NIHL North - week 7 round-up

Solway Sharks stay top of NIHL1 North after a comfortable 6-1 win at Coventry Blaze on Saturday. Alan Crane’s slapshot gave Sharks an early lead and the visitors took full control of the game by the end of the first, with further goals from Daniel Murdy and Bob Chalmers. Nathan Salem bagged a brace in the middle period, before Connor Hubbuck pulled one back for Blaze in the third. Chalmers scored his second of the night with eight minutes left to seal the points.
Blackburn Hawks and Sutton Sting played out a 2-2 draw in a fiery encounter at Blackburn Arena. After a goalless opening period Hawks moved in front on 28 minutes after a fine solo effort from Jordan Bannon. Shaun Ashton fired Sting level in the 35th minute, but the period ended early in controversial circumstances as Sting forward Danny Wild was ejected for obscene gestures to the crowd. From the restart Hawks restored their lead through Craig Rogers. Both teams spurned a number of chances in the third, but with just a minute left Ryan Johnson’s long range effort gave Sting a share of the spoils.
Sting boss Ian Johnson confirmed Wild had been released by the club immediately after the game, “We don’t condone what Danny did in any way at all,” said Johnson. “He’s a young lad learning his way in life, but you simply can’t do that. I will say I’m disappointed with how the situation developed once he left the ice. He had to face fans who were rightly incensed, but when you get people leaving their seats to confront someone you’re asking for trouble. Had it been managed better then things might not have escalated as they did.”
Billingham Stars kept their unbeaten record intact with a thumping 8-1 victory at home to Whitley Warriors on Sunday. First period goals from Stephen Wallace, James Udell and James Moss set Stars on their way, but Dean Holland made it 3-1 early in the second. Michael Bowman, Paul Windridge and Moss again extended Stars’ lead by the second break and Windridge and Cal Davies capped things off in the final period to secure an impressive victory.
Stars’ Coach Simon Leach was delighted with his team’s performance, “This was the perfect opportunity to put the Sutton game behind us,” said Leach. “In a local derby game there’s no place for players not to be 100% on their game and I thought everyone was tonight. The first period response was exactly what I wanted and the game plan worked very well. The guys stuck to their jobs and we showed what a good team we are.”

Deeside Dragons got their NIHL2 North promotion bid back on track with a 6-0 win over Blackburn Eagles. James Parsons and Steve Fellows put Dragons 2-0 up in the first, before Brian Worrall and Andrew Chappell doubled their lead by the end of the second. Tom King and Shaun Kippin scored late on to send the Dragons up to second in the table. The only other game in Division Two saw Hull Stingrays beat Fylde Flyers 8-1 – Jordan Fisher scored three.

Next weekend sees Telford Titans finally get their season under way with a trip to Whitley, while the top two clash at the TFM Ice Arena as Billingham meet Solway.

 

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