WEEKEND
PREVIEW
NIHL
NORTH DIVISION 1 (MORALEE)
Saturday 27th October 2018
Solway
Sharks vs.
Whitley Warriors
Sutton Sting vs. Billingham Stars
Sunday 28th October 2018
Whitley Warriors vs. Solihull Barons
Fixture:
Solway Sharks vs. Whitley
Warriors
Date: 27th October 2018
Venue: Dumfries Ice Bowl
Faceoff: 7:00 pm
Hosting Whitley Warriors at the Dumfries Ice Bowl for the first time this season, Solway Sharks
will head out with the knowledge that they can defeat the Hillheads outfit after recording a 9-4 road victory over David Longstaff’s men last month. Also winning both
home fixtures against the Warriors in their previous campaign, Solway will aim to maintain
good form in front of their home crowd, having so far won three of the five
league games they have played at the Ice Bowl this season. On the second weekend of their 2017-18 season, Solway worked hard to secure both points against the Warriors, achieving a 3-1 victory over Whitley in what was a closely
contested encounter. This was then backed up by a second home win for the
Sharks in January in which Solway triumphed by seven goals to three in another
hugely entertaining fixture between two strong competitors. However, Whitley also recorded home victories over the Sharks in October and
February, first succeeding against their visitors by four goals to two before
collecting both points from a 3-1 win. Going into this game on the back of last Sunday’s 11-0 cup victory
against Murrayfield Racers, having also defeated Billingham Stars on Saturday, Solway
will hope to maintain this momentum
to further their current league position as they continue to contend with
former EPL outfits Telford Tigers, Sheffield Steeldogs and Hull Pirates at the
top of the table. The Warriors, meanwhile, head into this fixture after a 9-1 away victory over Nottingham Lions, having only picked up points on the road to date. As such, Whitley have been most dangerous away from home and will look to avenge last month’s defeat to the
Sharks to ensure their progression continues.
Boasting a strong line-up following the addition of left wingers Cale Tanaka and Peter Gápa, defenceman Lewis Baldwin and forward Rick Bentham, Martin Grubb’s men will seek to gain as many points as possible in their quest for silverware success now that they find themselves in third place with just one point separating them from top spot. With this quartet contributing 44 points to Solway’s league effort so far, Whitley will certainly have their work cut out and that is without considering the impact of skilled Shark Steven Moore who has scored 5 goals and tallied 11 assists in 8 league fixtures to prove highly effective once again. The Warriors, on the other hand, will be hoping to triumph over the Sharks on the road with their last win at the Dumfries Ice Bowl recorded on the 23rd January 2016 in what was an incredibly close 2-1 victory for Whitley. Aiming to approach this game with intensity and discipline, Longstaff’s line-up will be relying on top goal scorer Ben Campbell to find the net on Saturday whilst defenceman Sam Zajac and forwards Callum Watson, Shaun Kippin and DJ Good will all look to contribute where possible to ensure this fixture is a difficult one for Grubb’s highly competitive side.
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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Boasting a strong line-up following the addition of left wingers Cale Tanaka and Peter Gápa, defenceman Lewis Baldwin and forward Rick Bentham, Martin Grubb’s men will seek to gain as many points as possible in their quest for silverware success now that they find themselves in third place with just one point separating them from top spot. With this quartet contributing 44 points to Solway’s league effort so far, Whitley will certainly have their work cut out and that is without considering the impact of skilled Shark Steven Moore who has scored 5 goals and tallied 11 assists in 8 league fixtures to prove highly effective once again. The Warriors, on the other hand, will be hoping to triumph over the Sharks on the road with their last win at the Dumfries Ice Bowl recorded on the 23rd January 2016 in what was an incredibly close 2-1 victory for Whitley. Aiming to approach this game with intensity and discipline, Longstaff’s line-up will be relying on top goal scorer Ben Campbell to find the net on Saturday whilst defenceman Sam Zajac and forwards Callum Watson, Shaun Kippin and DJ Good will all look to contribute where possible to ensure this fixture is a difficult one for Grubb’s highly competitive side.
Whilst two points for the
Sharks could see Solway leap to the top of the table alongside Sheffield should the Steeldogs defeat Nottingham Lions on Sunday, a loss would cause the Dumfries side to remain level on points with
fourth placed Hull Pirates who do not have a league fixture this weekend. Likewise,
a win for Whitley would enable the Hillheads outfit to stay ahead of Sutton
Sting and Billingham Stars, meaning the Warriors will do everything within
their power to be hailed the victors in this contest.
Fixture: Sutton Sting vs. Billingham Stars
Date: 27th October 2018
Venue: Ice Sheffield
Faceoff: 7:30 pm
Billingham
Stars will make the trip to Ice Sheffield on Sunday to take on Simon
Butterworth’s Sutton Sting for a second time this season, having lost 6-3 to
the newly promoted side at The Forum a month ago. Due to the fact that they fell behind just
fifty four seconds into this contest and were unable to recover, the Stars know that they will face a
challenge on the road this weekend, not least because both teams currently find
themselves with six points at present, although Billingham do have two games in
hand on the Sting which they will hope to make the most of in the coming weeks.
