REPORT: MATCH WEEK 4
BILLINGHAM STARS endured another torrid time in the Midlands on Sunday evening as Solihull Barons inflicted a first National Ice Hockey League (N) Moralee Division 1 defeat of the season.
Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos
Travelling down light on numbers – especially in defence – and with the weather significantly delaying an already long journey, Billingham arrived at Hobs Moat Road with minimal time to get game-ready and with gaps to fill across the lines.
Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos
Solihull’s capitulation to Hull Jets the previous weekend and an out-of-sorts Stars squad made for a scrappy first period littered with penalties as referee Wells made his presence felt. Missing players meant several line changes for the visitors, and the home side were clearly feeling the weight of expectation as the Barons fans looked for a positive reaction from their previous match. With no momentum able to build for either side, a goalless first twenty ended with both coaches wondering how to get a breakthrough.
Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos
Eventually the Stars managed to get some plays together and in the 25th minute Iain Brown kept up his goal-a-game scoring record with a smart stick handle past the last Solihull defenceman before rifling low past netminder Ben Lee. The hosts responded almost instantly however, Matt Maurice bringing them level on a delayed penalty play just 20 seconds later. The tit-for-tat scoring was repeated in the 29th minute as first Stuart Jackson found the gap from the point before Charlie Webb replied to make it a 2-2 game. Billingham’s penalty woes continued and Niklas Ottosson fired home on the power play from just inside the blue line in the 32nd minute, but the Stars hauled themselves back into it with a Tommy Spraggon shorthanded effort on 36 minutes, capitalising on a rebound coughed up by Lee. In what turned out to be the turning point of the game, Ottosson scored his second of the night with 40 seconds to go before the buzzer, the officials seemingly oblivious to the fact that Solihull had too many men on the ice when the puck entered the net.
Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos
The third stanza was one to forget for the visitors. A mistake in the defensive zone let in Ottosson for his hat trick in the 45th minute before Alex Whyte all but killed the game off with another power play goal in the 48th minute. The Mulcahy brothers could not let Ottosson steal all of the top line limelight as they grabbed a goal each in the final ten minutes, the final score 8-3 and a miserable journey home in the rain for the Stars.
Man-of-the-Match for Billingham was Rolands Gritāns.
Credit: Keith & Jenny Davies
Barons Stats:
Niklas Ottosson 3+0; Dan Mulcahy 1+2; Phil Mulcahy 1+2; Charlie Webb 1+2; Alex Whyte 1+1; Matt Maurice 1+0; Brandon Anderton 0+2; Max Soden 0+1
SOG: Ben Lee 32 (10 / 12 / 10)
Stars Stats:
Tommy Spraggon 1+0; Stuart Jackson 1+0; Iain Brown 1+0; James Moss 0+1; Ben Greenhalgh 0+1; Chris Sykes 0+1;Shaun Galloway 0+1; Michael Elder 0+1
SOG: Jacob Hammond 30 (7 / 13 / 10)
Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos
Weekend Results:
NIHL N1 Saturday:
🗡️ Sheffield Scimitars 3️⃣ - 5️⃣Whitley Warriors 🏹
⚔️ Leeds Knights 2 0️⃣ - 3️⃣Hull Jets ✈️
🦅 Blackburn Hawks 3️⃣ - 5️⃣Nottingham Lions 🦁
NIHL N1 Sunday:
✈️ Hull Jets 7️⃣ - 4️⃣Sheffield Scimitars 🗡️
⚔️ Leeds Knights 2 2️⃣ - 9️⃣Blackburn Hawks 🦅
⚜️ Solihull Barons 8️⃣ - 3️⃣Billingham Stars 💫
🐾 Widnes Wild 2️⃣ - 7️⃣Deeside Dragons 🐉
