Widnes Wild NIHL Player Coach Joey Coulter (source: www.facebook.com/billinghamstars)
Sunday 4th February – Moralee Division: Billingham Stars 7 – Widnes Wild 0
The Widnes Wild NIHL team had a mixed weekend, winning 1-4 away to Deeside Dragons in the M56 Cup on Saturday and then lost losing 7-0 away to table toppers Billingham Stars in the league on Sunday.
The away game against the league leaders on Sunday in the North East had a certain air of inevitability about it, with the Wild having already lost all 3 of the previous meetings between the two teams this season.
Although Widnes battled away, they were regularly forced into taking penalties to keep the Stars out and conceded 5 of their 7 goals while playing a man short.
Billingham took the lead on 9 minutes and then doubled the advantage 2 minutes later. The score remained 2-0 at the first period but it was a similar story in the second where three more unanswered goals put the game well and truly out of the Wild’s reach.
They found themselves with 3 men in the box with 9 minutes left to play and the result was two more power play goals for Billingham.
The home side also picked up a few penalties as the clock ticked down and Widnes were presented with a 5 on 3 powerplay opportunity of their own, but were unable to force a late consolation goal.
The 7-0 defeat was the Wild’s third “shut out” of the season and they will be hoping for better things when they take on the Moralee Division’s bottom team Sheffield Scimitars this Sunday 11th February at Planet Ice Widnes, 5.30pm face off.
You can watch Billingham Stars TV's post-match interview with Wild player coach Joey Coulter HERE