Maintaining discipline will be important for both teams,
with six power play goals scored in the sides’ last encounter, four
of which were conceded by the Stars. Struggling for form of late, Billingham
have lost their last five games in all competitions, with their most recent victory an
8-4 win over tenth-placed Nottingham Lions. Requiring a win to get back on
track, the Teessiders will set out to avenge their previous defeat against the
Sting but this will be difficult as Sutton continue to surprise this season, accomplishing victories against Solway
Sharks and Solihull Barons besides putting up a fight against Blackburn Hawks,
Whitley Warriors and Sheffield Steeldogs in recent weeks.
At present, Sutton’s most influential player is Slovakian right winger Stanislav Lašček who currently has 13 points from 9 league games whilst Alternate Captain Craig Elliot, forward Dominic Martin and versatile left winger Ryan Johnson all continue to impress in offence. Similarly, Billingham’s Alternate Captain Chris Sykes also has 13 points but tallied over the course of 7 league games, whilst Canadian Kevin Boyd is another of the Stars’ most creative players, notching 6 goals and 3 assists in just 5 league games. Situated in eighth place at present, the Stars are just two points ahead of Steven Duncombe’s Blackburn Hawks. As such, Billingham will search for a win to better their recent form. By comparison, Sutton’s mixed results suggest that the side will perhaps have more confidence heading into this fixture, not only due to September’s win over the Stars, but because the side have shown a fantastic work ethic in their efforts to challenge any outfit in NIHL North’s Division One. With both requiring two points to progress, the battle to be the best team on the night could be a fierce one and, though expected to be a close game given the sides’ current league positions, Sutton’s unpredictability could make this an uncomfortable encounter for the Stars, meaning the visitors will have to give their all to return home with a win.
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia – Ian Hanlon
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At present, Sutton’s most influential player is Slovakian right winger Stanislav Lašček who currently has 13 points from 9 league games whilst Alternate Captain Craig Elliot, forward Dominic Martin and versatile left winger Ryan Johnson all continue to impress in offence. Similarly, Billingham’s Alternate Captain Chris Sykes also has 13 points but tallied over the course of 7 league games, whilst Canadian Kevin Boyd is another of the Stars’ most creative players, notching 6 goals and 3 assists in just 5 league games. Situated in eighth place at present, the Stars are just two points ahead of Steven Duncombe’s Blackburn Hawks. As such, Billingham will search for a win to better their recent form. By comparison, Sutton’s mixed results suggest that the side will perhaps have more confidence heading into this fixture, not only due to September’s win over the Stars, but because the side have shown a fantastic work ethic in their efforts to challenge any outfit in NIHL North’s Division One. With both requiring two points to progress, the battle to be the best team on the night could be a fierce one and, though expected to be a close game given the sides’ current league positions, Sutton’s unpredictability could make this an uncomfortable encounter for the Stars, meaning the visitors will have to give their all to return home with a win.
Fixture:
Whitley
Warriors vs. Solihull Barons
Date: 28th October 2018
Venue: Whitley Bay Ice Rink
Faceoff: 5:00 pm
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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Preparing
to host Solihull Barons on Sunday evening, Whitley Warriors will take to the
ice in search of their first home victory, having failed to pick up a single
point at Whitley Bay Ice Rink so far this season. Setting out to avenge last
month’s 4-3 overtime loss to Daniel Brittle’s men, the Warriors know that they
have the ability to push the Barons to their limits, after making a comeback
from 3-1 down in their previous fixture against the side. After taking the lead
through forward Andrew Whitehouse with just over five minutes played,
Solihull were disappointed to see Whitley achieve an equaliser courtesy of
skilled forward Callum Watson and battled back early in the second period as
Swedish import Niklas Ottosson and two-way player Matthew Maurice scored within
sixty nine seconds of each other to present the Warriors with a two-goal
deficit. Determined to fight for the points however, Whitley achieved two power
play goals in the latter half of the third period to make it 3-3, taking the game
into overtime as a result. Though defeated as forward Adam Brittle
fired past netminder Richie Lawson with just seven seconds remaining, the
Warriors were pleased to take something from the game after a difficult start to
their season and they will look to better this performance at Hillheads on Sunday evening, having suffered
a bad run of form on home ice of late.
Winning
three league games from the eleven they have played to date, the Warriors will
need to work hard against the Barons who currently sit one place above David
Longstaff’s line-up with four regulation wins and an overtime victory to find themselves with 10 points from 10 games. Heading into this game
on the back of defeats to former EPL outfits Hull Pirates and Telford Tigers,
Solihull will prepare to pick themselves up with a successful road trip on
Sunday. However, as the Barons are currently the second most-punished team in
NIHL North’s Division One, maintaining discipline will be essential when they
take to the ice on Sunday evening, having already conceded 15 power play goals; more than
any other team in the league at present. By comparison, Whitley have shown
excellent discipline, tallying just 154 PIMs in 11 league
games and the side will therefore hope that this will be reflected in the score line on
Sunday, having yet to reap the rewards of their hard work this season.
Having
played just one less game than the Barons, Whitley will target maximum points on
Sunday night to keep pace with Solihull who are only 3 points ahead of the
Warriors at present. As such, the Barons will set out to increase the margin
separating them from Whitley this weekend but this will not be an easy task with
games between these sides often hard-fought.
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