WEEKEND
PREVIEW
NIHL
NORTH DIVISION 1 (MORALEE)
Saturday 10th March 2018
Blackburn Hawks vs. Billingham Stars
The
Dragons
vs. Whitley Warriors
Solway
Sharks vs. Telford Tigers
Sunday
11th March 2018
Billingham
Stars
vs. Whitley Warriors
Fixture:
Blackburn
Hawks vs. Billingham Stars
Date: 10th March 2018
Venue: Blackburn Ice Arena
Faceoff: 5:45pm
 |
Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
|
Travelling
to Blackburn Ice Arena for one last time this season, Billingham Stars will take
on Steven Duncombe’s men on Saturday with their sights set on a victory as they look to build momentum and increase their confidence going into Sunday’s derby game
against Whitley Warriors. Already losing out twice to the Hawks this season in
NIHL North’s Division One, having first recorded a 3-2 road defeat on the
opening weekend of the season before notching a 5-3 loss at the start of
December, the Stars will be aiming for a repeat of their most recent clash
against the Hawks which saw the Teessiders pick up maximum points from a 4-3
win. Though falling behind in the ninth minute of this game, the
Stars showed resilience to achieve two goals in the space of eighteen seconds and though Blackburn equalised
early in the middle stanza, Billingham bagged two more goals in quick succession to establish a lead which their opposition could not
claw back. Winning
just one of their last five games and recording a hugely disappointing 5-0
defeat to their local rivals just last weekend, the Stars will look to get back
to their best against the Hawks who will equally set out to entertain their
fans. With this their last home game of the regular season, Duncombe’s men will head
out in search of two points to provide themselves with a chance of displacing
the Warriors from sixth position which will be possible should Whitley fail to
pick up a point this weekend. Contending closely in both the league and
cup this season, this game promises to be another competitive clash between two tough teams
who will be determined to bounce back from recent defeats.
Fixture:
The Dragons
vs. Whitley Warriors
Date: 10th March 2018
Venue: Deeside Leisure Centre
Faceoff: 5:45pm
 |
Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
|
Making
the first of two road trips this weekend, Whitley Warriors will travel to Deeside on Saturday to take on the Dragons, having recorded three
victories over the Welsh outfit already this season. Achieving an 11-6 road win
over the side at the start of the season, the Warriors went on to triumph at Hillheads three weeks later before defeating the Dragons by eleven
goals to two on home ice in November. Standing out for the Warriors against
his former club, Whitley’s alternate captain Shaun Kippin has so far managed to
claim five goals and nine assists against the Dragons this season and will
again hope to shine against the side this weekend. So far, the Deeside-based
team have accomplished just four points from thirty four games to find
themselves bottom of NIHL North’s Division One and will therefore head out onto
the ice in the hope that they can bring an end to their sixteen-game losing streak before the curtain closes on their campaign. The Warriors, meanwhile,
will be out to collect both points to cement sixth place ahead
of Sunday’s derby game to ensure they complete their 2017-18 season in a higher
league position than Blackburn Hawks. However, The Dragons continue to
play with determination and fortitude despite the fact that they find
themselves at the foot of the table with no way of improving their situation, meaning the Warriors should head into this game without complacency as the
Welsh side continue to put up a fight for the points, Gary Shaw’s men missing
out by just three goals against the Sharks last month to show that the outfit can
cause problems for their opposition. Ready for this test, Whitley
will head to Deeside with a win in mind, the side preparing to make a positive
impact on the road this weekend to maintain their confidence ahead of the
approaching playoffs.
Fixture:
Solway Sharks vs.
