Season 25/26: Week 9 Report

BILLINGHAM STARS returned to winning ways with a six-point weekend as they rang the changes, unfamiliar lines the order of the day but paying instant dividends as first Widnes Wild and then Nottingham Lions fell to a resurgent Billingham side.

On the road at Widnes on Saturday night, it was clear that the new systems would take a little while to bed in as, despite dominating possession and having over double the shot count, it was the home side who opened the scoring against the run of play in the 13th minute, Dani Haid getting the better of the Stars defence and netminder Jacob Hammond. A late power play opportunity provided a route back into the game and Callum Wilkinson duly delivered on the back stick in the 19th minute to send the sides in level at the break.

Billingham increased the tempo in the middle session and were rewarded with a Michael Elder roofed effort in the 25th minute. Seconds later James Hellens increased the gap from the blue line, then just before the halfway point Elder bagged his second and it looked like the visitors might run away with the game. But the Wild are a more resilient outfit this season and Ben McLellan got it back to a two-goal game in the 35th minute from the top of the circle.

The Stars bench started to look a little nervy when Alex Parry went past Hammond’s glove on the power play in the 43rd minute. The tension became almost unbearable when Billingham found themselves on a five-on-three penalty kill late in the game, but having survived comfortably, they made sure of the points just before the buzzer with an Elder empty net goal, a hat trick the perfect way to sign off a true Captain’s performance.

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

Wild Stats:

Dani Haid 1+1; Alex Parry 1+0; Ben McLellan 1+0; Flynn Massie 0+1; Tristan Grimshaw 0+1; Andrew Hopkins 0+1

SOG: Luca Tessadri 42 (13 / 19 / 10)

Stars Stats:

Michael Elder 3+0; James Hellens 1+1; Callum Wilkinson 1+0; Rolands Gritāns 0+2; Iain Brown 0+2; Chris Sykes 0+1; Joe Dowdle 0+1

SOG: Jacob Hammond 33 (6 / 14 / 13)

Credit: SLSportsphotos

The new lines started to click on Sunday at the Forum, and it was Nottingham Lions who felt the backlash of a side struggling to score as Billingham ran riot. A clever move saw Iain Brown feed Chris Sykes for the opener in the ninth minute, the lead doubled five minutes later when Brown finished a textbook power play move. A lovely Jack Crowston effort in the 16th minute beat Stars netminder Mark Turnbull stick side, but Brown had the final say on the first stanza as he restored the advantage with three minutes to play.

Credit: SLSportsphotos

Alex Rushby was given time to pick his spot just 19 seconds into the second session, but the Lions had barely finished celebrating when James Moss got the instant reply at the near post. A Ben Greenhalgh wrist shot increased the lead a minute later, but the rest of the period was relatively quiet and gave no inkling of what was to come.

Credit: SLSportsphotos

The third period saw the home side turn on the style and finally get back to the attacking hockey that has made them so irresistible for the past two seasons. Brown secured his hat trick in the 42nd minute, but the hosts had to wait another ten minutes before Lucas Dowdle slotted home a rebound from an almost impossible angle. Sykes doubled his tally with a power play marker in the 53rd minute, then two minutes later Darren Stattersfield got the nod after an unfortunate ricochet saw the puck slide between Isaac Ballinger’s pads. Alex Preston finally got the goal his offensive play deserved when he beat Ballinger on the breakaway in the 58th minute to make the final score 10-2.

Man-of-the-Match for Billingham was Iain Brown.

Credit: SLSportsphotos

Stars Stats:

Iain Brown 3+3; Chris Sykes 2+4; James Moss 1+2; Lucas Dowdle 1+1; Alex Preston 1+1; Ben Greenhalgh 1+0, Darren Stattersfield 1+0; James Hellens 0+3; Shaun Galloway 0+2; Sam Dowd 0+1

SOG: Mark Turnbull 35 (14 / 10 / 11)

Lions Stats:

Alex Rushby 1+1; Jack Crowston 1+0; Matthew Bell 0+1

SOG: Isaac Ballinger 49 (14 / 15 / 20)

Credit: SLSportsphotos

Weekend Results:

NIHL Moralee Saturday:

🐯 Telford Tigers 2 6️⃣ - 4️⃣ Deeside Dragons 🐉

⚜️ Solihull Barons 6️⃣ - 5️⃣ Blackburn Hawks 🦅

🐾 Widnes Wild 3️⃣ - 5️⃣ Billingham Stars 💫

🗡️ Sheffield Scimitars 1️⃣ - 3️⃣ Nottingham Lions 🦁

NIHL Moralee Sunday:

🐉 Deeside Dragons 7️⃣ - 5️⃣ Telford Tigers 2 🐯

💫 Billingham Stars 🔟 - 2️⃣ Nottingham Lions 🦁

🐾 Widnes Wild 5️⃣ - 0️⃣ Leeds Knights 2 ⚔️

🦅 Blackburn Hawks 9️⃣ - 6️⃣ Sheffield Scimitars 🗡️

Credit: SLSportsphotos