WEEKEND
PREVIEW
NIHL
NORTH DIVISION 1 MORALEE CONFERENCE
Saturday
28th January 2017
Blackburn Hawks vs. Whitley Warriors
Telford Tigers vs. Solway Sharks
Sunday
29th January 2017
Whitley Warriors vs. Billingham Stars
Solihull
Barons vs. Solway Sharks
Involved in just two fixtures last weekend, the Northern Trio are set to
take part in a far busier schedule with Whitley Warriors icing in an NIHL North
Cup game against Blackburn Hawks on Saturday before making the return trip for their
second Tyne-Tees derby of 2017. Meanwhile, NIHL North Cup winners Solway Sharks switch to
league action this week to play a tricky double header against Telford Tigers
and Solihull Barons.
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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Preparing to make the trip to Lancashire on Saturday, Whitley Warriors face
a difficult NIHL North Cup fixture against Blackburn Hawks for the first time
since the Hillheads outfit triumphed over Steven Duncombe’s struggling side in
a closely contested cup game at Whitley Bay Ice Rink in November. Since then,
Whitley Warriors have played in two cup games against Billingham Stars and
Solway Sharks, winning 4-1 in the Tyne-Tees derby before
losing out by six goals to three against the North Cup champions on the road.
By comparison, Blackburn Hawks have recorded defeats to both the Sharks and
the Stars in the competition, finding themselves on the wrong end of respective
6-2 and 7-3 score lines. Whilst the Lancashire outfit exhibited poor form in
the North Cup competition before Christmas, the side will be hoping that they
can give a far better account of themselves in the contest for the remainder of
their campaign, particularly if they want to compete with David Longstaff’s
team who have recently managed to improve on their form in the competition to move
into second place with twelve points from nine games. As a result, a regulation victory for Blackburn on Saturday would
see the side displace the Warriors from their present situation whereas maximum
points for the visitors would allow the outfit to increase the gap between themselves and their opposition as they strive to seal second place to finish ahead of both the
Hawks and their close local rivals Billingham Stars. No longer boasting the
talent of power forward Corey Stones who clashed with Whitley’s suspended
enforcer Andre Payette earlier in the season, the Hawks do have tough guy
Reece Cairney-Witter at their disposal whilst Warrior Jordan Barnes is
certainly not one to shy away from confrontation. As a result, this game could make for
interesting viewing due to the rivalry these clubs have constructed in
recent seasons. Though Solway has snatched the North Cup from defending
champions Billingham Stars, there is still much to play for in the competition as
the sides go head-to-head for both points and pride. Speaking ahead of this
game, Whitley Warriors’ player-coach David Longstaff shared: “Saturday is
another chance for us to ice some younger players again. We’ll be hoping to ice
one or two players who haven’t featured with the first team.”
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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Also icing on Saturday, Solway Sharks will make the lengthy journey to
Shropshire ahead of a league clash with Daniel MacKriel’s Telford Tigers who
currently sit at the foot of the Moralee Conference with twelve points from
nineteen games. Polar opposites in terms of league position, the clubs will
meet for a third time this season, Solway having already recorded a
6-2 home victory against the side in November before triumphing over the Tigers
on the road once again just one week later. Their last encounter with Telford
perhaps most memorable for captain Struan Tonnar’s five goals, Sharks Connor
Henderson, Duncan Speirs, two-way player Ben Edmonds, Slovakian import Juraj
Senko and alternate captain Ross Murray have also been able to get onto the
scoresheet against MacKriel’s men earlier this season whilst the
player-coach and forward James Smith were the only scorers for the Tigers over
the course of these two fixtures. With every point now vital due to the small
margins between each league position, the Tigers will set out for a win to
bounce back from last weekend’s league defeat to Blackburn Hawks but having
only achieved five victories this season, this task could prove to be a
monumental one for the home side who have suffered due to a short bench.
Equally, underestimating MacKriel’s line-up could prove dangerous and therefore the Sharks must avoid complacence if they are to succeed; already this
season, the Tigers have taken points from Sutton Sting, Whitley Warriors,
Solihull Barons and Blackburn Hawks and should certainly not be ruled out of
any contest. Whilst a win would again send Solway ten points clear of
Billingham Stars at the top of the table, victory for the Tigers would allow
the team to move into seventh place ahead of Sutton Sting who do not have a
fixture this weekend. Looking ahead to this clash, Sharks’ Head Coach Martin
Grubb took time to share his views: “Telford
is always a difficult place to go and this game will be no different. We are
going to have to go with our game plan and ensure that we play hard at both
ends of the ice. They have the quality to hurt us if we don’t play to our
capabilities so it will be about us going there ready to battle for sixty
minutes.”
