Match Report: Chelmsford Warriors 9 - Haringey Racers 1

A poor, ill-disciplined performance from the Racers returned a heavy defeat at league leaders Chelmsford Warriors.

The first period went well enough with both teams continuing the tight, competitive hockey from the previous week’s game. A Warriors goal from Ross Cowan in the 15^th minute was matched by an effort from Dan Clayton for the Racers in the 20^th minute leaving the game nicely poised at 1-1 after an entertaining session.

Haringey lost their way from that point on. At times this Warriors team can be a shade too fast for the Racers and they can therefore punish any lack of defensive shape with their slick play. The Haringey players and bench also seemed to be affected by some inconsistent refereeing and lost their discipline, taking a string of slashing, cross-checking and elbows penalties, some of which were simply petulant. Warriors goals from Brandon Ayliffe, Edward Lay and Jake Sylvester (x2) opened up a 5-1 lead by the end of the second period.

A multi-player brawl formed part of an ugly third period with Drew Campbell and Alastair Band perhaps lucky to get away with lenient 2+2+10 calls. There were also two unfortunate (and separate) blood injuries to Warriors’ Will Polston and Racers’ Jack Ball late in the game – with the necessary Match Penalties going to Lee Mercer and Sylvester respectively. Around these incidents, Chelmsford added four more goals, all on the power-play, with Taylor Ross, Sylvester (x2) and Ethan Boolkah finding the net.

Racers travel to Peterborough on Saturday 5^th December for a game against the Islanders (face-off 5pm) and will be looking for a significant improvement.

Warriors scoring: Jake Sylvester 4+0, Brandon Ayliffe 1+2, Edward Lay 1+2, Ross Cowan 1+1, Taylor Ross 1+0, Ethan Boolkah 1+0, Ellis Swainsbury 0+2, Donald Campbell 0+2, Will Polston 0+1

Racers scoring: Dan Clayton 1+0, Drew Campbell 0+1, Josh Ealey-Newman 0+1

Shots on goal: 32 on Sonny Phillips (Warriors) / 51 on Niks Trapans (Racers)

Reporter: Tim Stuart

Laidler Conference Round Up - Weekend of 28th & 29th November 2015

Nottingham Lions remain top of the league following their 10-2 demolition of bottom team Coventry Blaze on Sunday evening.  Joe Humphries top scored with 3+3 in a game that saw the Lions 7-0 up before the Blaze finally managed to find the back of the net in the 49^th minute.   Former Streatham Redskins netminder Samantha Bolwell – a GB international who also plays in goal for the Sheffield Shadows in the Women’s Elite League - came on for the last 10 minutes.

Second place Deeside Dragons actually drew level on points with Nottingham at the top for 24 hours after their 3-8 win away at Hull Jets on Saturday night.   But, despite having a superior goal difference to the Nottingham side, the Dragons still remained second due to their inferior playing record against the lions.  Nottingham then regained their two point lead on Sunday night, although they have played three games more than the Dragons.   

Third placed Widnes Wild lost ground on the top two with a 4-4 draw away at local rivals Altrincham Aces.   The Wild were leading 2-4 with 15 minutes to go but were pegged back with the GTG being scored by the Aces’ Joe Greaves with 5 minutes to go.

Next weekend sees 4^th place Blackburn Eagles – who are on the back of a 5 game winning streak – face Widnes Wild home and away on successive days while Deeside Dragons have the chance to go top of the table with a home game against Hull on Saturday and a visit to Coventry on Sunday. 

 

   

 

 

HULL JETS AND BHF JOIN FORCES TO FIGHT HEART DISEASE

The Hull Jets ice hockey team has joined forces with the British Heart Foundation (BHF) to fight for every heartbeat in the UK.

To raise awareness and funds, the Jets launched a new set of playing jerseys featuring the BHF’s famous ‘heartbeat’ logo and ‘Fight For Every Heartbeat’ slogan. The jerseys were unveiled at the home game versus Widnes Wild on Saturday evening where 50% of ticket revenue was donated to the BHF. Additional funds were also raised through raffle sales.

Jane Mooney, Fundraising Manager at the BHF, said “We are so excited to have the support of the Hull Jets in our fight for every heartbeat. Their passion and enthusiasm for the cause has been inspiring and without people and organisations like the Hull Jets, the BHF in Yorkshire would not be able to raise the vital funds it needs to continue the fight.”

