Season 25/26: Week 22 Report
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BILLINGHAM STARS can sense the return of the feelgood factor at the Forum as they showcased a new signing before skating to a comfortable 8-4 win over Nottingham Lions on Sunday.
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Stars had sprung a pleasant surprise on their fans on Friday as Billingham-born Lewis Baldwin returned to Teesside from National League outfit Leeds Knights, a boost for the side as they head into the final weeks of the regular season. The cheers for Baldwin’s arrival had barely quietened before the Stars were ahead, Michael Elder poaching a kicked rebound after just 19 seconds. The lead was doubled before three minutes were up, Callum Wilkinson taking two bites of the cherry from close range out front. Nottingham were on the ropes just past the seven-minute marker, Elder potting home an Iain Brown rebound under Lions netminder Evan Coles on the powerplay. The home side weren’t quite done with their opening period salvo however, Will Thornton feeding Brown cross-ice in the tenth minute. Shaken, the Lions steadied the ship a little and even got a goal back when Josh Chan lasered into the roof of Mark Turnbull’s net in the 15th minute, but 36 seconds later Billingham wrapped up a dominant first session when Wilkinson forced home past the skate for 5-1 at the break.
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A quieter second period saw Brown extend the lead in the 26th minute going cross-crease, before Matthew Bell replied three minutes later with a low shot into the corner. Regan Kidd sent home a powerplay bullet from the blue line in the 36th minute, but Rolands Gritāns restored the four-goal cushion with less than two minutes to the interval beating Coles blocker side just as the Stars were returning to full strength from a penalty kill.
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There would be no way back for the visitors, Chris Sykes capitalising on a poor Lions line change to square to Wilkinson for his hat trick in the 45th minute. A 57th minute consolation from Luke Birchnall was Nottingham’s sole response, a confident performance rewarded with eight goals and the three points.
Man-of-the-Match for the Stars was Callum Wilkinson.
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Stars Stats:
Callum Wilkinson 3+0; Michael Elder 2+3; Iain Brown 2+1; Rolands Gritāns 1+1; Chris Sykes 0+5; Will Thornton 0+1; Joe Dowdle 0+1; Darren Stattersfield 0+1
SOG: Mark Turnbull 39 (13 / 15 / 11)
Lions Stats:
Matthew Bell 1+0; Josh Chan 1+0; Luke Birchnall 1+0; Regan Kidd 1+0; Joe Humphries 0+1; Jack Crowston 0+1; Toby Fisher 0+1; Ewan Woodward 0+1; Ethan Smith 0+1; Liam Oughton-Shaw 0+1
SOG: Evan Coles 50 (16 / 22 / 12)
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Weekend Results
NIHL Moralee Saturday:
✈️ Hull Jets 3️⃣ - 0️⃣ Sheffield Scimitars 🗡️
⚜️ Solihull Barons 2️⃣ - 4️⃣ Deeside Dragons 🐉
⚔️ Leeds Knights 2 5️⃣ - 3️⃣ Widnes Wild 🐾
NIHL Moralee Sunday:
🐉 Deeside Dragons 5️⃣ - 4️⃣ Telford Tigers 2 🐯 (after overtime)
💫 Billingham Stars 8️⃣ - 4️⃣ Nottingham Lions 🦁
🐾 Widnes Wild 6️⃣ - 2️⃣ Sheffield Scimitars 🗡️
🦅 Blackburn Hawks 5️⃣ - 1️⃣ Hull Jets ✈️
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