PREVIEW
NIHL
NORTH DIVISION 1 MORALEE CONFERENCE
Saturday
29th October 2016
Blackburn Hawks vs. Billingham Stars
Solway Sharks vs. Whitley Warriors
Sunday
30th October 2016
Whitley Warriors vs. Blackburn Hawks
Billingham Stars vs. Solway Sharks
Following
last weekend’s victories for Solway Sharks and Whitley Warriors, the two
outfits will now contend with each other for the second time this season in a
combined league and North Cup fixture on Saturday whilst Billingham Stars
travel to Lancashire to face Blackburn Hawks. These fixtures will then be
followed by a second consecutive home game against the Hawks for David
Longstaff’s men on Sunday whilst the Sharks travel to Teesside for another cup clash with the Stars.
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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First
to ice on Saturday evening will be Billingham Stars who travel to Blackburn Ice
Arena, aiming to recover rapidly from last
weekend’s 8-2 NIHL North Cup defeat with a win in the competition. Losing
forward James Moss to injury last Saturday, it is uncertain as to whether or not Ben Davison, Jack Davies and
Michael Elder will take to the ice, having picked up knocks last Saturday, though the trio will no doubt hope to compete in
the Stars’ double header this weekend. In their previous cup clash with the
Hawks two weeks ago, Billingham claimed a regulation win
on the road and should therefore make this trip with confidence, knowing that
they have already defeated Blackburn on away ice. Whilst the Stars go into this
fixture on the back of a heavy loss to North Cup leaders Solway Sharks,
Blackburn must face this game following their 6-0 combined league and cup defeat to Whitley
Warriors last Sunday, a result which appears to have induced the club’s decision to part
company with Head Coach Matt Darlow. As a result, this game will be the Hawks’
first under the guidance of player-coach Steven Duncombe who will target maximum
points against Terry Ward’s men; a win, whether it be in regulation or
over time, would see Blackburn creep ahead of Billingham to move into second
place of the North Cup standings whereas a Stars’ victory would allow the Teessiders to challenge Solway
for top spot and provide a much-needed boost after last Saturday’s dip in form. Looking
ahead to this fixture, Star Chris Sykes stated: “On Saturday we have another
away trip to Blackburn for our second of three cup games in a row and we have Solway
at home on Sunday. Firstly, the Hawks have had yet another change at the helm
and players coming in so we have to take them as a new team. We go there with
the same game plan as we had last time that saw us come away with a win and cup
points.”
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Ian Hanlon
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Meanwhile,
Solway Sharks will prepare to host Whitley Warriors for the first time this
campaign, the Dumfries outfit having claimed an emphatic 9-2 victory over David
Longstaff’s men in Whitley’s opening game of the season; a win which contributed
points towards the Sharks’ league and cup efforts. Looking to avenge this heavy
home loss, the Warriors will intend to demonstrate the intensity, fortitude and
power they have exhibited in recent games which include a cup win against
Billingham Stars, a hard-fought league game against defending champions
Blackburn Hawks and a combined league and cup fixture against Matt
Darlow’s struggling outfit. Whilst Whitley naturally hope that these successes
spell a change in form for the better, Solway will be hoping to maintain their
present league and cup form, having so far recorded only one loss across all competitions; a 5-3 North
Cup defeat to Blackburn Hawks in September. With the result of this game set to
impact on league and cup position, a win for Martin Grubb’s team will further separate the side from the rest of the pack whereas maximum points
for the Warriors could see Whitley move up into fifth place of the Moralee
Conference whilst cup points would aid the team’s progression in the
competition, if not see the side finally creep away from the foot of the North Cup table.
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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Contemplating
Whitley’s visit to the Dumfries Ice Bowl on Saturday, Martin Grubb observed: “We
go into a tough two-game weekend against two good teams and we will need to
ensure we keep our recent good form up. Whitley will be full of confidence after
recent results and Lobby [David Longstaff] has his team playing well so we will
need to match their intensity and use our speed and skill.” Further
to this, player-coach David Longstaff shared: “Saturday will be a very tough
game. I’d love to go to Solway, who are by far the best team in the league,
with a full team to see where we really are but unfortunately we don’t have
that as we’ll only have two eighteen year old ‘D’ men, Smedley and Johnson,
playing and hopefully another senior defenceman but all of our players are
available for the home game on Sunday, except for Ben Richards.”