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the UK’s single biggest killer that claims an estimated 70,000 lives per year – that’s around 190 lives per day or one every eight minutes. Moreover, one in six deaths in Hull results from CHD – significantly higher than the rest of Yorkshire and above average for the rest of the UK. To help those living with the devastating, debilitating and often deadly effects of heart disease, the Jets will raise vital funds for the BHF whose pioneering research has improved the quality of care, support, and treatment for millions of people with heart disease for over 50 years.

To find out how you can join the fight for every heartbeat and take part in BHF events, visit bhf.org.uk/events.    

Match Report: Haringey Racers 3 - Chelmsford Warriors 4

Chelmsford displayed their league leading credentials, coming back from two goals down in the final period to snatch victory away from the Racers. Despite their short bench, they found an extra gear late in the game with Stephen Woodford netting the winner three minutes from time after Haringey coughed up the puck behind their own net.

Warriors took the lead halfway through the first session with Jake Sylvester finding time and space to fire home after Niks Trapans blocked Callum Wells’ shot. Racers then survived an intense Chelmsford power-play with Trapans making a string of sharp saves to prevent the Warriors doubling the lead. This was rewarded late in the period when the home team equalised; Drew Campbell with the goal having been put through by Jack Ball and Josh Abbott.

An excellent second period for Haringey saw them open up a two goal lead. In the 25th minute Luke Tull’s shot was saved by Sonny Phillips, with Josh Ealey-Newman on hand to steer home the rebound. Ricky Mills scored Racers’ third in the 34rd minute, poking the puck home after good grafting by Lee Mercer and Ealey-Newman around the net.

Four minutes into the final period, and after a spell of sustained pressure, the Warriors pulled a goal back through Sylvester. The equaliser soon followed with Woodford firing home after more sustained pressure around the Racers’ net. The momentum was now with Chelmsford and, with Haringey appearing to tire, the late winning goal for the visitors settled a highly entertaining game.

Frustration for the Racers, but the opportunity to avenge this result comes quickly. The two sides meet again in Chelmsford next Saturday, 28th November (face off 5.40pm).

Racers scoring: Josh Ealey-Newman 1+1, Drew Campbell 1+0, Ricky Mills 1+0, Josh Abbott 0+1, Jack Ball 0+1, Luke Tull 0+1, Matt Brown 0+1, Lee Mercer 0+1

Warriors scoring: Jake Sylvester 2+1, Stephen Woodford 2+0, Edward Lay 0+2, Callum Wells 0+1, Ellis Swainsbury 0+1

Shots on goal: 28 on Niks Trapans (Racers) / 42 on Sonny Phillips (Warriors)

Racers Man of the Match: Sam Park Warriors Man of the Match: Sonny Phillips
Reporter: Tim Stuart

Match Report: Hull Jets 4 - Widnes Wild 6

No home game this week for the Widnes Wild as they travelled up the M62 to face the Hull Jets. Due to work commitments the Wild were to be without several key players including Team Captain Shaun Dippnall.

With starting netminder Greg Ruxton not making the trip to Hull, it was the turn of youngster Josh Benstead to back stop the team for his second start of the season.

A cagey first period saw both teams create chances to no avail, ending 0-0, a very even contest for the first 20 minutes of the game. Coach Mckenzie must have had some stern words for his players as the Wild came out a completely different side in the second session. Taking the game to the Jets, Wild scored 4 consecutive goals from Geoff Wigglesworth, Chris Preston, Sheldon Cassidy & Lee Kemp to provide the travelling Wild a 4-0 lead to end the 2nd period.

The Jets however would come out fighting in the 3rd period. Two quick goals giving the home side some life only for Tom Jackson to restore a 3 goal lead for the Wild. Two more goals from the home side made it a tense finish in Hull Arena, but Wild player coach Scott Mckenzie found space in front of the net to seal the win and send the travelling supporters home happy. Final score 6-4 to the Widnes Wild.

This weekend the Wild make the short trip over to Altrincham to face an Aces side that they defeated 8-5 a fortnight ago. In their own rink, it is sure to be an extremely tough test for a Wild side that should be back to full strength.

Photo by Arthur Foster - www.icehockeyphotos.com

Laidler Conference Round Up - Weekend of 21st & 22nd November 2015

Altrincham Aces had a 4 point weekend culminating in a sensational home win over top of the table Nottingham Lions. After a 7-2 win over Bradford Bulldogs the night before, they beat the league leaders 5-1 on Sunday night -  keeping them goalless until the 53^rd minute.

This was the Aces’ 5^th win in their last 7 games and demonstrates their improving form since reforming as a club during the summer.

