NIHL North

NIHL Weekend Round-up

Whitley Warriors earned the first point of their 2018-19 campaign at Hobs Moat Road last weekend in a 4-3 overtime loss to Solihull Barons on Saturday.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Icing against the Barons, Whitley were creative in the opening minutes of the first period but went shorthanded on 3:00 when defenceman Kyle Ross made way for holding. After working incredibly hard to kill this penalty, Whitley conceded just two seconds after returning to full strength, forward Andrew Whitehouse sending his team into the lead. Undeterred, the Warriors hit back just before the midpoint of the period, forward Callum Watson on hand to steer the puck into Daniel Brittle’s net courtesy of left winger Ben Campbell and stand-in Captain Shaun Kippin. An interference call against Barons’ Alternate Captain Marcus Maynard allowed the Warriors a power play but, even though they threw everything at Solihull, the visitors could not take the lead ahead of the first interval.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Resuming play, the Warriors were keen to build on a positive first period but Swedish forward Niklas Ottosson had other ideas and sliced a path down the middle of the ice to bury the puck in Richie Lawson’s net on 25:10 after picking up a pass from Luke Brittle. Sixty nine seconds later, Lawson was beaten again, this time forward Matthew Maurice opting for the same course to present his side with a 3-1 lead. Calling a timeout immediately after this goal, Player-Coach David Longstaff watched his team head back out onto the ice with his advice fresh in their minds only for Ross to sit out for a second time, tripping his offence on this occasion. Unable to execute on the power play due to some polished defensive work from the Warriors, Solihull were given a fantastic opportunity at the end of the period when both Whitley’s Alternate Captains Jordan Barnes and Martin Crammond incurred penalties in quick succession but the Warriors dug deep to prevent Solihull from extending their lead.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

The third period getting underway, Whitley missed out on the chance to capitalise after a holding call against defenceman Dale White but an interference penalty for Solihull’s Captain Bruce allowed Longstaff’s men to make amends, the Warriors hitting the target just fifteen seconds later when defenceman Ross Connolly’s clinical pass to Campbell saw the left winger punish Bruce’s misdemeanour on 49:30. Very much back in the contest, the Warriors sought out an equaliser but suffered a setback when Barnes was made to serve a minor for elbowing. Fearing the possibilities of a comeback from Whitley, the Barons called a timeout only for their advantage to be brought to an end thirty seven seconds later when Maynard was sidelined for high sticks and Eaton joined his teammate following a hooking call. This gave the Warriors another important power play which enabled the Hillheads outfit to level the scoring with a fantastic goal from forward DJ Good who made the most of smooth passing play between Longstaff and Campbell to make it 3-3 to take his team into overtime. 

Overjoyed at taking their first point in Solihull since their 6-2 victory over the Barons in September 2015, Whitley took to the ice to see if they could claim maximum points but it was not to be as Brittle brothers Adam and Luke teamed up to grasp a win for their side just seven seconds from the end of the overtime period.

After this positive performance, the Warriors returned to Hillheads on Sunday evening, only to concede a 5-2 defeat to Steven Duncombe‘s Blackburn Hawks.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

The Warriors got off to a positive start in spite of an early penalty kill, taking the lead through forward Callum Watson with just 4:31 on the clock. Excellent netminding from Blackburn’s sixteen-year-old shot stopper Harrison Walker prevented the Warriors from increasing their lead in the first period, though the side were handed a power play before the break when Hawks’ two-way player Adam Barnes was sinbinned for slashing on 18:44. Though determined to achieve an equaliser as quickly as possible in the middle stanza, Blackburn were only able to level the scoring on 34:44 as forward Barnes made the most of his side’s 5-on-3 power play following hard work from Player-Assistant Coach James Neil and Alternate Captain James Royds. With both sides picking up minor penalties in the latter stages of the period, the Warriors’ failure to capitalise on their own 5-on-3 advantage was followed by a high sticks penalty for forward DJ Good with just twenty two seconds remaining in the period. 

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

With the Warriors unable to make their power play count on their return to the ice, the Hawks battled back to take the lead when Royds played the puck to forward James Riddoch who did not miss his mark. Less than two minutes later, Hawk Barnes added a third to this team’s tally only for the Warriors to retaliate quickly, Watson again the man on target. The score line 3-2, Blackburn were eager to recover their two-goal lead and did so seven seconds later, Lithuanian Danielius Nomanovas finding the net on this occasion with support arriving from Royds yet again. Frustrated at this sudden turn of events, the Warriors went on to concede a fifth and final goal as Barnes completed his hat trick; Royds with his fourth assist as he teamed up with forward Lee Pollitt on 45:01. Trying to get back into the game as the period came to a close, left winger Ben Campbell scrambled the puck into the net for Whitley but the goal was ruled out to spark a response from the Warrior, resulting in a two-minute misconduct penalty. Working hard to beat Walker in the final stages of the period, the home team realised that it was a long way back when they could not make their chances count. In the end, the Warriors were forced to accept their third home defeat of the season as the final buzzer called time on the game. 

