Season 25/26: Week 11 Report

BILLINGHAM STARS came away from two bruising encounters with just a single point from the six on offer as first Hull Jets took the overtime win on Humberside on Saturday before Solihull Barons repeated their seven-goal feat at the Forum on Sunday as a last period horror show ensured a winless weekend.

Missing forwards Alex Preston and Callum Wilkinson were replaced on Saturday by Sam Dowd and Matty Pickup. The shorter bench rolled with all skaters seeing ice time from puck drop, with Pickup slotting onto a line with Michael Elder and Rolands Gritāns, whilst Dowd remained unchanged with the Lucas pair of Dowdle and Campion. Latest Jets recruit Aiden Dancer opened the scoring in the fourth minute with a one timer at the back stick with just seconds remaining on an early call against Ethan McLaughlin, a lead that was doubled in the 11th minute when the Stars failed to clear and Alex Kent popped home a rebound from the slot. An unseen illegal check led to some afters just before the buzzer, the bad feeling between the sides lingering for the rest of the game.

Just three minutes into the second session, Billingham climbed back to within a goal of their hosts when Elder roofed a rebound on the power play. The score should have been level not long after that, but referee Richard Fraley appeared to be the only person on the ice who did not see Darren Stattersfield’s effort come back out from the underside of the crossbar. The game got progressively more chippy, and a fight in the 34th minute left Stars shorthanded. Hull capitalised a minute later as Ian Kerman forced the puck under netminder Mark Turnbull, the gap at two again at the end of the period despite the visitors outshooting the home side.

Billingham were left feeling aggrieved again in the 48th minute, the puck coming off Iain Brown’s skate and past Hull goaltender Zach Brown, but referee Fraley washed out the ‘goal’ despite no kicking motion being used to deflect the puck. Running out of time, Stars needed a spark from somewhere and they got it with a trademark goal line powerplay marker from Elder in the 55th minute. It was then left to Chris Sykes to deliver the power play goods and the equaliser three minutes later to send the game into overtime.

Just 44 seconds into bonus hockey and Kent was the hero for Hull as he bagged the winner with Billingham looking at the officials for an offside call that never came. Just a point for the Stars then, on a night when the calls made or not made were the talking points for the travelling fans headed back to Teesside.

Man-of-the-Match for Billingham was James Moss.

Jets Stats:

Alex Kent 2+0; Ian Kerman 1+1; Aiden Dancer 1+0; Kohen Taylor 0+2; Scott Morris 0+1; Ethan Daintith 0+1; Kieran Beach 0+1

SOG: Zach Brown 37 (7 / 16 / 14 / 0)

Stars Stats:

Michael Elder 2+0; Chris Sykes 1+2; James Moss 0+1; Joe Dowdle 0+1; Iain Brown 0+1

SOG: Mark Turnbull 25 (10 / 9 / 4 / 2)

Credit: SLSportsPhotos

Back at the Forum on Sunday and the largest lineup of the season so far as Wilkinson and Preston returned whilst Will Thornton made his Stars debut aged just 15 years old. Visitors Solihull started where they left off just three weeks ago and found themselves 0-3 to the good by the 15th minute, defensive errors letting in Jake Riley, Niklas Ottosson and Corey Goodison. Billingham were playing better than the score line suggested however, and started the comeback just eight seconds after the third Barons goal, James Moss getting the ball rolling. Stars had the man advantage after an earlier nasty spear to the abdomen of Lucas Dowdle saw Tyler Nixon exit the game, and two power play goals in the space of 23 seconds through Gritāns and Brown in the 16th minute put the teams level at the break.

Credit: SLSportsPhotos

Billingham pushed hard in the second period, edging the session by a single marker in the 36th minute as Brown found Sykes who rounded Solihull netminder Graham Laverick to score despite some pressure from the incoming defenceman.

Credit: SLSportsPhotos

Stars looked good for the lead at the end of forty minutes, but the final twenty saw the momentum swing completely in the Barons favour as the errors crept back into the home side’s game. Jacob Race got the equaliser in the 44th minute, before Ottosson sniped the go-ahead goal in the 51st minute. Edgars Landsbergs capitalised after a defensive lapse a minute later. Left with no choice, Billingham had to pull Jacob Hammond from between the pipes with just under three minutes to go, but a misplaced pass allowed Solihull to break clear and Alex Whyte with the straightforward empty net goal to seal a 4-7 win just ten seconds after Hammond had departed.

Man-of-the-Match for the Stars was Michael Elder.

Credit: SLSportsPhotos

Stars Stats:

Iain Brown 1+2; Chris Sykes 1+1; James Moss 1+0; Rolands Gritāns 1+0; James Hellens 0+1; Michael Elder 0+1; Callum Wilkinson 0+1

SOG: Jacob Hammond 56 (20 / 18 / 18)

Barons Stats:

Niklas Ottosson 2+3; Alex Whyte 1+4; Jake Riley 1+1; Edgars Landsbergs 1+1; Jacob Race 1+1, Corey Goodison 1+1; Dan Mulcahy 0+1; Phil Mulcahy 0+1

SOG: Graham Laverick 47 (18 / 20 / 9)

Credit: SLSportsPhotos

Weekend Results

NIHL Moralee Saturday:

✈️ Hull Jets 4️⃣ - 3️⃣ Billingham Stars 💫 (after overtime)

🦅 Blackburn Hawks 9️⃣ - 2️⃣ Telford Tigers 2 🐯

⚜️ Solihull Barons 5️⃣ - 2️⃣ Nottingham Lions 🦁

🗡️ Sheffield Scimitars 4️⃣ - 1️⃣3️⃣ Deeside Dragons 🐉

NIHL Moralee Sunday:

💫 Billingham Stars 4️⃣ - 7️⃣ Solihull Barons⚜️

🦁 Nottingham Lions 5️⃣ - 9️⃣ Blackburn Hawks 🦅

🐯 Telford Tigers 2 6️⃣ - 3️⃣ Sheffield Scimitars 🗡️

⚔️ Leeds Knights 2 3️⃣ - 6️⃣ Hull Jets ✈️