REPORT: MATCH WEEK 25
BILLINGHAM STARS avoided a potential banana skin in National Ice Hockey League (N) Moralee Division 1 this weekend, taking all six points from their home and home series with Nottingham Lions.
A full Nottingham bench arrived at the Forum on Saturday evening to take on a Stars outfit missing several players, including James Moss from the second line. His place was taken by Ben Greenhalgh who moved up from the blue line to cover.
Another fast start from Billingham saw the hosts ahead in the first minute as a perfect feed teed up Rolands Gritāns out front after just 44 seconds. A fairly even battle ensued, the Stars looking ever dangerous going forward but they had to wait until the 14th minute to bag another goal, Joe Dowdle eventually chopping home through a crowd of sticks to see the home side in at the break two to the good.
Greenhalgh repaid the faith put in him with a one-time finish in the 25th minute, but the visitors were by no means out of the game and responded in the 28th minute when a loose pass from defence eventually fell to Alex Rushby who beat netminder Mark Turnbull on the wraparound. A couple of silly penalties saw Billingham on a five-on-three penalty kill in the 30th minute, punished almost immediately as Tyler Somerton lasered home from the left dot to narrow the gap to a single marker. Keen to re-establish superiority the Stars restored the two-goal advantage in the 35th minute, Gritāns releasing Greenhalgh whose shot just beat Isaac Ballinger in the Lions net and bobbled over the line.
It was nip-and-tuck again in the third period until Michael Elder was brought down when through on goal in the 49th minute and Iain Brown made no mistake with the resulting penalty shot. Three minutes later Chris Sykes made the points safe with a finish down low, Luke Birchnall’s reply less than half a minute later too little too late for Nottingham to make any further impression. The game closed out 6-3 and all eyes turned to the reverse fixture at the National Ice Centre the following evening.
Man-of-the-Match for Billingham was Joe Dowdle.
Stars Stats:
Ben Greenhalgh 2+0; Chris Sykes 1+2; Joe Dowdle 1+1; Rolands Gritāns 1+0; Iain Brown 1+0; Darren Stattersfield 0+2; Tommy Spraggon 0+1; Michael Elder 0+1
SOG: Mark Turnbull 46 (16 / 12 / 18)
Lions Stats:
Alex Rushby 1+1; Luke Birchnall 1+0; Tyler Somerton 1+0; Aleš Padělek 0+2; Toby Fisher 0+1; James Mather 0+1
SOG: Isaac Ballinger 46 (16 / 19 / 11)
Moss slotted back into the squad for the trip down to the Midlands, but with Callum Wilkinson unavailable, Greenhalgh was moved to the third line forward unit whilst Lennon Thomas stepped up with James Hellens missing.
Again the Stars were quick out of the blocks, this time it was Lucas Dowdle who was put through to place perfectly past Lions goaltender James Guest in the third minute. That lead was doubled in the eighth minute, Conner McNulty with a nice finish out front. The home side looked to respond quickly and got a break in the tenth minute with a deflected goal credited to Rushby. The game was all square in the 15th minute, James Mather straight through Jacob Hammond between the Billingham pipes from the point for a power play marker, but on returning to full strength the Stars’ reply was immediate, McNulty showing the hands to restore the lead. Brown increased the gap two minutes later on the wraparound before McNulty rounded off an excellent period for him personally with his hat trick goal in the 18th minute.
The hosts looked like they might stage a comeback when they pulled a goal back on the power play through Fisher in the 24th minute, but their hopes were dashed within 36 seconds as Brown replied to reinstate the three-goal lead. That was extended to four less than two minutes later as Greenhalgh found a way past Guest from his knees to see the end of the Nottingham netminder, Ballinger taking his spot. Unfortunately for Ballinger he was picking the puck out of his net just two minutes later, Brown securing yet another hat trick with a power play effort. Fisher responded in the 30th minute with a second power play marker through Hammond’s pads but the final say on the period went to the Stars, Moss wristing from the right circle in the 34th minute to put the game comfortably beyond Nottingham’s reach before the final twenty.
A quieter third stanza was controlled by the visitors. Lucas Dowdle made it double figures for the Teessiders in the 42nd minute, converting on the power play as special teams continued to feature heavily. The game was winding down when Lucas bagged his side’s third hat trick of the evening with a fine individual goal in the 57th minute to round off a resounding 4-11 win, another three points and excellent preparation for this weekend’s Moralee Cup final.
Man-of-the-Match for the Stars was Lucas Dowdle.
Lions Stats:
Toby Fisher 2+1; Alex Rushby 1+0; James Mather 1+0; Aleš Padělek 0+3; Tyler Somerton 0+1
SOG: James Guest 19 (14 / 5); Isaac Ballinger 24 (7 / 17)
Stars Stats:
Lucas Dowdle 3+1; Iain Brown 3+1; Conner McNulty 3+0; James Moss 1+1; Ben Greenhalgh 1+1; Tommy Spraggon 0+2; Chris Sykes 0+2; Michael Elder 0+2; Darren Stattersfield 0+2; Joe Dowdle 0+1
SOG: Jacob Hammond 24 (6 / 11 / 7)
Weekend Results:
NIHL N1 Saturday:
💫 Billingham Stars 6️⃣ - 3️⃣ Nottingham Lions 🦁
🏹 Whitley Warriors 6️⃣ - 9️⃣ Blackburn Hawks 🦅
⚔️ Leeds Knights 2 3️⃣ - 7️⃣ Deeside Dragons 🐉
NIHL N1 Sunday:
🏹 Whitley Warriors 7️⃣ - 1️⃣ Leeds Knights 2 ⚔️
⚜️ Solihull Barons 1️⃣2️⃣ - 5️⃣ Widnes Wild 🐾
🦅 Blackburn Hawks 4️⃣ - 0️⃣ Hull Jets ✈️
🦁 Nottingham Lions 4️⃣ - 1️⃣1️⃣ Billingham Stars 💫