Tuesday 23 February 2016

Moralee Conference Round Up - Weekend of 20th & 21st February 2016

Solihull Barons Captain Robert Eley celebrates during the win over
Telford Tigers (Photo by Keith & Jenny Davies)
Solway Sharks’ late charge for the play offs suffered a setback after their game away at Blackburn on Sunday night had to be postponed. The team coach got stuck in traffic after an accident on the M6 and they couldn’t get to the rink in time.  That game has now been re-arranged for 20th March.

The weekend had started well for the Sharks as they beat Billingham Stars 4-2 on Sunday night and they are now one of three teams – along with Stars and Sutton - who all have 23 points and are within striking distance of Telford Tigers who currently occupy 4th place.

Solway have games in hand over the others in the pack as the two games that were postponed due to the bad weather before Christmas – against Telford and Sutton - are still to be played and will now be played for double points when those teams next visit Dumfries.   

The Stars had a bad weekend all round as, following that defeat in Scotland, they then lost 1-3 at home to Sutton Sting on Sunday evening. The Sting outshot their hosts and were 0-2 up at the end of the first period.  A consolation goal midway thought the second period gave the Stars some hope but they were finished off by an empty net goal in the dying seconds of the game after as they brought on an extra attacker in search of that elusive equaliser.

Solihull Barons extended their safety cushion in 3rd place to 5 points after a 7-5 home win over midlands rivals Telford Tigers.  They have 3 games in hand over 2nd place Whitley Warriors but are 13 points adrift so are unlikely to be in the mix for the runners up spot this season. 

The Warriors picked up a relatively easy 10-1 win over bottom team Sheffield Senators, outshooting the cellar dwellers 86 to 17. Interestingly enough, the Senators actually scored first after just 48 seconds but that was as good as it got for the iceSheffield team. That win moves the Warriors up to within 5 points of leaders Blackburn Hawks – with a game in hand.