REPORT: MATCH WEEK 16

BILLINGHAM STARS battled through perhaps their biggest test of character in National Ice Hockey League (N) Moralee Division 1 early on Saturday as their illness-ravaged side dug deep to come from behind and get all three points at Nottingham Lions.

Less than three lines travelled to the Motorpoint Arena for a noon face-off, with many amongst those that did make the journey playing despite suffering from a virus that has swept through the club. A delayed start still wasn’t early enough for all of the officials to be present as a miscommunication meant the game got underway with a two-man system.

It looked like it was set to be ‘one of those days’ as the home side got their noses in front in the fifth minute, James Mather well placed on the back stick to push the puck through the pads of Billingham netminder Jacob Hammond. The Stars were visibly struggling to get into the game against a full Nottingham bench with little work for Isaac Ballinger between the pipes for the Lions. A sluggish first session was less than five minutes from the buzzer when the Billingham defence failed to pick up the incoming Jack Crowston who slotted home a rebound to double the hosts’ advantage.

Changes were made at the break as Joe Walls – who had played the first period up front – was moved back to defence whilst Ben Greenhalgh was slotted into the forward lines. The three-man system of officials was also restored for puck drop. The Stars knew they would need to fight hard to get back into the game and started to win the little one-on-one battles they needed to in order to put Nottingham under pressure. An interference call against the home side in the 28th minute gave Billingham the opportunity they were looking for, and just 23 seconds into the power play Michael Elder waltzed through the Lions defence and flicked the puck into the roof of the net on the backhand. The gap stayed at a single marker with neither side able to make a breakthrough before the interval.

The Stars needed something special in the third stanza and they got it just before the halfway point when Tommy Spraggon went coast-to-coast for a fine individual effort to tie the game. Billingham were on top now, and it fell to Joe Walls to fire through traffic from the blue line to get the game winner in the 54th minute. Nottingham pulled Ballinger late in the game but could not get set up around the Stars net, indeed it was Billingham who should have bagged an empty net goal with a few near misses, but in the end 2-3 was the final score and those all-important three points were headed back to Teesside.

Man-of-the-Match for the Stars was Tommy Spraggon.

Lions Stats:

Jack Crowston 1+0; James Mather 1+0; Alex Rushby 0+1; Bailey Challans 0+1; Tyler Somerton 0+1

SOG: Isaac Ballinger 23 (7 / 10 / 6)

Stars Stats:

Joe Walls 1+0; Tommy Spraggon 1+0; Michael Elder 1+0; Rolands Gritāns 0+1; Callum Wilkinson 0+1

SOG: Jacob Hammond 30 (12 / 13 / 5)

Weekend Results:

NIHL N1 Saturday:

🦁 Nottingham Lions 2️⃣ - 3️⃣ Billingham Stars 💫

✈️ Hull Jets 3️⃣ - 7️⃣ Deeside Dragons 🐉

🗡️ Sheffield Scimitars 1️⃣ - 4️⃣ Widnes Wild 🐾

NIHL N1 Sunday:

⚜️ Solihull Barons 1️⃣5️⃣ - 3️⃣ Leeds Knights 2 ⚔️

🦅 Blackburn Hawks 7️⃣ - 1️⃣ Widnes Wild 🐾

🦁 Nottingham Lions 8️⃣ - 1️⃣ Sheffield Scimitars 🗡️