WEEKEND
PREVIEW
NIHL
NORTH DIVISION 1 MORALEE CONFERENCE
Saturday
18th February 2017
Solway Sharks vs. Blackburn Hawks
Sunday
19th February 2017
Whitley Warriors vs. Telford Tigers
Blackburn Hawks vs. Solway Sharks
Billingham
Stars vs. Solihull Barons
Following some eventful fixtures in the Moralee Conference and NIHL North
Cup, the Northern Trio will make their return to the ice this weekend, this time
Solway Sharks facing a double header against Lancashire outfit Blackburn Hawks,
Whitley Warriors hosting Daniel MacKriel’s tricky Telford Tigers and Billingham
Stars preparing for a home clash with Solihull Barons.
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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Icing on Saturday, Solway Sharks are set to invite Steven Duncombe’s
Blackburn Hawks to the Dumfries Ice Bowl for a second time in the space of
seven days, before making the trip to Blackburn Ice Arena for a consecutive
clash against the side on Sunday evening. Following last Saturday’s NIHL North
Cup game, which resulted in a 6-4 win for Martin Grubb’s men, the Sharks will hope for similar results in their back-to-back league contests against the Lancashire outfit whilst Blackburn will aim to put Solway to the test over the
course of the weekend and will particularly look to achieve maximum points in
front of a home crowd on Sunday. With their previous encounter against
Blackburn proving to be by no means an easy fixture for the North Cup champions,
Solway found themselves troubled by the Hawks who looked set for a comeback in
the latter stages of the game when forwards Aaron Davies and James Riddoch
scored just nineteen seconds apart in the third period. However, Blackburn’s attempts to take
something from the game were finally quashed by an empty net goal from Shark
Jordan Buesa who completed his hat trick in the same instance. Slightly
overshadowed by the actions of Hawks Ollie Lomax and Rick Bentham, who have
since received ten-game and three-game bans respectively, this encounter was a
tempestuous one as Duncombe’s men racked up one hundred and thirty penalty
minutes to Solway’s twelve. Whilst Blackburn will look to avoid such poor
discipline this weekend, the Sharks will need to utilise their usual strength to capitalise on
their chances and subsequently prevent their opposition from gaining a foothold
in these games. Whilst a four point weekend would simply extend Solway’s lead
at the top of the NIHL North standings, maximum points from these two clashes
would make an even greater difference to the Hawks who have the potential to
climb into the playoff places. Looking forward to this double header,
Head Coach Martin Grubb observed: “We
know after last weekend that we will be facing a tough challenge against a team
that never gives up and that we need to play for sixty minutes. We need to be better
than we were last week and ensure we win the special teams battle to give
ourselves a chance to win. We will then travel to Blackburn, where it is always
a tough place to play. They have a sense of togetherness after a good result
last Sunday, and the suspensions their players got, so we need to execute our system
and go there looking to win the game.”
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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Hosting Telford Tigers on Sunday evening in what will be their penultimate home game of the season, David Longstaff’s Whitley Warriors will strive to
bounce back from last weekend’s hugely disappointing 8-4 derby defeat with a
victory over Daniel MacKriel’s foot-of-the-table outfit. Whilst the disparity
between these two clubs and their current league positions appears to be great
at present, just three points separate the sides and, should
Telford win at Hillheads on Sunday and other results go in their favour, the Shropshire
outfit could finally move away from the automatic relegation spot, though it
should be remembered that Scott McKenzie’s Dragons will still have two
games in hand as the season draws to a close. Whilst Telford Tigers currently have several strong
forwards in their squad, their most effective player in their last
five fixtures has been experienced Slovakian left winger Karol Jets who has
achieved seven goals whilst forwards Adam Brittle, Conor Gordon and James Smith
have also made an impact. Like Whitley, Telford lost out to Billingham Stars last weekend but arguably in a far more cruel fashion than that of the Warriors; the Tigers had established a clear lead
in the game before the Teessiders made a sudden comeback in the third period to
claim their opposition’s much needed points for themselves. As a result, Telford
will be incredibly reluctant to give up another victory on Sunday and with fan
favourite Owen Bennett making his return to the side in recent games, the
Tigers’ physical presence on the ice will certainly be enhanced should the
enforcer make the trip to Whitley Bay Ice Rink this weekend. Already achieving
a 3-3 draw and a 5-0 win over the Warriors this season, the Tigers have made
for difficult competition and Longstaff’s line-up will therefore be eager to
show that they can compete against Telford, particularly as a win would see Whitley move up to twenty points to potentially increase the gap between
themselves and Blackburn Hawks should the latter lose out in their double
header against Solway Sharks. Commenting ahead of this
fixture, David Longstaff shared: “It’s our last league home game of the season
so hopefully we can get a good result for the fans.”
