WEEKEND
PREVIEW
NIHL
NORTH DIVISION 1 (MORALEE)
Saturday 3rd March 2018
Sheffield Steeldogs vs. Whitley Warriors
Sunday
4th March 2018
Whitley Warriors vs. Billingham Stars
Solihull
Barons vs. Solway Sharks
Fixture: Sheffield Steeldogs vs. Whitley Warriors
Venue: Ice Sheffield
Faceoff: 7:30pm
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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Set
to travel to Sheffield on Saturday, Whitley Warriors will prepare to face the
Steeldogs for one final time this season, the Hillheads outfit hoping for a
repeat of their recent success over Ben Morgan’s team in which they were able
to achieve a 4-1 victory over the former EPL side on home ice. Though losing
out twice to the Steeldogs this season in November’s 5-2 road loss and December’s 4-2
home defeat, the Warriors will head out with their latest
achievement fresh in their mind and the knowledge that they have what it takes
to beat Sheffield when they are at full strength. As such, it will be important
that Whitley make the trip with as many players as possible to ensure they have
the best chance of success as the outfit continue to strive for fifth place,
with Solihull Barons now five points ahead in the league standings, though the
Warriors have two games in hand on the side which they will be eager to make
use of in their pursuit of the best possible league position. So far, the Warriors have won as many games
as they have lost in regulation time and missed out on maximum points in a
further four games, the side battling with Blackburn Hawks, Hull Pirates and
Solihull Barons this season to push these teams into overtime, and were only prevented from achieving the same feat against Telford Tigers last weekend in the final two minutes of the game. Showing
that they are more than capable of setting out to challenge their tricky
opposition this season, David Longstaff’s men will make the trip to Sheffield
with the same amount of determination and
resilience that they have shown this campaign as the Warriors ready themselves to compete with the
Steeldogs in what should be another highly entertaining fixture.
Speaking ahead of this meeting with the Warriors, Sheffield’s
defenceman Tom Barry affirmed:
“I expect a
hard, fast game from Whitley. They are a very good team which showed when they
beat us in their place. We won’t be taking them lightly. They are battling for
positions just like us so it’s all to play for. Our position in the title race
is very good. We always knew it would come down to the last few games of the
season so it’s nothing we didn’t expect. As a team we know what we’ve got to do
and we’ve been doing everything we can to put us in the best position possible
to claim the title.”
Fixture:
Whitley
Warriors vs. Billingham Stars
Date: 4th March 2018
Venue: Whitley Bay Ice Rink
Faceoff: 5:00pm
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
|
Following
their return from Sheffield, Whitley Warriors will prepare to take on local
rivals Billingham Stars for a third time this season with David Longstaff’s men
hoping to add to the two victories they have already achieved over the
Teessiders this campaign. Again taking to the ice in search of the highly
coveted bragging rights as well as two points, the Warriors and Stars will aim
to give their all in what is hoped to be another incredibly competitive clash
between fierce adversaries. So far this season, Billingham played host to
Whitley in October and though the side had notched a 3-1 lead by the early
stages of the second period, the Warriors made a great comeback to win 4-3;
forward Luke Brown and captain Michael Elder grabbing the Stars’ goals whilst
long-serving Warrior Callum Watson, alternate captains Jordan Barnes and Shaun
Kippin and skilled forward Adam Finlinson were all on target for the visitors.
Whitley were then able to record a more comfortable 7-3 win over Billingham on
home ice in December as the Stars worked to keep pace with their rivals but were ultimately muscled out of the points. As Sunday’s game promises to be
another difficult encounter for both teams, with Whitley hoping to build on
their recent strong home performances and the Stars out for revenge, this
highly anticipated encounter will be of great importance to both teams, with
the bragging rights just as significant as the
points.
Looking ahead to Whitley Warriors’ double header,
David Longstaff shared:
“We have two very tough games. After beating
Sheffield at home a few weeks ago, I’m sure they’ll be ready to get some
revenge and the same goes with Billingham. We’ve already beaten them twice so
they’ll be coming out flying at Whitley on Sunday night.”
Sharing his thoughts ahead of this derby game, Billingham’s alternate captain Chris Sykes observed:
“It’s a tough weekend with the derby on Sunday in
Whitley. It should be a tough but fun game for the Stars. We just want to
enjoy the last few games and then move onto playoffs and see what happens. I hope to see a lot of fans for Sunday’s derby.”
Fixture:
Solihull
Barons vs. Solway Sharks
Date: 4th March 2018
Venue: Hobs Moat Road
Faceoff: 6:00pm
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
|
Scheduled
to travel to Hobs Moat Road for Sunday evening’s clash against Solihull Barons,
Solway Sharks will head out onto the ice with the aim to complete their
four-game series against the side with a victory. Already this season, Solway
have accomplished three wins over the Barons, succeeding by four goals to
two in a home fixture in October, triumphing in a narrow 3-2 road win in
December and more recently finding themselves on the right end of a 5-2 score
line at the Dumfries Ice Bowl. Hoping to have secured fourth place ahead of
this clash, the Sharks will aim to further distance themselves from Solihull in
the league standings as Martin Grubb’s men set out to finish their campaign on a high note, having endured mixed form of late following three
losses in their last five games. The Barons, by comparison, will hope to earn
two points on Sunday with a view to cement themselves in fifth place,
particularly as this game is their penultimate of the season, meaning Solihull
must claim all four points from these games to put their league position beyond
doubt. Winning three of their last five
games, having twice missed out on points to Sheffield Steeldogs, the Barons will head
into this fixture with a great deal of confidence that they can compete, the side showing much fortitude already this season to edge a win over Telford
Tigers and to achieve two spectacular victories over Hull
Pirates. With both teams demonstrating their desire for success this season,
this game will no doubt be another fantastic battle between two tough teams
when the sides take to the ice on Sunday.
Prepared for this clash, Solway
Sharks’ Head Coach Martin Grubb acknowledged:
“Solihull are a very good team with lots of offence so
we need to be ready to play and not make the mistakes we made in Hull last
week. It’s a difficult building to get a result in and it may be a tough journey
but we will go there ready to execute our game plan and hopefully get a
positive result as this will potentially be a dress rehearsal for the playoffs
so it’s important.”
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