Barons snuff out Dragon’s flame

Bristol Street Motors Solihull Barons : 10
Deeside Dragons : 2

The Bristol Street Motors Solihull Barons continued their strong form with a convincing win, if a slightly flattering scoreline, over old rivals the Deeside Dragons.

Ties between the Barons and Deeside have often been highly entertaining fixtures and Sunday was no exception. Within 15 seconds of the puck drop Ryan Selwood cut through a cold and open Deeside defence, to get the Barons first goal of the night.

While the Barons dominated play, by the tenth minute the Dragons had begun to find some form and in doing so exerted some pressure on Barons netminder Josh Nicholls and Solihull's slender lead. However slick play by Joe Henry passing along the Dragons blue line to Thomas Janak who barrelled his way down the centre of the ice, gave Solihull their second goal of the evening and once more asserted the Barons dominance. Two minutes later and Tom Soar carried the puck up the left wing to give Jake Larkin a quick flick in for goal number three and a relatively comfortable Solihull lead. Some strong defensive play toward the period end ensured the Dragons were unable to capitalise on a 5 on 3 powerplay and ensured the Barons retained their three goal lead going into the second period.

The second period, while again dominated by the Barons forward play, showed that Deeside were capable of striking back given the opportunity. It took until the seventh minute of the period for the scoring to change, Josh Bruce making no mistake on a short range shot from the back post. The Dragons persisted however and were rewarded just before the half hour, Si Furnival converting a rebounded off Nicholls pads for the Welsh side's first goal. Within a minute however Perry Doyle made the most of a chaos of arms, legs and sticks in the Dragons goal crease to give Solihull their fifth goal. Again the Dragons would strike back, James Parsons making the most of lapses in the Barons own end for goal number two. By period end the Barons had regained their four goal lead, Perry Doyle netting under powerplay conditions to give Solihull number six.

The final period gave the Barons a further four goals without loss, Josh Bruce picking up a pair, Andy Whitehouse a single and youngster Jack Mckay in his first game as a senior player, scoring via a Whitehouse rebound for a memorable debut goal.

The Barons welcome the Sheffield Senators to Solihull Ice Rink this Sunday evening. This will be the final visit of the season by the Senators, who lost 6-1 when they faced the Barons at Hobs Moat back in September. Despite this loss, the Senators are one of the stronger sides in the Laidler division, having only dropped points to the Barons and the Telford Tigers. Face-off : 6pm.

v Deeside

Barons goals : Bruce (3), Doyle (2), Janak, Selwood, McKay, Whitehouse, Larkin Barons assists : Henry (6), Janak (3), Bruce (2), Larkin, Whitehouse, Soar, Doyle, D Harrison Barons MoM : Jack McKay