REPORT: MATCH WEEK 33
BILLINGHAM STARS made it four out of four trophies for their cabinet after a dramatic weekend at the Steel City Showdown, beating Blackburn Hawks for the National Ice Hockey League Moralee Division playoff title on Saturday before an overtime winner got them past Slough Jets for the Ken Taggart Memorial Trophy on Sunday.
Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos
Backed by a large contingent of travelling Stars fans, Billingham and Blackburn eventually got underway after a delay to face off due to the previous game going to sudden-death penalty shots. Eager to ensure no repeat, the Stars got off the mark in the third minute when a quick counterattack saw Michael Elder tee up Iain Brown for a far post one-timer. The Hawks were back level in the sixth minute, Andy McKinney forcing home after a scramble in front of Jacob Hammond in the Billingham net. Fantastic hands from Conner McNulty in front of Blackburn netminder Ben Keddie to go blocker side in the ninth minute moved the Stars back in front, before James Moss showed off a few tricks of his own to hit the top corner in the 17th minute. A lovely top shelf effort from Adam Barnes in the 19th minute narrowed the gap going in at the first interval.
Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos
On the powerplay in the 23rd minute, James Hellens came into space from the blue line and picked his spot, then less than three minutes later McNulty battled hard to win the puck in the neutral zone and fed Rolands Gritāns for the one-time score. This prompted a timeout from the Hawks, but they were unable to recover and the gap stayed at three going into the final session.
Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos
Billingham were content to play a possession hockey game in the third period, and it was not until the 56th minute that they got back on the scoreboard, Callum Wilkinson with the final tip on the powerplay. A short-handed effort from Barnes in the 58th minute was too little, too late for Blackburn, and the Stars skated out the final few minutes to take the game and the Moralee Division playoff crown 6-3.
Man-of-the-Match for Billingham was Michael Elder.
Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos
Stars Stats:
Conner McNulty 1+1; Rolands Gritāns 1+1; Iain Brown 1+1; James Moss 1+0; James Hellens 1+0; Callum Wilkinson 1+0; Ben Greenhalgh 0+1; Tommy Spraggon 0+1; Michael Elder 0+1; Lucas Dowdle 0+1
SOG: Jacob Hammond 33 (10 / 12 / 11)
Hawks Stats:
Adam Barnes 2+0; Andy McKinney 1+0; Jacob Lutwyche 0+1; Liam Charnock 0+1
SOG: Ben Keddie 41 (16 / 17 / 8)
Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos
Having blanked Streatham Redhawks 6-0 the previous evening, it was Britton Division playoff winners Slough Jets who faced the Stars for the Ken Taggart Memorial Trophy on Sunday afternoon. Billingham had to weather some early pressure as the Jets started with an intensity that the Stars had not faced this season, but having got used to the pace of this new opponent, it was the Teessiders who broke the deadlock in the 15th minute when Chris Sykes had space to place past Slough netminder Nate Gregory on the powerplay. Hammond had to be replaced by Mark Turnbull in the 17th minute after Hammond went down injured, Turnbull’s first taste of action facing a penalty shot seconds after coming on which he saved from Ben Ealey-Newman. A minute later the Jets were level however, the Stars failing to clear the zone and leaving Christian Mohr to shoot low past Turnbull.
Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos
Billingham battling for every puck, their persistence paid off in the 26th minute when Sykes and Elder combined on the penalty kill to force the turnover in in the corner, Elder feeding Sykes for a short-handed goal. McNulty showed his skill once again in the 35th minute when he stickhandled his way from his own blue line to beat Gregory. But it was Slough who would have the final say on the period again, Juha Lindgren finding the five-hole with less than a minute to play.
Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos
The nerves started to jangle in the early stages of the third stanza as first Ollie Hemmings-Maher on the powerplay in the 45th minute and then Brandon Miles just two minutes later turned the game Slough’s way. Billingham needed a quick response and got it when Wilkinson was perfectly placed to lift over Gregory for another powerplay effort in the 49th minute. Both teams tried in vain to find a winner as the clock wound down, but 4-4 at 60 minutes meant three-on-three overtime for the first time this season.
Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos
The Jets enjoyed a lot of possession play in the opening exchanges of bonus hockey but without much end product. Billingham’s game plan of counterattack paid off just over three minutes into the five-minute period, Gritāns collecting in his own defensive zone and skating almost the full length of the ice to wrongfoot both the Slough defenceman and netminder and register the winning goal, sending the players, staff and fans into the stratosphere and put a fourth piece of silverware in the cabinet.
Man-of-the-Match for the Stars was Lucas Dowdle.
Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos
Stars Stats:
Chris Sykes 2+0; Conner McNulty 1+0; Rolands Gritāns 1+0; Callum Wilkinson 1+0; Michael Elder 0+3; Iain Brown 0+2
SOG: Jacob Hammond 6; Mark Turnbull 42 (4 / 16 / 18 / 4)
Jets Stats:
Juha Lindgren 1+1; Brandon Miles 1+0; Christian Mohr 1+0; Ollie Hemmings-Maher 1+0; Dylan Holicka 0+1; Sebastian Mohr 0+1; Lewis English 0+1
SOG: Nate Gregory 26 (4 / 7 / 13 / 2)
Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos
Weekend Results:
Steel City Showdown Saturday:
Laidler final:
🐯 Telford Tigers 2 6️⃣ - 3️⃣ Sutton Sting 🐝
Wilkinson final:
🐦🔥 Guildford Phoenix 3️⃣ - 4️⃣ Peterborough Phantoms 2 👻 (after penalty shots)
Moralee final:
💫 Billingham Stars 6️⃣ - 3️⃣ Blackburn Hawks 🦅
Britton final:
✈️ Slough Jets 6️⃣ - 0️⃣ Streatham Redhawks 🐦
Steel City Showdown Sunday:
Ken Taggart Memorial Bowl:
🐯 Telford Tigers 2 8️⃣ - 9️⃣ Peterborough Phantoms 2 👻
Ken Taggart Memorial Trophy:
💫 Billingham Stars 5️⃣ - 4️⃣ Slough Jets ✈️ (after overtime)