Season 25/26: Week 12 Report
BILLINGHAM STARS short bench came away empty handed from Lancashire on Sunday evening, a valiant first forty minutes undone by tired legs and silly mistakes in the latter stages of the game as Blackburn Hawks skated out 8-2 winners.
Just 12 skaters were able to travel over the Pennines for Billingham, making an already tough fixture look especially daunting. Amongst those 12 was Will Thornton, a debutant last Sunday against Solihull although he saw little ice, no chance of that this time around as the Stars were forced to play everyone that they had with little respite. A tight first period saw the sides separated by a single goal, Andy McKinney on the overlap to put a wrister over netminder Jacob Hammond in the 15th minute.
Two goals from James Royds and Adam Barnes in the opening six minutes of the second session might have broken the visitors’ spirit, but to their credit Billingham kept plugging away and got themselves back into the game. Shaun Galloway knocked a bobbling puck over the line on the power play in the 37th minute, then a beautiful tip into the roof of Hawks goaltender Harrison Walker’s net from James Moss a minute later made it a one-goal game. A poor call from referee Ray Ormes gifted the home side an opportunity that they did not waste, home debutant Sam Zajac with the power play marker just seven seconds before the buzzer.
It was a blow from which the Stars would not recover. James Riddoch hit the top corner in the 44th minute before Royds with his second from the right circle killed the game in the 50th minute. An own goal from Galloway trying to sweep the puck from the danger zone in the 53rd minute was credited to Jacob Lutwyche. McKinney rounded things off in the final minute, a four-goal third period blast putting a flattering sheen on Blackburn’s victory.
Man-of-the-Match for Billingham was Will Thornton.
Hawks Stats:
Andy McKinney 2+1; James Royds 2+0; Jacob Lutwyche 1+1; Adam Barnes 1+1; James Riddoch 1+0; Sam Zajac 1+0; Tom Barry 0+3; Liam Charnock 0+2; Charlie Thompson 0+2; Harrison Walker 0+1; Lee Pollitt 0+1; Jack Brammer 0+1
SOG: Harrison Walker 29 (9 / 12 / 8)
Stars Stats:
James Moss 1+0; Shaun Galloway 1+0; Ben Greenhalgh 0+1; Chris Sykes 0+1; Rolands Gritāns 0+1
SOG: Jacob Hammond 43 (16 / 11 / 16)
Weekend Results
NIHL Moralee Saturday:
🗡️ Sheffield Scimitars 2️⃣ - 5️⃣ Blackburn Hawks 🦅
🐯 Telford Tigers 2 9️⃣ - 6️⃣ Hull Jets ✈️
⚔️ Leeds Knights 2 5️⃣ - 6️⃣ Widnes Wild 🐾
NIHL Moralee Sunday:
✈️ Hull Jets 5️⃣ - 1️⃣ Sheffield Scimitars 🗡️
⚜️ Solihull Barons 1️⃣ - 3️⃣ Deeside Dragons 🐉
🦅 Blackburn Hawks 8️⃣ - 2️⃣ Billingham Stars 💫
🦁 Nottingham Lions 5️⃣ - 7️⃣ Widnes Wild 🐾