Weekend Roundup: Match Week 15

BILLINGHAM STARS will go into the festive break with a two-point cushion at the top of the National Ice Hockey League (N) Moralee Division 1 table after a comfortable 1-7 road win at Widnes Wild on Sunday.

Credit: DJT Ice Hockey Photos

Again missing key players, Billingham could at least welcome back Andy Finn into the squad for the trip to Merseyside. It was clear from the first drop of the puck that the Stars were keen to put the game to bed early, and they got themselves ahead in the third minute when Chris Sykes broke from the neutral zone and beat Wild netminder Luca Tessadri down low. Tessadri was at fault for the visitors’ second in the sixth minute, Lewis Hall’s speculative effort somehow trickling past the keeper. Still shaking off the disappointment, Tessadri let in Shaun Galloway just a minute later to put Billingham 0-3 in front and coasting. The hosts steadied the ship and put together numerous attacking plays as the period wore on, but with Stars netminder Thomas Brown able to deal with any shots that came his way, the three-goal advantage remained.

Credit: DJT Ice Hockey Photos

Quick out of the blocks once more in the second period, Billingham moved further ahead when Sykes robbed the puck behind the net and knocked in his second off Tessadri’s skate before a minute had been played. The home side rallied and applied some pressure in an attempt to close the gap, but a combination of great goaltending and poor shot selection foiled all Widnes’ efforts. The Stars bided their time and waited for their opportunity to pounce, Iain Brown netting the fifth following a clever pass from Sykes in the 37th minute.

Credit: DJT Ice Hockey Photos

Confident of victory, Billingham were content to play a possession game in the third but always looked dangerous going forward. Sykes was the provider again in the 47th minute as he teed up Iain Brown who waited for Tessadri to commit before putting the puck round him. Brown’s hat trick marker came on the power play in the 56th minute, just reward for a hard-working performance on the first line. At the other end, Thomas Brown was denied a shutout when Rhys Edwards netted a consolation effort in the 57th minute, 1-7 the final score. Solihull Barons closed the gap at the top of the table with two wins over the weekend, however they have played a game more and the Teessiders will be more than happy going into the festive break at the top of the Moralee table.

Man-of-the-Match for the Stars was Iain Brown.

Credit: Widnes Wild

Wild Stats:

Rhys Edwards 1+0; Will Harper 0+1; Flynn Massie 0+1

SOG: Luca Tessadri 36 (10 / 15 / 11)

Stars Stats:

Iain Brown 3+0; Chris Sykes 2+3; Shaun Galloway 1+0; Lewis Hall 1+0; Michael Elder 0+3; Andy Finn 0+1; Jack Emerson 0+1; Lucas Dowdle 0+1

SOG: Thomas Brown 26 (7 / 11 / 8)

Credit: DJT Ice Hockey Photos

Weekend Results:

NIHL N1:

Nottingham Lions 2 Solihull Barons 6

Hull Jets 7 Deeside Dragons 6 (after overtime)

Sheffield Scimitars 1 Widnes Wild 3

Deeside Dragons 8 Nottingham Lions 2

Solihull Barons 3 Sheffield Scimitars 2 (after overtime)

Widnes Wild 1 Billingham Stars 7

Blackburn Hawks 4 Whitley Warriors 2