The result means that the Lions are only 2 points ahead of second place Deeside Dragons who didn’t play this weekend and now have 3 games in hand.

Close behind in third place – with 1 point less and one game more under their belts are Widnes Wild who won 4-6 away at Hull Jets on Saturday.  The jets unveiled a new shirt which clashed  with Wild’s usual black away colour so the Widnes team had to wear Hull’s old white home jerseys for the game.  

Another team who are enjoying excellent early season form are Blackburn Eagles who picked up their 5^th win in a row with a 3-5 win away at Coventry Blaze.  The Eagles are 4^th in the table level on pints with Widnes Wild but have an inferior goal difference. To date, the Eagles have only lost games to the top two teams in the Laidler Conference so their visit to Widnes on 6^th December will have extra meaning for all concerned.

Photo: Goal action from Altrincham Aces v Nottingham Lions. Photo by Stuart Latham - www.altyaces.com

Forty - Not Out! The Ice Hockey Annual 2015/16, edited by Stewart Roberts

Well, I said it last year and I’ll say it again even more forcefully this year, having spent mo0st of my own summer putting together the Ice Hockey Review NIHL Yearbook I am probably one of the few people in the world - who is not related to him – who knows exactly how much work Stewart Roberts puts into producing the absolutely excellent “Ice Hockey Annual” every year. 

And he has been doing it for 40 years now. That is longer than most of the players featured in it have been on this earth and certainly longer than I knew that such a thing as British ice hockey even existed.    So hats off to Stewart Roberts – and may he continue doing it for another 40 years!

Most people just look at the finished article and think “oh yeah - great book…” – but if you actually look at all the different things that are in there and how much work has been put into gathering all that information together from numerous different sources and then putting it into a workable format, that really is a Herculean effort in itself. 

But the trick then is to make it so that the book is attractive to the eye and easy to read for the casual fan while remaining highly useful and informative for the statistician and hockey journalist.

Now, I do not follow the NHL and I am not overly enamoured of the Elite League in its present set-up but I find myself being captivated reading the quotes of the year from the various personalities and how the season unfolded in both the Elite and English Premier Leagues. So I would definitely recommend buying this.

In his own words, Stewart describes the Annual as follows:

“It has been dubbed by the fans as ‘the bible' of the sport as it contains reports, statistics and photos for every major club and competition.   Much of this information is not available anywhere else, not even on the internet.

This year’s book - the record busting 40th edition! - is another colourful package, full of information about the UK game, laced with international events like the World Championships and the European Champions League.  This has been made possible thanks to our major sponsor, Canadian Spa Company, and our other generous backers. 

 Among the great features this time are –

* An in-depth look at the amazing and unique career of our own Great One, Tony Hand MBE

* Complete coverage of the leading clubs in statistics and end-of-term reports, plus team pics.
* How Britain's men and women won silver medals in the World Championships.
* Biographies of some of the game’s best players and personalities.
* Latest news of the new rinks in Bristol, Cambridge and Cardiff Bay.
* Our ever popular Quotes of the Year.
* 176 pages in colour."

The Annual is on sale, price £9.95, at all major ice rinks, or post free direct from the website at  www.icehockeyannual.co.uk. 

And, of course, it makes a great Christmas present!”

Match Report: Widnes Wild 8 - Altrincham Aces 5

Photo by Geoff White - www.gw-images.co.uk

The Widnes Wild returned to home ice on Sunday evening facing their second derby game in two weeks, this time against Altrincham Aces. It was to be feisty game throughout, yet again penalties being a major talking point amongst Wild fans.

The first period was to see the Wild start at a frantic pace, netting three goals within the first five minutes courtesy of Scott Mckenzie, George Crawshaw & Chris Gee. Penalty trouble gave Altrincham the opportunity to close the gap. They duly obliged with two goals, both coming on the powerplay and bringing the away team back into the game to end the period at 3-2.

The second session started in similar vein. The Wild killed off the remaining penalties then scored two quick goals, one from the October player of the month Geoff Wigglesworth, and a second of the night for Scott Mckenzie making it 5-2 to the home side. Again the Aces wouldn’t give up, replying with another goal before the break to end the second period 5-3 to the Wild.

A penalty to the Aces gave the Wild an early powerplay that saw Scott Mckenzie get his hat-trick, as he fired a shot from the blue line which found its way past the Aces netminder to make it 6-3.



