REPORT: MATCH WEEK 18

BILLINGHAM STARS came out on top in the Tyne-Tees ‘Winter Classic’ as they took six National Ice Hockey League (N) Moralee Division 1 points from local rivals Whitley Warriors as well as securing top spot in the Moralee Cup qualification table.

Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos

The Warriors arrived on Teesside on Saturday night hoping that form would indeed go out of the window for the first competitive derby match of the season. Needing to win both games to qualify for the Cup semi finals, the onus was on an almost full strength Whitley to make the early running, and they got a break against the run of play in the tenth minute when Jamie Ord tipped past Jacob Hammond between the Stars pipes for the opener. Billingham needed to respond before the buzzer and finally made their possession play count with less than a minute to go, Lucas Dowdle on the follow-up to level the game then just 19 seconds later Iain Brown marked his return when he finished a Michael Elder set-up to send the home side in with their noses in front.

Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos

Both sides seemed to struggle to get going in the middle session, but the Stars managed to edge further ahead in the 30th minute when Elder created time and space under pressure to pick out the top corner.

Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos

Both sides upped their game in the final twenty as they shook off their Christmas dinners. A power play effort through traffic from Chris Sykes extended the hosts’ lead in the 45th minute before Phil Edgar showed the hands to pull one back on a delayed penalty call in the 48th minute. The Stars retained control however, and the final ten minutes played out with no further additions to the score and three points in the bag for Billingham.

Man-of-the-Match for Billingham was Lucas Dowdle.

Credit: Scott Llewellyn, SLSportsPhotos

Stars Stats:

Michael Elder 1+2; Chris Sykes 1+1; Iain Brown 1+1; Lucas Dowdle 1+0; Callum Wilkinson 0+1

SOG: Jacob Hammond 33 (12 / 7 / 14)

Warriors Stats:

Phil Edgar 1+0; Jamie Ord 1+0; Matty McDonald 0+1; Adam Wood 0+1; Ethan Reid 0+1

SOG: Ryan Wardell 50 (15 / 16 / 19)

Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos

Whitley were able to welcome back a few bodies on Sunday as Kyle Ross and Jordan Barnes returned, but former Stars favourite Patriks Grigors remained unavailable for the Tyneside leg of the ‘Winter Classic’ weekend. Billingham got off to the perfect start when James Moss tapped in a rebound on an early power play in the second minute, but that’s how the scoreline would remain for the rest of the session as both sides tried to find an edge, this second derby game a far more feisty affair than the previous evening.

Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos

The second line was on the mark once again in the early stages of the middle period, Rolands Gritāns firing through Josh Crane’s pads in the 22nd minute to put a little daylight between the sides, The home side were not done yet however, and a superb top corner effort from Ross in the 33rd minute got the Warriors back into the game. They put themselves back into a two-goal hole in the 37th minute by conceding a short-handed goal, Elder breaking with Sykes with the captain electing not to use his wingman and firing low past Crane.

Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos

An incident-strewn final stanza saw only one score, another short-handed effort for the Stars in the 50th minute after Crane’s attempted lob out of the zone fell to Shaun Galloway who made no mistake. Not long after that, Owen Yarrow took an early shower for attempting to engage an unwilling Sykes, but it failed to spark anything from the Warriors and Billingham were happy to play out the remaining time with a comfortable lead to take another three precious League points.

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

Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos

Warriors Stats:

Kyle Ross 1+0; Liam Smedley 0+1; Ethan Reid 0+1

SOG: Josh Crane 43 (17 / 15 / 11)

Stars Stats:

James Moss 1+1; Shaun Galloway 1+0; Rolands Gritāns 1+0; Michael Elder 1+0; Ben Greenhalgh 0+1; Tommy Spraggon 0+1; James Hellens 0+1; Conner McNulty 0+1

SOG: Mark Turnbull 34 (10 / 11 / 13)

Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos

Weekend Results:

NIHL N1 Saturday:

💫 Billingham Stars 4️⃣ - 2️⃣ Whitley Warriors 🏹

NIHL N1 Sunday:

🏹 Whitley Warriors 1️⃣ - 4️⃣ Billingham Stars 💫

🦅 Blackburn Hawks 🔟 - 3️⃣ Sheffield Scimitars 🗡️