Barons Sink Stingrays

By Gareth Thomson

The Sheldon Jewellery Centre Solihull Barons returned to winning ways with a convincing victory over a young Hull NL Stingrays squad at Hobs Moat rink on Sunday evening and in doing so gifted their loyal fans with an early Christmas present.

Despite Hull sitting toward the bottom of the table, Darren Bellerby's Barons knew that the Stingrays are the most unpredictable team in the league, having beaten leaders, the Nottingham Lions, only a few weeks earlier.

The Barons started brightly. After five minutes, a powerplay face off to the right of the 'Rays net, saw centre Joe Henry hook the puck back to defenceman Phil Lee whose slick pass along the blue line was picked off by Chris Allen, to send a rocketing slap shot into the Hull net. A minute later the Barons lead doubled as Andrew Whitehouse netted from close in.

Hull stayed focussed and mid-period Chris Hogarth put the puck past Hayden Laverick in the Solihull net to cut the Barons advantage to a single goal.

If the first period had offered Hull some hope of making a fight of it, a dominant performance in the second by the Barons saw five goals scored without loss and ended the game as a competition. Highlights included a physical push up the full length of the ice through several Hull players by Rob Eley to release Erik Bakalar to score off of Jake Larkin. Undoubtedly however the moment of the middle 20 minutes was a brilliant breakaway by Chris Allen who, as part of a short handed Barons line, picked the puck up in the Solihull end and audaciously broke away before releasing an unstoppable shot into the 'Rays net.

The second period also saw a hat-trick goal for Allen, a fine effort from Joe Henry and a debut goal for Barons youngster Richard Crowe.

The third period had spells of good play but the goal rate dropped, as the Barons started to  pick up penalties. Rich Slater closed the Barons account while Michael Forbes earned a well deserved consolation goal for Hull who despite the large number of juniors in their side never gave less than 100%.

 For Barons Captain Chris Allen it was a good night with a welcome two points, a hat-trick and a man of the match award. "I think I was a bit lucky with the goals ! I must average 10-15 shots a game and tonight a good number of them went in ! To be honest, I thought we probably played better last week but it was important to get the win. With Nottingham now four points ahead of us we need to make sure we keep up the pressure so the head to heads with the Lions will remain decisive for the league. Tonight was good though, we were able to roll four forward lines and the young kids were able to get some good ice time."

One such "young kid" was Richard Crowe who was delighted to score his first goal for the senior Solihull side. Speaking after the game he enthused "The goal was very unexpected, it really was and it was a big confidence boost for me tonight."

The Barons now have a break for Christmas before meeting local rivals the Telford Titans in a midlands Challenge Cup game on the 30th December, face-off 6pm.

Goals : Allen (3), Henry, Whitehouse, R Slater, Bakalar, Crowe
Assists : Larkin (3), Henry (2), R Slater (2), Brindle, Hunt, Eley, Allen, Lee
Man of the Match : Chris Allen

Next Home Game The Barons will take a bit of a Christmas break before stepping out onto the Hobs Moat Ice on the 30th December to tackle local rivals the Telford Titans in a festive clash. Face-off : 6pm Adults £6 : Concessions £3 Family ticket £16 (2 adults and up to 3 children)