Jake Nurse made his debut for the Altrincham Aces

A further exchange of goals made it 7-5 to the Wild with Shaun Dippnall the scorer for the home side. In the final minutes the Aces pulled their netminder for the extra skater to try and push for a goal back, but it was to no avail as George Crawshaw used his speed to beat the Aces defence and fire the puck into the empty net to finish the scoring at 8-5.

A good result for the Widnes Wild which maintains their position in third place in the league. Next Saturday the Wild travel to Hull to face the Hull Jets with their next home game being the 6th December against Blackburn Eagles.

Match Report: Haringey Racers 3 - Peterborough Islanders 6

While playing at even-strength these two teams were a very good match for each other, but with the extra man Peterborough were clinical. Indeed, the Islanders converted on all five of their power-plays to end Haringey’s winning streak in front of a good Alexandra Palace crowd of 415.

The first period saw the teams taking turns to enjoy a dominant spell without finding a breakthrough, with Niks Trapans and Dan Lane looking solid in their respective nets. Finally in the latter stages of the period, the Racers ran into some penalty trouble. With two Haringey players in the box, the slick Peterborough power-play got to work – Craig Wallis shooting through traffic to open the scoring with nine seconds remaining.

Thirty seconds into the second period and still on the power-play, the Islanders repeated the trick – Conor Pollard firing past a screened Trapans. Another Racers penalty soon followed accompanied by a third Peterborough goal from the lively James Pentecost. Later in the period, Josh Ealey-Newman set up Dan Clayton to pull a goal back and give Haringey some hope going into the final session.

However, Peterborough put the game out of reach in the middle of the third period. More penalty trouble for Haringey saw Pollard complete his hat-trick with two more power-play goals either side of an even handed effort from Dave Jowett. Racers goals from Clayton and Conor Sheehan towards the end of the game kept the score respectable.

The season’s remaining games between these two teams should be well worth watching, but on this evidence the Racers will need to stay out of the penalty box.

Next Home Game: Saturday 21st November vs. Chelmsford Warriors (5:30pm).

Racers scoring: Daniel Clayton 2+0, Conor Sheehan 1+0, Josh Ealey-Newman 0+2, Drew Campbell 0+1, Lee Mercer 0+1

Islanders scoring: Conor Pollard 3+0, James Pentecost 1+1, Craig Wallis 1+0, Dave Jowett 1+0, Alexander Cleves 0+2, Shaun Yardley 0+2,  James White 0+1, Connor Stokes 0+1, Kenny Bavin 0+1, Clint Herring 0+1.

Shots on Goal:

44 on Niks Trapans (Racers)
34 on Daniel Lane (Islanders)

Racers Man of the Match: Daniel Clayton

Islanders Man of the Match: Conor Pollard

Reporter: Tim Stuart 

Match Report : Deeside Dragons 12 - Bradford Bulldogs 1

Goal action form the Deeside Dragons v Bradford Bulldogs match
(photo by Peter Sheffield - www.psd-images.co.uk)

The Dragons handed out their biggest drubbing of the season with a 12-1 win over Bradford Bulldogs at Chester Road on Saturday night. Victory over the Yorkshire outfit lifted Deeside into joint-first place in the Moralee Conference, although Nottingham remain top due to their better head-to-head record.

But the night was marred by a facial injury to high-scoring forward James Parsons, who was taken to hospital after colliding with Bradford’s netminder. The 28-year-old forward suffered a fractured cheekbone in the first period incident, and is likely to be out of action until the new year.

Deeside head coach, Lol Paul, said: “James was hit in the face by the netminder’s stick as he was rushing the goal. He passed out when he got off the ice, so we took him to hospital straight away.

“I spoke to his father and he said James needs an operation, but he’ll be back soon. I told him the whole club will be waiting for him, when he’s better.

“James has been doing so well this season. He’s one of our top scorers, and had a goal and assist before he was injured last night. He’ll be a big loss, but his health is more important.”

The first period set the tone for Saturday night’s game, with goals from Filip Supa, Parsons, Adrian Palak (2), Paul Davies and Matthew Wainwright, giving the hosts a 6-0 lead.

Bradford snatched some consolation with a goal on 26 minutes, before further second period strikes from Palak, Simon Furnival and Marc Lovell.

The final session was equally damaging for the visitors, with Palak (2) and Supa putting the result beyond doubt.

Paul added: “I knew the lads were up for it and I could see that in training all week. They had a blip in the last game against Bradford, so it was only a matter of time.

“12-1 is a big score, but I think it could have been more. Their goalie played well, but Bradford just got in our way on Saturday night.

