Season 25/26: Week 15 Report
BILLINGHAM STARS mixed weekend at the Forum saw three League points secured against Widnes Wild on Saturday night before defeat on Sunday evening against Telford Tigers 2 resulted in an early exit from the Moralee Cup.
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Boosted by the welcome return of forward-turned-defenceman Joe Walls, the Stars were dominant in the first session against their Merseyside visitors but lacked the shots on goal that should have followed. Their solitary marker came on 17 minutes, James Moss calling for the puck as he skated into the slot and Lucas Dowdle heeded the shout with the perfect feed for the one-timer.
Moss was the man on the spot in the opening minute of the second session, taking his time before floating his backhand effort over Luca Tessadri between the Wild pipes. Despite finding themselves on the back foot for long stretches, Widnes battled for every puck and had drawn level by the 38th minute, Dani Haid finishing a two-on-one break into the unguarded net then Will Daley bundled a power play scramble over the line to jangle the hosts’ nerves. Billingham edged back in front before the break however, Iain Brown with an excellent finish with just 14 seconds left.
More dominance from the Stars in the third saw Widnes restricted to just four shots, but Billingham had to wait until late in the game to kill off a hard-working Wild outfit. Chris Sykes finally put daylight between the sides on the power play in the 58th minute before Brown’s empty net effort sealed the deal with 57 seconds on the clock, 5-2 the final score.
Man-of-the-Match for Billingham was James Hellens.
Stars Stats:
James Moss 2+0; Iain Brown 2+0; Chris Sykes 1+0; James Hellens 0+1; Lucas Campion 0+1; Michael Elder 0+1; Lucas Dowdle 0+1
SOG: Jacob Hammond 31 (13 / 14 / 4)
Wild Stats:
Will Daley 1+0; Dani Haid 1+0; Nathen Bennett 0+1
SOG: Luca Tessadri 53 (12 / 21 / 20)
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A much different game unfolded the following evening as Telford Tigers 2 arrived on Teesside needing a single point to qualify for the Moralee Cup semifinals. The home side were dealt a blow before face off when it was confirmed that the upper body injury suffered by Rolands Gritāns the previous evening would keep him out, meaning lines had to be changed accordingly. Tigers physical game in the first period put the officials in the spotlight, but just a single minor was handed out to both teams despite several incidents that could and should have been penalised. In amongst the battle, the teams also traded goals - Sykes collected the puck all alone on the blue line on 16 minutes and rounded netminder Zack Brown to open the scoring before Jason Silverthorn squeezed the puck under Jacob Hammond’s stick on the power play in the 19th minute.
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Two goals in 23 seconds put the hosts in charge in the 25th minute, Darren Stattersfield with the power play marker before Michael Elder doubled the advantage. Telford were far from out of it however and put the home side under pressure before being rewarded with a Vladimir Luka effort after Stars failed to clear in the 32nd minute.
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New Tigers signing Matt Murice tied the game up in the 44th minute, but Billingham were able to get their noses back in front through a well-worked Elder power play goal in the 48th minute. It was all square once again just seconds later however, Tom Byrne with the almost-instant reply. Stars needed a two-goal win as a minimum to be in with a chance of pipping Telford to the Cup semifinal berth and they pushed hard to get what they needed, but that strategy would always mean potential gaps at the back for Tigers to exploit and that’s precisely what happened for the game winner in the 54th minute, Taylor Stanton going bar down to bag three League points and the Cup points needed to eliminate the current Cup holders. 4-5 the final score.
Man-of-the-Match for Billingham was James Moss.
Image credit: SLSportsPhotos
Stars Stats:
Michael Elder 2+0; Chris Sykes 1+1; Darren Stattersfield 1+0; Iain Brown 0+2; James Hellens 0+1; Joe Dowdle 0+1; Joe Walls 0+1; Callum Wilkinson 0+1
SOG: Jacob Hammond 44 (18 / 12 / 14)
Tigers Stats:
Jason Silverthorn 1+1; Matt Maurice 1+1; Taylor Stanton 1+1; Vladimir Luka 1+1; Tom Byrne 1+0; Ryan Leese 0+1; James Mather 0+1; Dan Harrison 0+1; Tyler Somerton 0+1; Dan Mitchell 0+1
SOG: Zack Brown 47 (13 / 20 / 14)
Image credit: SLSportsPhotos
Weekend Results
NIHL Moralee Saturday:
💫 Billingham Stars 5️⃣ - 2️⃣ Widnes Wild 🐾
⚔️ Leeds Knights 2 2️⃣ - 1️⃣1️⃣ Deeside Dragons 🐉
NIHL Moralee Sunday:
🗡️ Sheffield Scimitars 3️⃣ - 5️⃣ Nottingham Lions 🦁
🐉 Deeside Dragons 7️⃣ - 3️⃣ Solihull Barons ⚜️
💫 Billingham Stars 4️⃣ - 5️⃣ Telford Tigers 2 🐯
🐾 Widnes Wild 0️⃣ - 1️⃣ Blackburn Hawks 🦅
Image credit: SLSportsPhotos