Meanwhile, Solway Sharks achieved a 12-2 victory against Nottingham Lions at the Dumfries Ice Bowl on Saturday evening.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

A flying start in this contest saw Solway take the lead less than four minutes in when Canadian Cale Tanaka snapped up his first league goal for the Sharks following support from skilled left winger Steven Moore. Working netminder Ashley Smith from faceoff, the Dumfries outfit doubled their tally on 5:19 when forward Iain Bowie linked up with Slovakian Peter Gápa who slipped past the Lions’ defence to find the target. Peppering Smith with shots throughout the period, Martin Grubb’s men strove to extend their lead whilst Nottingham countered in small bursts but without success. Picking up the first penalty of the contest, Solway’s shot stopper Jordan McLaughlin incurred a call for delaying the game to award his opposition a power play but, try as they might, Nottingham could not get onto the scoresheet before the break and headed in with a two-goal deficit.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Filing back onto the ice, Solway strove to add to their tally but it took more than five minutes into the second stanza for the side to make it 3-0, a neat interchange between Tanaka and Alternate Captain Ross Murray bringing Lewis Baldwin into play, the defenceman shooting from the top of the circles and the puck going in off the underside of the bar. Though this goal was followed by an interference penalty for Nottingham’s forward Thomas Palmer, the Lions were buoyed by their effective penalty kill and bagged themselves a goal just over a minute after returning to full strength as stand-in Captain Paul Stanley made it 3-1, sixteen-year-old forward Jack Parker and defenceman Kieran Raynor assisting. However, in spite of the Lions’ effort, Solway completed the period with two goals in quick succession, Murray scoring on 38:21 courtesy of Tanaka and Moore, before youngster Liam Stenton added to the scoreboard fifteen seconds ahead of the break.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia – Ian Hanlon

Though Nottingham set out to get themselves back into the game, they did not get off to the best start, conceding in the early stages of the period as forward Scott Henderson made it 6-1 after neat work from Gápa and Stenton. The visitors’ situation was then exacerbated when Smith purportedly slashed Tanaka in the head to find himself ejected from the game, backup Luca Sheldon taking his place between the pipes. Placed on the power play, Solway immediately sought retribution and achieved it as Moore picked out Murray who notched his second goal of the evening. Though a slashing call against forward Rick Bentham levelled the playing field, Solway were unperturbed and claimed an eighth goal when a fantastic unassisted shot from Stuart Kerr beat Sheldon on 48:08. Buckling under the weight of Solway’s offence, the Lions leaked another goal as experienced blue liner James Hutchinson printed his name on the scoresheet after quick play between Gápa and Moore who was able to achieve his fourth assist of the evening. Eighty two seconds later, Tanaka netted to make it 10-1 which was closely followed by an eleventh as Gápa received the puck from ‘D’ man Kyle Horne to play in Henderson for a second time in the game. Calling a timeout on the back of this goal, Sharks’ Head Coach Grubb dispensed his tactics but shortly after resuming play, both teams lost a man to the sin bin, Captain Struan Tonnar and Lions’ blue liner Raynor considered guilty of roughing. Neither team were able to find the back of the net in the aftermath but, with the game in its final minutes, the Sharks incurred one last penalty as Stenton was shown to the sin bin for tripping. In spite of this, Solway hit the target one second later, Murray completing his hat trick on 58:55 with a shorthanded goal, right winger Ross Hancock playing the puck to his alternate captain after Tonnar gained possession. Unwilling to allow the home team the final say, Nottingham accomplished a power play goal just forty nine seconds from the final buzzer, forward Ruskin Hughes seeking a consolatory goal with help from Jakub Klima and Cameron Pywell. Outshooting their opposition by seventy eight to twenty two, the Sharks were pleased to achieve both points in what was ultimately a landslide victory.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Considering the Sharks’ win, Head Coach Martin Grubb observed: “I was happy with the energy we started with and it set the tone early for us against a very hardworking Lions team. We knew we would need to stay patient and wear them down and we did that and scored some nice goals. It was a game we were always in control of and it was nice to give our young players some extra ice time and they all got points which is pleasing. We will now take the confidence built and keep working to improve.”

In other news, Billingham Stars unfortunately lost 6-3 on home ice to newly promoted outfit Sutton Sting.

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Getting off to the worst possible start, the Stars conceded just fifty four seconds after faceoff when Swedish defenceman Jonas Fredriksson surprised the Teessiders to present the Sting with an early lead. The score line 1-0, both teams picked up a minor penalty but, unlike Billingham, Sutton capitalised, Alternate Captain Craig Elliot on target with just eight seconds left of Andy Finn’s interference penalty. The remainder of the first period fragmented by penalties, the Stars were only able to pull a goal back on 23:24, Captain Michael Elder punishing Fredriksson’s tripping misdemeanour. Continuing to work hard in spite of four successive penalties, the Sting recovered their two-goal cushion when Stars’ experienced defenceman Richie Thornton was shown to the sin bin, allowing forward Dominic Martin to claim his team’s second power play goal of the evening.  A bench minor for too many men though saw Sutton’s lead reduced once again as Canadian Kevin Boyd made the most of his team’s advantage; youngster Ethan Hehir and Alternate Captain Chris Sykes assisting on 32:50. 

Photo Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson

Though Billingham were just one goal behind their opposition, the side incurred a sixth penalty as Finn made way for slashing to award the Sting a power play which ran over the interval. As such, Sutton tallied a fourth goal on their return to the ice, Alternate Captain Stanislav Lašček giving the home team cause for concern just fifty three seconds into the period. With a 4-2 lead, the Sting continued to put their opposition under pressure and netted a fifth just beyond the midpoint of the period, achieving their fourth power play goal of the game as Martin beat netminder James Flavell for a second time. Eight seconds later, Sutton lost defenceman David Pyatt to the sin bin but this made little difference to the outfit as Simon Butterworth’s team completed their scoring with a shorthanded goal from Brady Doxey to make it 5-2. Trying to respond, Billingham’s blue liner Ben Davison got on the scoresheet with an unassisted effort but it proved to be too little, too late for the Stars who were disappointed with this result.

Reflecting on Billingham’s start to their 2018-19 campaign, Head Coach Tom Brown shared: “We have a lot of work to do but I knew that coming in so to get the start we have had so far, it’s a step in the right direction.”

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