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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Meanwhile, Billingham Stars will also be in action on Sunday as they
prepare to encounter Solihull Barons at The Forum. Yet to record a victory
against Perry Doyle’s men this season, the Stars will need to carry the
momentum of last weekend’s success into this fixture if they are to triumph
over the third placed outfit, having only just lost out on home ice to the side
two weeks ago. A 7-5 win at Hobs Moat Road for Solihull last month saw the Teessiders take
the lead in the early stages of the game which was then doubled before the
Barons dominated in front of goal from the second period to eventually
claim maximum points, though the Stars were able to get on the scoresheet a little later in
the game. Perhaps mindful of this in their latest clash,
Billingham took the lead from just over two minutes in and went on to hammer four goals past netminder Joshua Nicholls in the
first period alone. However, this proved to be inadequate in the final stages
of the game as the determined Barons battled their way back into the contest to
make a 6-5 comeback and snatch a victory on the road. Making the trip to
Billingham on Sunday, the Barons will hope that top points scorers Niklas
Ottosson, Joe Henry, Matthew Maurice and Thomas Soar are once again available
for the trip having collectively accumulated ten points in their previous
encounter with the Stars; Swedish import Ottosson contributing a hat trick.
Whilst Billingham’s defence is likely to be challenged throughout this game as
a result, the side also have several players of their own who can make an impact
in front of goal, including Swedish imports Dennis Boström and Daniel Palmebjörk,
former EPL forward Chris Sykes, assist specialist Callum Davies and strong
forward Michael Elder. As a result, this game promises to be an entertaining
one if past meetings between these two teams are anything to go by. Whilst two points will allow the Stars to build on
last weekend’s good form and edge nearer to the top spot, a win for Solihull is
a must if the Barons are to hold onto third place over the next few weeks now
that the fight for a playoff spot is closer than ever before. Speaking ahead of
this game, Star Chris Sykes told NIHL Northern Trio: “Sunday is another home game for us against the
Barons again. We’ve had some goal scoring, close fought games so far this season against the Barons and we are hoping to get a win this time and keep on with the
winning form we’ve had from last weekend. Everyone is fit and playing so we
should have a full squad. We are ready to go.”
For
those fans hoping to attend one of these games over the weekend, Solway Sharks
host Blackburn Hawks from 7:00pm at the Dumfries Ice Bowl on Saturday before
travelling to Blackburn Ice Arena for a 5:45pm faceoff on Sunday. Also icing on Sunday, Whitley Warriors will play host to Telford Tigers from 5:00pm
at Hillheads whilst Billingham Stars faceoff from 6:30pm at The Forum as they take on Perry Doyle’s Solihull Barons. Can’t make it to a game? Fear not! Please find NIHL Radio’s listings below.
NIHL
Radio Listings
Saturday 18th February
7:00pm
on NIHL Radio 1
Solway
Sharks vs. Blackburn Hawks
Sunday 19th February
5:00pm
on NIHL Radio 1
Whitley
Warriors vs. Telford Tigers
5:45pm
on NIHL Radio 2
Blackburn
Hawks vs. Solway Sharks
6:30pm
on NIHL Radio 3
Billingham
Stars vs. Solihull Barons
For more photos from IceHockeyMedia, please visit: http://www.icehockeymedia.co.uk/.
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