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Ian Hanlon
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Subsequent
to this game, the Warriors will travel back to Hillheads where they will face Blackburn
Hawks for the third time in the space of three weeks. As Steven Duncombe takes
charge of his first league game of the season, the home side can expect a great
challenge as the defending champions aim to avenge last weekend’s unequivocal
defeat with a victory of their own. So far, the Hawks have only managed a
narrow 2-1 home win against Longstaff’s line-up, having lost twice to the side;
first in a league game at home which ended in a 3-2 triumph for the Warriors
and also in last weekend’s 6-0 combined league and cup encounter. Missing goal
scorer Rick Bentham and tough guy Reece Cairney-Witter last Sunday, Duncombe will
hope to have Blackburn’s full roster at his disposal as his side endeavour to move ahead of
The Dragons who do not have a game this weekend. With last Sunday’s clash
between Whitley and Blackburn becoming rather heated, particularly in the latter stages of
the game, this fixture will definitely be one to watch as Duncombe faces former
team mate Andre Payette once again, the two having engaged in a small scrap
last weekend which resulted in twenty nine penalty minutes for the Warrior. As
Whitley continue the revival of their season, a win is a must if they are to progress
further in the Moralee Conference, having climbed away from the foot of the
table last Sunday. Two points for the Warriors would see the side go ahead of
the Hawks whereas victory for Blackburn would be welcomed by the Lancashire
outfit at the end of a difficult week. Whatever the outcome
though, this contest will be one to watch with both sides willing to battle to
the last in order to triumph over their close league rivals.
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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Last
but not least, Billingham Stars will host Solway Sharks as the two sides challenge
each other for a third time in the cup competition. Whilst Billingham intend to
wreak their revenge against the Dumfries outfit following their landslide
defeat to the Sharks last Saturday, Solway will endeavour to cling onto pole
position in the NIHL North Cup, having returned to the top of the table just
last weekend. Besides this regulation win, Martin Grubb’s men were also
successful in their comeback against the Teessiders at the end of last month,
winning 6-5 in overtime to secure two points against Billingham. Whilst forward
Chris Sykes opened the scoring in the Stars’
previous meeting with the Sharks, it was Solway who managed to establish the
upper hand as young prospect Daniel Abercrombie drew level to ignite some
constructive offensive play from his team which ultimately lead to Solway’s
dominance, particularly in the last two periods of this clash. With six points
available to both the Sharks and the Teessiders in the NIHL North Cup this
weekend, this game is a crucial one for both teams but perhaps even more so for
the Stars who have lost three of their five cup fixtures so far in comparison to Solway’s single defeat to Blackburn Hawks.
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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Speaking
ahead of this clash, Head Coach Martin Grubb told NIHL Northern Trio: “Sunday
will be another tough game and Billingham will be looking to avenge last
weekend’s result. We will need to start well and stay focused to ensure we
play solid at both ends of the ice so we can give ourselves a chance to win. It
won’t be an easy weekend but we will be looking for maximum points.” Meanwhile,
Star Chris Sykes added: “On Sunday, we have Solway at home and we have some
tightening up to do against them. They beat us last weekend at their rink and
we had guys missing and injured. This week is no different. People are still
injured but we have a couple of late fitness tests and we’re hoping the guys can play. We will see how they go but it’s at home and on our rink so we are playing for
a full-point weekend in the cup; that’s our aim.”
For fans hoping to attend a game
this weekend, Billingham Stars travel to Lancashire for a 5:45pm cup clash with
Blackburn Hawks whilst Solway Sharks faceoff at 7:00pm against Whitley Warriors
on Saturday. These fixtures will be followed by Whitley Warriors’ 5:00pm home
encounter with Blackburn Hawks on Sunday as Billingham Stars play host to
Solway Sharks from 6:30pm.
NIHL Radio Weekend Listings
Saturday 29th October
5:45pm on NIHL Radio 1
Blackburn Hawks vs. Billingham Stars
Sunday 30th October
5:00pm
on NIHL Radio 1
Whitley Warriors vs. Blackburn Hawks
6:30pm
on NIHL Radio 2
Billingham
Stars vs. Solway Sharks
For more photos from
IceHockeyMedia, please visit: http://www.icehockeymedia.co.uk/.
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