REPORT: MATCH WEEK 23
BILLINGHAM STARS maintained their lead at the top of National Ice Hockey League (N) Moralee Division 1 with a hard-fought 8-4 victory over a dogged Leeds Knights 2 outfit at the Forum on Sunday evening.
Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos
Leeds arrived on Teesside having blanked basement side Sheffield Scimitars the previous night, another step closer to securing the final playoff spot as they tightened their grip on eighth place. With Joe Walls missing, the Stars brought in Lennon Thomas for his second game of the season.
Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos
Billingham were quick out of the blocks and a goal to the good in the fourth minute. Forced out of the zone, Iain Brown was quick to return and exploit a Knights line change, his shot kicked out by Leeds netminder Luca Tessadri to Michael Elder who fired into the unguarded net. The home side then took their collective eyes off the puck and their men in the zone to allow Friedrich Heinzle to equalise less than a minute later. A loose pass in the neutral zone in the 13th minute found a Knights stick and Owen Dell fired low past Mark Turnbull stick side to give the visitors an unlikely lead. On the power play in the 16th minute, Callum Wilkinson diverted a Chris Sykes effort to tie things up once again before two goals for the hosts in the final two minutes of the period gave the score line a more realistic look, Lucas Dowdle squeezing the puck past Tessadri’s skate then Sykes flicking one high from a clever feed from Brown.
Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos
Leeds battled back in the second session and made the Stars battle for every puck. They pulled a goal back in the 34th minute, Michael Danecko finishing a two-on-one breakout with Billingham caught pushing too hard. The Stars did not wait long to respond, a lovely score from Brown bringing up 50 League goals in the 37th minute, before a rocket from Ben Greenhalgh on the blue line into the roof of the net extended the lead two minutes later.
Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos
The Knights were still proving tough to break down, it was not until the halfway point of the third stanza that Brown gave the home side breathing room with a power play effort through Tessadri’s pads. Not yet done, Oliver Wagg pegged the hosts back in the 56th minute but some nice hands from Conner McNulty in the final two minutes enabled him to pick his spot just under the crossbar for an 8-4 final score and three more valuable points.
Man-of-the-Match for the Stars was Ben Greenhalgh.
Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos
Stars Stats:
Iain Brown 2+2; Michael Elder 1+3; Chris Sykes 1+2; Ben Greenhalgh 1+0; Conner McNulty 1+0; Callum Wilkinson 1+0; Lucas Dowdle 1+0; James Moss 0+2; Tommy Spraggon 0+1; Shaun Galloway 0+1; Darren Stattersfield 0+1
SOG: Mark Turnbull 31 (11 / 10 / 10)
Knights Stats:
Owen Dell 1+1; Freidrich Heinzle 1+1; Oliver Wagg 1+0; Michael Danecko 1+0; Nathan Bennett 0+1; Jake Wigginton 0+1; Luke Reid 0+1
SOG: Luca Tessadri 58 (23 / 18 / 17)
Credit: Colin Edwards, CJE Photos
Weekend Results:
NIHL N1 Saturday:
🦅 Blackburn Hawks 8️⃣ - 5️⃣ Deeside Dragons 🐉
⚜️ Solihull Barons 8️⃣ - 6️⃣ Nottingham Lions 🦁
🐾 Widnes Wild 2️⃣ - 4️⃣ Hull Jets ✈️
⚔️ Leeds Knights 2 7️⃣ - 0️⃣ Sheffield Scimitars 🗡️
NIHL N1 Sunday:
🗡️ Sheffield Scimitars 1️⃣ - 6️⃣ Nottingham Lions 🦁
🐉 Deeside Dragons 3️⃣ - 1️⃣1️⃣ Solihull Barons ⚜️
💫 Billingham Stars 8️⃣ - 4️⃣ Leeds Knights 2 ⚔️