REPORT: MATCH WEEK 3

BILLINGHAM STARS secured six points in National Ice Hockey League (N) Moralee Division 1 at the weekend, although is very different games as Deeside Dragons were shown no mercy at the Forum on Saturday before a trip to Widnes Wild on Sunday proved somewhat trickier.

Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos

Saturday’s home game against Deeside was expected to be a close affair, however it turned out to be anything but. The Dragons arrived on Teesside missing several key players, including Jared Dickinson, James Parsons and Petr Valusiak amid rumours that the Czech import has been jettisoned to make way for a new signing to be revealed imminently. Billingham were without key players themselves, captain Michael Elder, Conner McNulty and Jack Emerson amongst those unavailable for this rearranged fixture. In Elder’s absence, James Moss took the ‘C’ whilst Tommy Spraggon was handed Moss’ Alternate Captain role.

Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos

It did not take long for the Stars to find the back of the net, and on a night when special teams executed their game plans perfectly, it was a power play marker that got the scoring underway as Rolands Gritāns got the ‘least pretty’ of his night’s tally in the fifth minute. Four minutes later and Iain Brown finished a well-worked power play in front of netminder Oliver Booth to double the advantage. With Darren Stattersfield sitting out a minor in the tenth minute, it was the penalty kill unit that had the opportunity to shine and just seven seconds in, Spraggon broke away from the initial defensive zone face off to finish between Booth’s skates. Having conceded three from ten shots, Booth was replaced by Jace Gledhill between the pipes and the Billingham goal flow was temporarily stemmed.

Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos

It was the 24th minute when the Stars eventually got back into the scoring groove, another power play set-up tapped under Gledhill by James Moss. Moss was again on the mark just over a minute later, a one-time finish into the roof of the net after being perfectly cued up by Gritāns. Callum Wilkinson made it two goals in two games with his power play effort in the 35th minute before Stattersfield slammed home on the follow-up less than a minute later. Will Harper managed to bag a scruffy goal at Jacob Hammond’s near post in the dying seconds of the period as a consolation marker for the Dragons, but in truth the game was already far beyond the visitors.

Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos

Billingham were relentless in the third stanza, with no let-up despite the scoreline. Gritāns notched his first hat trick of the season in swashbuckling style with goals in the 44th and 49th minutes, the latter a highlight reel ‘Forsberg’. Moss made sure of his own hat trick in the 53rd minute and the victory was sealed with a blast from James Hellens in the final two minutes to put the gloss on an unexpected 11-1 demolition of a side expected to challenge towards the top end of the table.

Man-of-the-Match for Billingham was James Moss.

Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos

Stars Stats:

James Moss 3+2; Rolands Gritāns 3+2; Tommy Spraggon 1+3; Iain Brown 1+3; Darren Stattersfield 1+1; James Hellens 1+0; Callum Wilkinson 1+0; Chris Sykes 0+2; Ben Greenhalgh 0+1; Joe Walls 0+1; Stuart Jackson 0+1; Lucas Dowdle 0+1

SOG: Jacob Hammond 41 (15 / 9 / 17)

Dragons Stats:

Will Harper 1+0; Alex Parry 0+1

SOG: Oliver Booth 10; Jace Gledhill 35 (2 / 20 / 13)

With Elder and Conner McNulty back in the squad on Sunday, and the Wild having had a tough trip to Hull Jets the previous night, a straightforward evening was expected. But points in this League should never be taken for granted, as proved the case once again as a lacklustre 40 minutes from the Stars saw Widnes run them closer than they might have anticipated.

Starting with Mark Turnbull between the pipes, the first session went to script even rolling very different lines to the previous evening. Chris Sykes got the visitors’ scoring underway in the eighth minute before Gritāns made it two less than a minute later. A glorious snipe from Sykes – picking his spot with pinpoint accuracy past Wild netminder Harry Campbell – moved Billingham three ahead in the 13th minute. But in a taste of what was to come, Widnes showed they were not about to give the game up and got themselves a goal back through Luke Alston in the 15th minute as the Stars failed to clear their lines. However seconds later Lucas Dowdle restored the three-goal advantage to give the guests a cushion at the buzzer.

An early 22nd minute strike from Moss looked like it might set Billingham on their way to another rout, but they were guilty of letting the intensity of the previous four periods drop and the play got scrappy. A 24th minute reply from Mikey Gilbert stirred the home side, but they could not capitalise and with neither side gaining any momentum the period fizzled out with no further addition to the score.

The Stars could not pick the pace back up in the third period, whilst the home side tried to drag themselves back into the game. Brown looked to have made the game safe in the 49th minute, but Kai Hathaway ensured a slightly more uncomfortable end to the game than the visitors would have liked by narrowing the gap back to three in the 51st minute. Both sides liked tired by this point however as a long weekend took its toll on the legs, the final nine minutes lacking in quality shots on goal for a 3-6 final score.

Man-of-the-Match for the Stars was Joe Dowdle.

Wild Stats:

Kai Hathaway 1+0; Luke Alston 1+0; Mikey Gilbert 1+0; Andrew Hopkins 0+1; Jonathon Williamson 0+1; Damarni James 0+1; Bailey Thomson 0+1; Joe Howie 0+1

SOG: Harry Campbell 42 (19 / 12 / 11)

Stars Stats:

Chris Sykes 2+1; James Moss 1+2; Rolands Gritāns 1+1; Lucas Dowdle 1+1; Tommy Spraggon 0+2; Michael Elder 0+2; James Hellens 0+1; Conner McNulty 0+1

SOG: Mark Turnbull 24 (6 / 7 / 11)

Weekend Results:

NIHL N1 Saturday:

💫 Billingham Stars 1️⃣1️⃣ - 1️⃣ Deeside Dragons 🐉

✈️ Hull Jets 9️⃣ - 2️⃣ Widnes Wild 🐾

NIHL N1 Sunday:

🐉 Deeside Dragons 1️⃣ - 8️⃣ Blackburn Hawks 🦅

🏹 Whitley Warriors 4️⃣ - 1️⃣ Nottingham Lions 🦁

⚜️ Solihull Barons 1️⃣ - 6️⃣ Hull Jets ✈️

🐾 Widnes Wild 3️⃣ - 6️⃣ Billingham Stars 💫