Sheffield shatter Barons fragile defence.

Sheffield Senators 4
Solihull Barons 2

By Gareth Thomson

The Sheldon Jewellery Centre Solihull Barons defensive frailties away from home were exposed as they went down to a 4-2 defeat against league rivals the Sheffield Senators on Sunday afternoon.

The puck had been on the ice for less than a minute when Sheffield’s Nathan Britton made the most of errors in the Barons defence to put the home side onto the scoresheet. Three minutes later and the same player exploited another slip-up to put the Senators two to the good.

Despite the shock of the opening five minutes the Barons regained a degree of composure to see out the period, stemming the Senators ambitions and peppering their goal with shots, albeit with no reward.

On the half hour mark, Mike Rodger, once again staking his claim as the Barons most spectacular player, made an end to end dash to put the puck beyond Mark Hartley in the Senators net.

With only one goal in it as the two sides emerged from the changing rooms for the final period, there was some real hope that the Barons could get something from the game. However within a couple of minutes Sheffield’s Jonathan Kirk dampened those hopes to re-extend the Senators lead.

As the game got into its closing stages Joe Henry reignited the Barons hopes, cutting the Sheffield lead back to a single goal, but it wasn’t to be – Nathan Britton getting his hat-trick for the Senators in the final 30 seconds to cap a disappointing outing for the Solihull squad.

After the game coach Darren Bellerby was philosophical about the result. “Last week’s game didn’t do us any favours going from very small rink to much larger rink. But the facts are the team didn’t get going until half way through the second period but by then the damage was done through 2 defensive errors in the first period.”

The Barons will now regroup to ensure they make the most of the remaining games of the 2012-13 season starting with this Sunday’s Steve Perks Memorial Cup game, a crucial and likely very closely fought league fixture against the Deeside Dragons. Face-off : 6pm.

Goals : Rodger, Henry
Assists : R Slater, Doyle
Man of the Match : Rob Eley

Next Home Game STEVE PERKS MEMORIAL TROPHY Sunday 24th February The Barons face the Deeside Dragons in a fixture which will go a long way to determining which side ends up on top at the season end. Give the Boys your Support & make sure you're there ! This game will also be played for in honour of Steve Perks - a long term Barons fan and father of Barons #18 Rob. Face-off : 6pm Adults £6 : Concessions £3 Family ticket £16 (2 adults and up to 3 children)