Telford Tigers
Date: 10th March 2018
Venue: Deeside Leisure Centre
Faceoff: 7:00pm
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
|
Playing
host to Telford Tigers for one last time this season, Solway Sharks will look
to overcome their recent form with a win over the Shropshire-based
outfit, having already recorded a 5-4 overtime victory against Tom Watkins’
team in December. Playing the Tigers earlier in their campaign, the Sharks lost out
by five goals to three on the road in a close game which saw forward Iain Bowie
achieve a hat trick before Telford accomplished a 3-0 win over the Dumfries
outfit in October; Canadian captain Jason Silverthorn and forward Jack Watkins
firing themselves onto the scoresheet in this clash. Though Solway sit in fourth place, just
one position behind the Tigers, the Sharks find themselves eleven points adrift
of Telford and will therefore look to narrow this margin by two points on
Saturday as they set out to achieve a repeat of their most recent
performance against Watkins’ team, the side having shown much determination to make a great comeback against the former title contenders after falling behind by three goals to one, with young shot stopper
Lewis Dolan making a fantastic impression on his debut following an injury to
first choice netminder Calum Hepburn. As both teams boast skilled rosters this
season, with Telford’s captain Silverthorn, alternate captain Rick Plant and
forward Scott McKenzie amongst the Tigers’ highest points scorers this season
and Sharks’ forwards Iain Bowie, Connor Henderson and left winger Steven Moore
dominating for Solway, this game promises to be another close clash between two
tough teams who will give their all to achieve a positive result. Looking to
end their regular season with a victory in front of their home crowd, the
Sharks will be particularly determined to earn both points from this encounter, knowing that they have the ability to do so.
Looking forward to this game, Solway
Sharks’ Head Coach Martin Grubb shared:
“This is our last regular season game and we need to
try to go into the playoffs with a good performance and some confidence.
Telford are a good team and Tommy will be looking to also take momentum into
the playoffs so both teams will be looking to win the game. We know we will
need to cut out our defensive lapses and focus to give ourselves a chance and
we will look to win our last league game.”
Fixture:
Billingham
Stars vs. Whitley Warriors
Date: 11th March 2018
Venue: The Forum
Faceoff: 6:30pm
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia – Ian Hanlon
|
After
last weekend’s astounding 5-0 defeat to local rivals Whitley Warriors,
Billingham Stars will play host to David Longstaff’s men with the view to
avenge this loss in front of their home crowd on Sunday evening. Already losing out
twice to the Warriors prior to this result, first narrowly missing out on the
points by four goals to three on home ice in October before December’s 7-3
defeat at Hillheads, the Stars will be aiming to achieve a win over Whitley
this weekend, the side preparing to end their season with two points and the
bragging rights from this contest to give them a boost going into playoffs. Disappointed
to concede five unanswered goals last weekend in a game which saw Billingham
fail to compete to the standards that they are capable of, the Stars will
strive to bounce back to make this game a real contest. The Warriors, by
comparison, will of course be looking to build on their recent result against
their rivals to ensure they take maximum points from their four-game series
against the Teessiders. Now twelve points ahead of Billingham in Division One’s
league standings, Whitley will aim to widen this gap on Sunday to avoid defeat
to the Stars and to cement their place in sixth position ahead of Blackburn
Hawks. Following last weekend’s derby, it is hoped
that this game will be far more competitive than some of the encounters previously
played between these two sides this season as Billingham prepare to harness the desire of past derby games to seek revenge against their rivals whilst Whitley
will not forsake the points without a battle.
Ready to confront derby rivals
Whitley Warriors on home ice, Billingham’s alternate captain Chris Sykes
observed:
“It’s the last weekend of the season, away to the Hawks
and at home against Whitley so a derby day to finish. We need a big performance
on Saturday to then take into Sunday against the Warriors. They beat us last
week and we want to win at home, take a win to end the season and go into the
playoffs in good form. It should be a good weekend.”
Considering his team ahead of this
derby clash, Whitley Warriors’ player-coach David Longstaff noted:
“We’ll be resting players with little niggles to make
sure we’re ready for playoffs.”
For any fans
attending this game at The Forum on Sunday
evening, there will be a collection for Billingham Food Bank should you wish to
donate. For more information, please visit https://billingham.foodbank.org.uk/give-help/donate-food/.
For more photos from IceHockeyMedia, please visit: http://www.icehockeymedia.co.uk/.
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