“The lads couldn’t wait to get them in our rink and they’re flying now. They’ve got their confidence back and they’re looking forward to playing Nottingham next month.”

The Dragons are back in action on November 28th, when they make the trip to face Hull Jets.

Laidler Conference Round Up - Weekend Of 14th & 15th November 2015

There was a minute's silence and playing of the French national anthem prior to the game between Widnes Wild and Altrincham Aces on Sunday night in memory of the victims of the recent atrocities in Paris

The top four teams in the Laidler Conference all won at the weekend meaning that the leading positions all remain the same.

Nottingham Lions’ 5-3 win over Hull Jets means they are still two points clear of Deeside Dragons at the top of the table, although they have played two games more.  The Dragons beat Bradford Bulldogs 12-1 on Saturday with fit-again import Adrian Palak scoring 4 goals. 

Widnes Wild make hard work of seeing off an ever improving Altrincham Aces side, coasting into a 3-0 lead before being pegged back to 3-2 by the first break.  It was a very rough and tumble local derby and while the home side were just ahead throughout, the result was very up open to question until the dying seconds.  7-5 down going into the last 2 minutes, the Aces gamefully removed their netminder twice while going forward in the hope of forcing a breakthrough.   The ploy did not pay off, however, and the Wild made sure of the win with an empty net goal in the dying seconds.

Blackburn Eagles are in fourth place – level on points with Widnes – after their 4^th win in a row – a 7-3 home win over bottom team Coventry Blaze.   

Moralee Conference Round Up - Weekend of 14th & 15th Nov 2015

Barons 6 - Stars 3 - Photo by Keith & Jennie Davies

Sheffield Spartans took a huge scalp with a 2-1 win over Whitley Warriors on Sunday evening with the result meaning that the North West missed out on the opportunity to over take

league leaders Blackburn Hawks - who did not hit a puck over the weekend. The Hawks now have three games in hand over the Warriors with both teams sitting on the same number of points.  

24 hours earlier the Spartans has lost out by the same scoreline at home to Solway Sharks in the first meeting between the teams this season. The Sharks then won 2-4 away at Sutton Sting to notch up their first 4-point weekend of the season - and their 5^th league win in a row.

Telford Tigers remain in 3rd place after a 7-3 win over bottom club Sheffield Senators while Solihull Barons remain just one point behind them in 4^th place following their 6-3 win over Billingham Stars on Sunday night.

Cleveleys Ice Arena Closed

Having given the venue a lot of positive coverage in the latest edition of the Ice Hockey Review Yearbook, we are disappointed to have to report that the Cleveleys Ice Arena appears to have closed for good.

It closed its doors after the half term break for “essential maintenance” (which, if you know your ice hockey history has often in the past meant the kiss of death for an ice rink…) and the local Blackpool Gazette has now reported that the Trustees have since instructed insolvency firm Adcroft Hilton to place it into liquidation.

Blackpool-based Adcroft Hilton today said customers who paid deposits for parties or lessons face 'no prospect' of getting their money back. Insolvency practitioner Rosalind Hilton said: "It is a shame when a local leisure facility, run mostly by volunteers, has to shut, but there simply wasn't enough people using the Ice Arena."

The Fylde Coast Ice Arena in nearby Bispham is still open for business – despite being the subject of insolvency proceedings back in August – and they have entered their own Fylde Coast Phantoms team in the NIHL North Under 13 League.  They played their first ever game on 31^st October and lost 27-0 away at Nottingham Under 13s

The Wyre Seagulls recreational team have moved their training sessions to Blackburn Arena because the Seagulls coaches are banned from the Fylde Coast Ice Arena following a disagreement  with the management there back in February.  

NIHL South Division 1 Update - Weekend of 7th & 8th November 2015

Chelmsford Chieftains took over at the top of the South 1 table for the first time this season after they beat previous leaders Streatham Redskins 4-0 to leapfrog them. The Redskins had also lost 4-5 at home to Invicta Dynamos on Saturday night to round off a pointless weekend.

Wightlink Raiders are in 3^rd after a 4 point weekend seeing off Cardiff Devils at home 6-1 and then beating local rivals Solent Devils 0-3 away on Sunday.    

Oxford City Stars continue their good start to the season with a 4-2 win over Milton Keynes Thunder which sees them in 4^th place with 15 points from their 14 games thus far this season.