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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The action will then continue on Sunday as Billingham Stars travel
to Hillheads for an encounter with David Longstaff’s Whitley Warriors, following the sides’ combined league and NIHL North Cup fixture just three weeks ago which
resulted in a 4-1 loss for the Teessiders. Whilst captain Dean Holland grabbed two goals in this clash and forwards Callum Watson and Jordan Barnes also contributed to the Warriors’ offensive efforts, the Stars’ only
scorer was forward Chris Sykes who is unavailable for this weekend’s Tyne-Tees derby. Capable of so much more than this defeat, Billingham
will be aiming to improve on their recent poor performance against Whitley Warriors to
take two points back to The Forum whilst simultaneously claiming the bragging
rights on the road. Sitting in second place, the Stars have achieved eleven
wins from sixteen games whereas their local rivals remain in fourth place with
seventeen points from eighteen games, having also incurred a two-point deduction. Besides the result of this latest Tyne-Tees derby, since returning to the ice in the
New Year, Whitley Warriors have recorded two cup losses to Solway Sharks as well as a hard fought victory over The Dragons. Meanwhile, Billingham have also suffered
a cup defeat to the Dumfries outfit in recent games and went on to lose out in a league encounter to
Solihull Barons, only to bounce back against Sutton Sting on home ice
last weekend. Having achieved this positive result in front of a home crowd, it may be suggested that the momentum will be with Terry Ward’s team but it is likely that form will be forgotten when the local rivals confront each other once again, with bragging rights the real accolade when
the final buzzer sounds on Sunday. Adding to his earlier comments, Longstaff noted: “It’s
a local derby so anything can happen and I’d be shocked if we dominated
Billingham again like we did a couple of weeks ago.” Further to this, Star
Jack Watkins shared his views with NIHL Northern Trio: “I think this weekend against the Warriors will be a tough one. It’s
always tough to go to Whitley and get points. They play well at home and we
will be without the help of one of our top scorers, Chris Sykes. He will be a
huge miss. We have had a good week at practice and are ready for the weekend ahead.”
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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Last to ice this weekend, Solway Sharks will then make the trip from
Telford Ice Rink to Hobs Moat Road as they prepare to take on Perry Doyle’s
Solihull Barons. Playing the Barons at the Dumfries Ice Bowl in October, the
Sharks recorded a 3-1 win as captain Struan Tonnar and Finnish
import Kim Miettinen presented the side with an early two goal cushion; Baron Matthew Maurice then pulled a goal back for his team before Solway’s Juraj Senko rounded off the scoring to ensure Solway’s victory. This was then followed by a
second win against Solihull in November as Martin Grubb’s men took the lead
through alternate captain Ross Murray before Tonnar, Senko and two-way player Jordan
Buesa added to their team’s efforts to claim another two points
against the third-placed Barons who by no means made life easy for the Sharks.
Currently sitting behind Billingham Stars in the Moralee
Conference, Solihull have eighteen points from eighteen games, losing two of
their last four fixtures to Telford Tigers and Scott McKenzie’s Dragons. With
the league so close and just one point between themselves and Whitley Warriors,
Head Coach Doyle will send his team out onto the ice aiming for no less than
maximum points as they look to break away from their competition. With the quality of forwards Thomas
Soar, Josh Bruce, Joe Henry and import Niklas Ottosson to name but a few, not to mention a
strong defence, the Barons are more than capable of competing with Solway and
will look to demonstrate this on Sunday evening. The Sharks, on the other hand,
will hope to be in a position to secure another four point weekend in their
quest for silverware and will equally settle for no less than a victory which
should make this contest an entertaining one to say the least. Considering this
clash, Grubb added: “Solihull are a
team who have speed, skill and grit and are always a well-drilled team who
compete hard. We have always had tight games with them and I don’t see this one
being any different. It will be about playing a solid road game and taking our
chances as we look to get the points. We want to keep our momentum going.”
For those fans hoping to attend a game this weekend, Solway Sharks face
off against Daniel MacKriel’s Tigers from 5:30pm at Telford Ice Rink on
Saturday whilst Whitley Warriors encounter the Hawks in their NIHL North Cup
fixture from 5:45pm at Blackburn Ice Arena. On Sunday, Billingham Stars make
the trip to Whitley Bay Ice Rink for a 5:00pm faceoff against Whitley Warriors
before Solway Sharks take on Perry Doyle’s Solihull Barons from 6:00pm at Hobs
Moat Road.
NIHL
Radio Listings
Sunday
29th January
5:00pm
on NIHL Radio 1
Whitley
Warriors vs. Billingham Stars
For more photos from
IceHockeyMedia, please visit: http://www.icehockeymedia.co.uk/.
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