WEEKEND
PREVIEW
NIHL
NORTH DIVISION 1 (MORALEE)
Saturday 13th January 2018
Hull
Pirates
vs. Whitley Warriors
Solway
Sharks vs. Blackburn Hawks
Sunday
14th January 2018
Whitley Warriors vs. Hull Pirates
Billingham
Stars vs. The Dragons
Fixture:
Hull Pirates vs.
Whitley Warriors
Date: 13th January 2018
Venue: Hull Arena
Faceoff: 6:00pm
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
|
Heading into the first game of their double header
against Hull Pirates on Saturday, Whitley Warriors prepare to hit the road for
what is expected to be a hugely challenging game if their pre-Christmas
encounter against Jason Hewitt’s men was anything to by. Playing the
Pirates in front of a home crowd on the 5th November, the Warriors
were able to record a very respectable 4-3 overtime defeat after losing out on
penalties; a game which was of great contrast to their most recent meeting with Hull
which saw David Longstaff’s men concede eleven unanswered goals on the road in
a fiery encounter between the two clubs. With both skilled forward Matty Davies
and strong right winger Bobby Chamberlain achieving hat tricks in their
previous clash with Whitley, and Warriors’ Callum Watson, Anthony
Wetherell and Ryan Sample each dropping the gloves for their side, the Hillheads outfit will
travel with the objective to compete with the former EPL club at the very
least.
Currently placed in sixth position ahead of
Solihull Barons with a total of twenty points from twenty one games, the
Warriors will aim to maintain discipline to ensure that they do not present the
Pirates with any opportunity to gain the upper hand. Hull, meanwhile, will look to claim
two points after dropping to fourth position last weekend following Solway’s
win over Whitley, the side having missed out on league action due to the NIHL
National Cup schedule. At present, the Pirates are just one point behind Martin
Grubb’s men but with five games in hand on the Sharks, meaning Hewitt will
encourage his team to bag as many points from these games as they can to ensure
Hull continue to compete within the top four. Playing Sheffield Steeldogs on Friday evening in a
National Cup fixture besides their double header against the Warriors over the
weekend, the Pirates will hope that their busy schedule will provide sufficient
momentum as opposed to fatiguing players.
With both teams heading out in search of two points and neither willing to
give up a victory without a fight, this game will no doubt prove to be
entertaining whatever the outcome.
Fixture:
Solway Sharks vs.
Blackburn Hawks
Date: 13th January 2018
Venue: Dumfries Ice Bowl
Faceoff: 7:00pm
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
|
Preparing
to host Blackburn Hawks for their second league encounter against the
Lancashire outfit on home ice, Solway Sharks head into this game having
recorded a narrow 7-6 league victory over Steven Duncombe’s men at the Dumfries
Ice Bowl in October. Winning as many games as they lost against the Hawks in
the NIHL National Cup competition this season, Solway are aware of the threat
that Blackburn pose and will look to win by a far more comfortable margin than
their previous league fixture against the side in which the extremely
shortbenched Sharks took the lead with just thirty three seconds played only to
head in at the break with the score tied at 3-3. With each team scoring another goal in the middle stanza, it was
left to Solway to hit back in the third period through Moore and Bowie ahead of
the fifty-minute mark but an equaliser for Blackburn’s Rick Bentham moments
later prompted Bowie to claim his hat trick to secure the points
for his team.
Looking
back on the last five league fixtures of both teams, it is clear to see that
Solway appear to have much momentum heading into this encounter as, though both
outfits played over the festive period, the Sharks have won four of their last
five games; their loss arising last weekend in the form of a respectable 3-0 defeat to Telford
Tigers. The Hawks, by comparison, have won just one of their last five
games, triumphing over Nottingham Lions by two goals to nil on the 23rd of December. Since then, Duncombe’s team have suffered a 5-0 defeat to Sheffield
Steeldogs, lost out to Billingham
Stars by a single goal and endured consecutive cup defeats to Hull Pirates,
first missing out on the points by a narrow 4-3 score line before recording a
landslide 12-3 loss last Sunday. As such, the Hawks will prove dangerous as they aim to
overcome their recent poor form with a win over the Sharks whilst Solway will
go all out for the points to ensure they stay ahead of tough competition.
