Semi Final Report: Stars v Warriors 070123 080123
BILLINGHAM STARS finally got the derby win that the players and fans had waited nearly four long years for on Sunday night, their 3-5 victory on Tyneside also enough to claim a Moralee Cup final spot as they overcame Whitley Warriors 7-6 on aggregate after a weekend semi-final double header that was full of incident and drama.
The two-legged tie started innocuously enough with a scoreless first period to kick proceedings off on Saturday night at the Forum. The two sides tried to figure each other out over the twenty, but with neither willing to give much away, quality chances were rare. In fact the closest either side came to getting off the mark was in the first minute, when Stars captain Michael Elder saw his effort come back off the post.
The post intervened very early in the middle stanza as well, Anthony Wetherell with the shot that beat Thomas Brown in the Billingham net but not the metalwork. A contentious call for too many men in the 32nd minute proved the undoing of the home side, Phil Edgar capitalising on the special play gift with the opener just 25 seconds into the powerplay. The perceived injustice seemed to rattle the Stars, and two minutes later Whitley doubled their lead through Kyle Ross on the wraparound. To add insult to injury, Ross made it three for the visitors in the 37th minute with an easy pot at the near post with Brown stranded.
Billingham needed to stop the tie getting away from them and piled the pressure on in the third, but they found themselves frustrated by Warriors netminder Dean Bowater until the 55th minute when Callum Wilkinson on the back stick finally got the hosts on the scoresheet. Anxious to close the gap in advance of Sunday’s decider, the Stars pushed forward and finally got just reward in the final minute when a Chris Sykes shot from the point was fumbled into the far corner by the otherwise excellent Bowater. A one-goal game meant it would be all to play for at Hillheads the following evening, but with recent history against Billingham, Warriors must still have been confident of progressing.
Man-of-the-Match for the Stars was James Hellens.
Stars Stats:
Callum Wilkinson 1+1; Chris Sykes 1+0; Jack Emerson 0+1; Rolands Gritāns 0+1; Michael Elder 0+1
SOG: Thomas Brown 37 (10 / 17 / 10)
Warriors Stats:
Kyle Ross 2+0; Phil Edgar 1+0; Harry Harley 0+2; Dean Holland 0+1; Ross Douglass 0+1; Adam Finlinson 0+1
SOG: Dean Bowater 38 (13 / 6 / 19)
Needing to force the pace, Billingham had the better of the opening exchanges on Tyneside but the home side grew into the game as the period wore on. As the Stars pressed in the 12th minute, a pad save from Bowater came out at exactly the right angle to put the visitors out of position and the puck was cycled to Ross on his own at the other end of the ice to fire under Brown. Billingham needed to respond and were handed the perfect opportunity when Shaun Kippin overstepped the mark the 15th minute, Wilkinson firing into the top corner with just four seconds remaining on Kippin’s roughing penalty.
Another powerplay and the tie-tying goal in the 23rd minute as Ross Douglass sat for hooking and James Moss punished him just 24 seconds later with a delayed backhand over Bowater. The Stars looked to be in the ascendancy but could not unlock Bowater and conceded a powerplay goal themselves when Tommy Spraggon was despatched for hooking, Harry Harley with a high blue line shot to nose the Warriors back in front overall in the 36th minute. Less than a minute later Whitley were awarded a penalty shot and Edgar went high past the blocker to give the home side a two-goal cushion over the two legs. But Billingham would not lie down and it was Wilkinson again, this time potting home an Alex Preston rebound on the backhand in the 39th minute, to make the final twenty do-or-die for both sides.
A tense final stanza saw opportunities come and go, tired legs and minds evident as both teams battled to get the upper hand. The clock was against the visitors, but with Ross called for hooking in the 56th minute, it fell to Preston to level the tie a minute later when he forced the puck under Bowater after a scramble in front of his net. Overtime would be needed to separate the sides, the tie finishing 6-6 on aggregate and the madness of three-on-three play to decide who would reach the final.
A typically end-to-end, thrilling overtime session followed, the tie-deciding goal finally coming in the 63rd minute when Sykes collected in the neutral zone and held off the last man only partially to sweep the puck past Bowater practically off his knees to send the travelling fans wild and deliver the Teessiders first taste of derby joy in almost four years.
Man-of-the-Match for the Stars was Chris Sykes.
Warriors Stats:
Phil Edgar 1+1; Kyle Ross 1+0; Harry Harley 1+0; Adam Finlinson 0+1
SOG: Dean Bowater 35 (11 / 10 / 10 / 4)
Stars Stats:
Callum Wilkinson 2+1; Alex Preston 1+1; James Moss 1+0; Chris Sykes 1+0; Riolands Gritāns 0+1
SOG: Thomas Brown 42 (11 / 17 / 11 / 3)
Weekend Results:
Moralee Cup Semi-Finals:
Billingham Stars 2 Whitley Warriors 3
Solway Sharks 5 Widnes Wild 1
Whitley Warriors 3 Billingham Stars 5 (after overtime – aggregate 6-7)
NIHL(N)1:
Deeside Dragons 9 Sheffield Scimitars 3