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| Sheffield Spartans netminder Andy Bagshaw entertains the fans after the match v Solihull is abandoned (Photo by Keith & Jenny Davies) |
Most attention was focused on the game between Sheffield
Spartans and Solihull Barons on Saturday which was abandoned at the end of the
second period after what has been described as an “incident between a Spartans
player and a match official”.
We don’t have all the details but our “man on the spot” Phil
Holden has reported that both sets of players state that the incident was not
intentional and was certainly not worth the fuss that it appears to have caused. But, following this, the match officials
appear to have lost control of the situation and called the game off after 40
minutes - with the Barons leading 3-7 at the time.
Following this premature curtailment of the match, Spartans
netminder Andrew Bagshaw decided to entertain the crowd with a comic striptease
in the middle of the ice – somewhat reminiscent of the scene from the iconic
1970’s hockey film “Slapshot”.
The result of this game seems to have stood as a 3-7 win for
the Barons as it was entered as such on the EIHA website and the Barons went on
to beat the Spartans again on Sunday night – by 10 goals to 3 on home ice –
this time over the full 60 minutes. This
result sees the Barons move up into 3rd placed in the table.
Had that incident not happened, the main weekend news would
have been Whitley Warriors - who had previously been unbeaten – coming away
with just 1 point from their two weekend games.
In a spectacular dip in form they lost 4-2 away at Solway
Sharks on the Saturday night and then drew 4-4 with Billingham Stars on
Sunday.
In the other Moralee game of the weekend, Telford Tigers beat Sutton Sting 7-4 to keep themselves in the mid-table mix at this early stage of the season.
Blackburn Hawks remain unbeaten at the top of the table with 16 points from 8 games, having not played at the weekend.