Photo:  Two minutes’s silence before the game between Chelmsford and Streatham on Remembrance Sunday. (Photo by Ice Cold Photography – www.icecoldphoto.co.uk) 

NIHL North Round Up - Weekend of 7th & 8th November 2015

Telford Tigers move up into 3^rd place in the Moralee Conference on Sunday night after a comprehensive 9-4 win over local rivals Solihull Barons.  Macaulay Haywood top scored with 3+1 in a game that was level 3-3 after two periods.  The Barons took 118 PIMs and lost their composure in the 3^rd period, shipping 6 goals for their 1.

The Barons had also lost 6-4 away at Solway Sharks on Saturday albeit in a somewhat quieter fashion.   

Whitley Warriors shut out Sheffield Spartans 6-0 to remain in second place – level on points with leaders Blackburn Hawks who did not have a league game at the weekend, but who have two games in hand.

In the other Moralee game of the weekend Billingham Stars beat Sutton Sting to move up into 5^th place.

Blackburn Hawks beat Solway Sharks 4-2 in the NIHL North Cup – putting them on top of the group at this early stage with 2 wins from 2 games. 

In the Laidler Conference, Deeside Dragons won the north-west derby beating Widnes Wild 3-2 in a tense affair that was only decided by a goal 2 minutes from time.

They pull away from the Wild and remain firmly in 2^nd place,  2 points behind leaders Nottingham Lions - who won 1-3 away at Coventry Blaze – with two games in hand. 

Blackburn Eagles remain in 4^th place following their 4-3 win at home to Hull Jets.

Remembrance At Widnes Wild v Bradford Bulldogs Game

There was a collection and raffle in aid of the Royal British Legion at the Widnes Wild game against Bradford Bulldogs - as it was the nearest Wild home game to Remembrance Sunday, which this year is 8th November.

Members of the local branch of the Legion were in attendance and prior to the game they paraded the standards. Then we had the last post, a minutes silence and the reveille and in the crisp cold and eerie silence of the - otherwise throbbing - ice rink, it really was an electrifying experience to behold!

I know from personal experience that it is very hard to stand still on ice skates for that amount of time and both sets of players did their clubs and the game of ice hockey proud. Well done to everybody involved.

We hope to be able to bring more news of Remembrance Sunday occasions at this weekend's matches next week - so do send us your photos!

Laidler Conference Round Up - Weekend of 13st Oct / 1st Nov 2015

Shannon Lingwood celebrates a Bradford Bulldogs goal against Deeside Dragons
Photo by Rob Hutchinson Photography

Bradford Bulldogs almost pulled off the upset of the season so far as they held second place Deeside Dragons to a 5-5 draw on Saturday night – despite being outshot 32 to 72.   

The league’s bottom team were leading 5-2 at the end of the second period but were eventually pegged back and had to settle for a point. That point lifted the Bulldogs off the bottom of the table – a position that is now occupied by Coventry Blaze who lost 5-4 away at Altrincham Aces on Sunday. 

Bradford’s other game of the weekend – away at Widnes on Sunday night – also started well as they held their hosts to 1-1 at the first break and looked very much in contention until the Wild began to pull away in the third period. The match finished 7-2 but Bradford looked the better side of much of the encounter and will draw hope from their weekend performances.

Widnes are now 3^rd - just one point behind Deeside who they play at Queensferry on Saturday night.

Moralee Conference Round Up - Weekend of 31st Oct / 1st Nov 2015

Blackburn Hawks score away at Solway wearing their special "Cup" shirts.
(Photo by Steve Pollitt)

Solihull Barons moved up to 3^rd place in the Moralee Conference table on Sunday evening after a 6-4 win over Midlands rivals Telford Tigers.  The Tigers had previously occupied 3^rd after a 6-1 win at home to Sheffield Spartans on Saturday. And now drop into 4^th.  The Barons outshot the Tigers 54 to 33 but found themselves 1-3 down at the end of the first period. They pulled back to lead 5-4 early in the 3^rd period but the result was only secured with an empty net goal just 2 seconds from time.

Blackburn Hawks hammered bottom team Sheffield Senators 12-3 on Sunday night – firing an incredible 89 shots on Mark Hartley’s net -     and remain top of the table still unbeaten after 9 games. They also won 3-8 away at Solway Sharks the night before in the NIHL North Cup.  Second place Whitley Warriors remain in touch with the top after their 6-1 win away at Sheffield Senators on Saturday keeps them two points behind the Hawks, albeit having played one game more.

The other Moralee game of the weekend saw Billingham Stars win 1-3 away at Sutton Sting to pick up their 4^th win of the season. Last season’s runners up remain in the bottom half of the table, 4 points drift of the play off places at this early stage of the season.