Stars so close
ULTIMATE Windows sponsored Billingham Stars almost completed a third period turnaround in their first National Ice Hockey League (N) Moralee Division 1 game at Solihull Barons on Sunday evening but came up just short, going down by the odd goal in 11.
The Stars travelled to the Midlands missing four senior defencemen and with a solitary challenge game under their belts to take on a Solihull side who played four games in their preseason preparations and boosted by the late signing on Saturday of Niklas Ottosson.
Billingham netminder Thomas Brown was the first to be called into meaningful action when he scooped an Andrew Hayward effort in the fourth minute. The home side then opened the scoring on 7.33 when Brown lost sight of the puck having initially thought he had caught it, in fact it had dropped behind him to the feet of new signing Ruskin Hughes who poked it home. The Stars went for the immediate response and eventually found their way through on 10.43 when Tomáš Rubeš blasted home from close range, then moved ahead on 12.17 when Craig Thurston’s effort evaded Daniel Brittle with the Solihull netminder screened. The hosts were keen to get back on level terms and piled forward, the Barons pulling it back with less than 90 seconds remaining on the period as Richard Slater capitalised on an error to break from their own defensive zone and found Matthew Maurice for a cool finish past Brown’s glove.
The Stars ramped up the pressure at the start of the middle period but had nothing to show for their efforts. Solihull began to find their rhythm however and made Billingham pay for not making the most of their chances. Just past the halfway mark, danger man Thomas Soar fired high past Brown on a breakaway to nose the home side in front, then late in the period two quick goals saw the Barons take control of the game as first Soar again and then Slater made their mark to give the hosts a threegoal cushion going into the break.
The Stars looked dead and buried when Adam Brittle’s power play effort stretched the gap to four on 45.25, but Billingham were not quite done yet and got a break when Richard Crowe was sent for an early shower on 47.21 with a major penalty for slashing. Less than a minute into the five-minute power play, Andy Finn found Michael Elder out wide for the one time effort past Daniel Brittle from a tight angle. The Stars clawed another one back on 52.45, hard work from Thurston setting up Daniel Silar for another onetime shot low past Brittle into the corner. Dylan Hehir – on his 17th birthday – made it a nervy final few minutes for the home side when his shot across the net crept in on 57.59, but despite pulling Brown in the last minute of play Billingham could not craft another opening and Solihull ran out 6-5 victors.
Man-of-the-Match for Billingham was Matthew Campbell.
Barons Stats: Thomas Soar 2+0; Matthew Maurice 1+1; Richard Slater 1+1; Adam Brittle 1+0; Ruskin Hughes 1+0; Callum Bowley 0+2; Paul Stanley 0+1; Andrew Whitehouse
0+1; Philip Mulcahy 0+1; Andrew Hayward 0+1
SOG: Daniel Brittle 43 (15 / 15 / 13)
Stars Stats: Daniel Silar 1+1; Craig Thurston 1+1; Tomáš Rubeš 1+1; Dylan Hehir 1+0; Michael Elder 1+0; James Moss 0+2; Andy Finn 0+1; Michael Bowman 0+1
SOG: Thomas Brown 39 (13 / 16 / 10)
Coach Stephen Foster saw plenty of positives from the narrow defeat:
“They were a little sharper than us, you could see they’d had more preseason games. But we showed tremendous character – we’d put ourselves in a bit of a hole in the middle period but we chipped away to give ourselves a chance.”
Billingham are in NIHL North Cup action this weekend when they travel to Dundee Comets on Saturday for a 7pm face off, followed by the visit of Solway Sharks to the Forum on Sunday, face off 6.30pm. Weekend Results:
NIHL(N)1: Solway Sharks 15 Nottingham Lions 1
Sutton Sting 1 Whitley Warriors 5 Whitley Warriors 3 Solway Sharks 4 (after overtime and penalty shots)
Solihull Barons 6 Billingham Stars
Nottingham Lions 3 Blackburn Hawks 7