successfully killing this penalty, returned to full strength only for player-assistant coach Michael Bowman to hit his shot wide of the mark. As the Tigers continued to produce some strong attacking play, it was then the turn of Slovakian import Karol Jets to miss a goal scoring opportunity as the sides remained level in the opening stages. A holding penalty against Corey Goodison reduced the visitors to four men and Billingham’s Jamie Pattison shortly followed suit for a boarding offence.

The Teesiders returned to full strength for all of eight seconds as Chris Sykes endured two minutes in the sin bin for slashing. The forward had not yet been in the box for thirty seconds when he was swiftly joined by Telford’s Bradley Betteridge, the youngster incurring two minutes for interference. Matters were made worse for the Tigers when Goodison received his second minor of the evening to give the Stars the advantage. With the defenceman still serving time, Billingham took the opportunity to open the scoring on 18:17, some intricate work from Finn and Swedish import Dennis Boström allowing forward James Moss to get his name on the score sheet.  

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Just ten seconds later, the Stars stunned the Tigers with another goal following resumed play, Michael Elder immediately guiding the puck to the net before a pass to Sykes which was quickly dispatched beyond Denis Bell. With just twelve seconds left of the period to play, Jason Parry’s Telford managed to show their usual fighting spirit and retaliated, Joseph Aston zipping the puck to Smith who halved the deficit to see the visitors go in at the break with a goal to their name. Aware that the second period required the Tigers to add to their tally if they were to stand any chance of leaving with the points, Telford returned with the aim of equalising and soon met their objective, Simon Harrison firing at Flavell who palmed the puck away only for Betteridge to slot home the rebound.

A second slashing minor conceded by Sykes handed Telford a power play and the Tigers were able to get ahead for the first time in the game, Betteridge with his second goal of the game following some neat offensive play from the versatile Berwyn Hughes and blue liner Joshua Hustwick. The score line 3-2, the Stars looked to get back on level terms as Luke Brown tested Bell eight minutes into the period but to no avail. With shots fired at either end of the ice, Brown soon found himself subject of a tripping call to give the Tigers an additional skater. Though the puck chimed the post during this time, the Shropshire outfit were unable to find a power play goal, leaving the tight score line unchanged going into the final period.

Having lost their lead, Billingham took to the ice with hopes of recovering lost ground to get amongst the points. The importance of the game soon began to take its toll though and both Stars’ forward Boström and Telford’s James Callagher were made to sit out for unsportsmanlike conduct whilst Boström also received a further two minutes for roughing. Soon after both players were reinstated, the Tigers lit the lamp through Smith for a second time in the game as points scorer Callum Bowley made his thirtieth assist of the season.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Almost two minutes later, slashing calls were made against Boström and Hughes, the penalty minutes beginning to stack up. With these stoppages disruptive to the flow of the game, neither side were able to score until a delayed penalty on Joseph Aston saw Boström channel his frustrations in front of goal to make it 4-3 with assists from Finn and Sykes. The game continuing to be a closely contested affair, both teams sought to make the most of every second and Telford were the first to call a timeout on 59:03. A clipping penalty for Tigers’ captain Daniel Croft prompted the same reaction for the Stars seconds later however, as the Teesiders hunted down the one goal which would see them take a point from the game. Pulling netminder James Flavell to enhance their advantage, the Stars were able to score straight from the face off, with just eight seconds left of the game, alternate captain Callum Davies nudging the puck to Elder whose shot rocketed into the Tigers’ net to make the final score 4-4.

Delighted with the equaliser, Man of the Match Chris Sykes spoke to NIHL Northern Trio: “What a way to finish a playoff-chasing game. Eight seconds left and we tied it up! It’s such a good feeling to get a point after a very silly second period which saw us on the wrong end of the score line. Their keeper pulled off some ridiculous saves again and he stood on his head. Telford are a well-drilled side and one point each is a fair result. We didn’t play our best and still got something out of it, so that’s always a positive. The lads worked their socks off and we were happy with a point in the situation we are in, chasing the four top spots for playoffs!”

For more photos from IceHockeyMedia, please visit: http://www.icehockeymedia.co.uk/.