Speaking ahead of his team’s upcoming
encounter with Blackburn Hawks, Sharks’ Head Coach Martin Grubb admitted:
“We come into this game on the back of a mixed weekend
and we are determined to get back to winning ways. Blackburn are a team who
come to play, have a lot of experience in their line-up and are capable of
beating anyone so we need to ensure we are prepared, organised and ready to
compete for every puck. We know it won’t be easy but we hope to have a few
players back from injury to add to our options and we will be looking for two
points from the game. ”
Fixture:
Whitley
Warriors vs. Hull Pirates
Date: 14th January 2018
Venue: Whitley Bay Ice Rink
Faceoff: 5:00pm
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
|
Returning to Hillheads to face their second
consecutive fixture against Hull Pirates, Whitley Warriors will be hopeful that
they can achieve a victory on home ice after Saturday’s no doubt challenging
trip to Hull Arena. Having fared extremely well in their previous home fixture
against the Pirates, Whitley will be hoping to play with the same level of
determination, intensity and diligence that they demonstrated in their 4-3
overtime loss to Jason Hewitt’s team in November. Lining up with a strong squad
of twenty skaters for this clash, the Warriors were able to hold Hull to 0-0 at
the first interval but watched on as their visitors opened the scoring through
Bobby Chamberlain after the break. Responding quickly,
defenceman Dan Pye beat netminder Ashley Smith to level the scoring only for
skilled forward Matty Davies to undo his hard work moments later and recover
his side’s lead. A goal for Warrior Martin Crammond in the latter stages of the
second stanza was then added to by an unassisted effort from forward Callum
Watson in the fifty fifth minute of play before Pirate Jonathan Kirk equalised with just nineteen seconds of the game remaining to take the
encounter into overtime. With neither side able to break the deadlock, the game was settled with penalty shots; Davies hitting
the winner to hand his team two points whilst Whitley could content themselves
with a point despite their cruel loss. Knowing
that they are more than capable of putting the Pirates to the test on their
smaller ice pad as a result of this, the Warriors will aim for a repeat performance of this clash whereas
Hull will return to ensure they grab a win with far more ease than they did
when they last visited Hillheads, particularly as a four-point weekend could make
all the difference to their league position on Sunday evening. Ready to give
this game their best following their 5-3 win over Solihull Barons last weekend,
the Warriors will look to challenge their visitors as much as possible which
could make this game a particularly fierce one, with neither team afraid to
fight for the win.
Considering Whitley’s double header against Hull Pirates, player-coach
David Longstaff noted:
“We really struggled in Hull just before Christmas so we’ll just have to
see what type of team we have over the weekend.”
Also looking forward to his team’s busy playing schedule, defenceman
Chris Wilcox shared:
“This weekend we have a hectic schedule as we are in
Sheffield to face the Steeldogs on Friday, then a double header against Whitley
Bay. Having played them twice already, we have a pretty good idea of what we
are up against and, if our last game is anything to go by, it will be a pair of
fairly physical encounters. On Saturday, we are at home where we are pretty
dominant at the moment but in Whitley on Sunday night, it will be a different
game. We hope to stick to our systems and to play our hockey and if we do, I
think we will come away with a good result which will be huge in our league
campaign.”
Fixture:
Billingham
Stars vs. The Dragons
Date: 14th January 2018
Venue: The Forum
Faceoff: 6:30pm
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
|
Facing
The Dragons for a third time this season, Billingham Stars will head out onto
the ice looking to claim another two points to improve on the margin between
themselves and seventh place, after recording a 5-3 victory over Nottingham
Lions last weekend and losing out on the road to Telford Tigers by eight goals to two. So far claiming maximum points against the
Deeside outfit this season, Billingham opened their campaign with an 11-3 home
win in which player-coach Michael Bowman achieved a hat trick before the side triumphed more recently in a 9-4 road victory which saw both captain Michael Elder and
alternate captain Chris Sykes score hat tricks to further their team’s progression.
Whilst
Billingham have struggled to compete this season, losing sixteen of the twenty
games they have played to date, including their overtime loss to Sheffield
Steeldogs, The Dragons find themselves in a far worse predicament as they
continue to reside in the automatic relegation spot at the foot of the table
after suffering nineteen defeats from twenty one fixtures;
their only wins against Solihull Barons and Nottingham Lions.
Having lost player-coach Scott McKenzie to Telford Tigers at the end of
October, the outfit have this week appointed former Dragon Gary Shaw as
assistant coach in the hope that the Deeside-based outfit can build on their recent poor form with
further guidance from the bench. Meanwhile, the Stars will aim to scupper The
Dragons’ game plan as they set out to notch their fifth win of the season to get more points on the board ahead of next weekend’s difficult
double header against Solihull Barons. With Billingham Stars and The Dragons
currently situated in eighth and tenth place in the league respectively, the
outfits have been close competition in terms of league position this season and
will therefore give as much as they can as they continue to fight for their
Division One status.
Looking ahead to this fixture, Stars’ alternate captain Chris Sykes
shared:
“It’s a one-game weekend for the Stars against The Dragons who we’ve beaten both times this
far into the season. Hopefully it will be another win for us and three on the
bounce at home in The Forum. It should be a tough game but we know we can win
and we will do everything we can for another two points.”
Also taking time to share his thoughts ahead of this game, Dragons’
captain James Parsons acknowledged:
“We have had a
tough year so far. With the loss of coaches, backroom staff and players, we
have been spread very thin. The focus for the club going forward is to bring juniors
through and continue to build a team for the rest of the season and the next.
Looking ahead to Billingham, a good, tough team that we know well, we are
aiming to take some points from Sunday and are looking forward to the test.”
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