REPORT: MATCH WEEK 27

BILLINGHAM STARS are within touching distance of a second consecutive National Ice Hockey League (N) Moralee Division 1 title after bagging all six points on the road at the weekend.

A trip to West Yorkshire to face Leeds Knights 2 on Saturday evening did not get off to the best of starts as a mistake in the neutral zone let in the talented Owen Dell who lifted the puck over Jacob Hammond’s shoulder with just 32 seconds gone. There was no panic however, and the Stars were back level in the tenth minute, James Moss walking in for a low shot past Leeds netminder Luca Tessadri on the power play. The visitors moved ahead in the 14th minute, Michael Elder firing straight through Tessadri after stripping the defence on the blue line, but they were pegged back three minutes later when Jake Wigginton capitalised on Billingham’s failure to clear the zone. Just as the Knights were thinking about going into the dressing rooms at even stevens, James Hellens squeezed the puck under Tessadri with just 23 seconds remaining.

The second session belonged to the visitors, Callum Wilkinson with a cheeky wraparound effort in the 28th minute to get them going. Iain Brown found the far corner in the 36th minute before an excellent tic tac toe passing move on the power play saw Chris Sykes on the board in the 39th minute. There was still time for Rolands Gritāns to get a piece of the action 40 seconds later, Billingham taking the game beyond the reach of the home side with twenty still to play.

Hammond was largely a spectator in the final period as the Stars controlled the play almost totally. They added to their tally in the 53rd minute when Brown dinked around Tessadri before Gritāns bagged his second on the power play in the 56th minute to seal a very comfortable 2-9 victory.

Man-of-the-Match for Billingham was Stuart Jackson.

Knights Stats:

Jake Wigginton 1+0; Owen Dell 1+0; Thomas Dermott 0+1; Michael Danecko 0+1; Dan Harrison 0+1

SOG: Luca Tessadri 63 (20 / 27 / 16)

Stars Stats:

Rolands Gritāns 2+1; Iain Brown 2+1; James Hellens 1+2; Chris Sykes 1+2; Michael Elder 1+2; James Moss 1+1; Callum Wilkinson 1+0; Conner McNulty 0+2; Ben Greenhalgh 0+1; Lucas Dowdle 0+1

SOG: Jacob Hammond 16 (7 / 7 / 2)

Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos

The local derby on Tyneside on Sunday was not without incident as the Warriors pushed their guests all the way and fell just short of a first win of the season over their local rivals. The game started brightly for the hosts, Callum Queenan getting Whitley off the mark in the fourth minute when he was left alone out front to fire past ex-Warrior Mark Turnbull. The Stars falling foul of the officials in the first session, it was Harry Harley who moved the Warriors further ahead on the power play in the 12th minute. Needing something positive before the first interval buzzer, it was former Tyneside favourite Gritāns whose wrist shot beat Warriors netminder Josh Crane with 19 seconds left.

Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos

A speculative Brown effort from the blue line got past an unsighted Crane to level up the score in the 22nd minute before a well-worked power play goal saw Elder deliver an inch-perfect pass across the crease for Brown to finish into an unguarded net, his 60th League goal of the season in the 27th minute. Despite Billingham looking much more like their normal selves, Jamie Ord tied things up again in the 29th minute when his floated shot fooled Turnbull to send the teams into the dressing rooms all square.

Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos

A delayed start to the third stanza as the Stars refused to play until Turnbull’s stolen stick was returned from the Whitley dressing room, the ploy did not have the desired effect, and it was the visitors who dominated play. The game winner came in the 49th minute as the Warriors failed to contain the Billingham power play unit and Tommy Spraggon let fly from inside the blue line for 3-4. Spraggon would have a late empty net goal washed off for allegedly coming after the buzzer, but it would have made no difference to the outcome as the Stars skated off with the three points and local bragging rights once more.

Man-of-the-Match for Billingham was Mark Turnbull.

Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos

Warriors Stats:

Jamie Ord 1+1; Callum Queenan 1+1; Harry Harley 1+0; Kyle Ross 0+1; Phil Edgar 0+1

SOG: Josh Crane 44 (12 / 15 / 17)

Stars Stats:

Iain Brown 2+0; Tommy Spraggon 1+0; Rolands Gritāns 1+0; Chris Sykes 0+3; Michael Elder 0+3

SOG: Mark Turnbull 38 (9 / 19 / 10)

Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos

Weekend Results:

NIHL N1 Saturday:

🦁 Nottingham Lions 9️⃣ - 2️⃣ Whitley Warriors 🏹

🦅 Blackburn Hawks 9️⃣ - 4️⃣ Solihull Barons ⚜️

⚔️ Leeds Knights 2 2️⃣ - 9️⃣ Billingham Stars 💫

NIHL N1 Sunday:

🏹 Whitley Warriors 3️⃣ - 4️⃣ Billingham Stars 💫

🐉 Deeside Dragons 5️⃣ - 4️⃣ Hull Jets ✈️ (after overtime)

🐾 Widnes Wild 5️⃣ - 4️⃣ Leeds Knights 2 ⚔️ (after overtime)

🦁 Nottingham Lions 4️⃣ - 6️⃣ Blackburn Hawks 🦅