Telford NL Tigers : 6
Bristol Street Motors Solihull Barons : 9

Bristol Street Motors Solihull Barons : 11
Telford NL Tigers : 2

The weekend had the Bristol Street Motors Solihull Barons come face to face with league runners up the Telford Tigers twice in a road and home set of ties which would see the Barons take both games, one by a much closer margin than the other.

On Saturday the Barons made the short trip up to Shropshire and found themselves in the unfamiliar position of being 2-0 down after 15 minutes. Two Barons goals within two minutes, from Tom Soar and captain, Rob Eley would however see the sides head to the dressing room evenly matched.

The second period would be a reversal of this, the Barons this time opening up the two goal lead courtesy of a pair from ex-Telford captain Tomas Janak, only for Solihull to be pegged back to four all by late in the period. The Barons had been holding the balance of play but with a solid netminding performance by Kyle MacFarlane in the Telford net, Solihull were struggling to convert this into goals.

The final period would finally see the Barons stretch their legs with no less than five goals in the last twenty, Josh Bruce with a pair alongside a single from Tom Soar, Joe Henry and Erik Bakalar in one of his final games before retirement. The Tigers would get a pair of goals themselves but it would be too late and the Barons would take both points home with them.

On Sunday the Barons faced the Tigers once more but this time on home ice. The Barons started the game with intent - Jake Larkin being fed the puck by Tom Soar from behind the net for the Barons opener after just over a minute. Dave Rogers would then double the lead with a tap in from short range after three minutes. Just shy of nine minutes and Tom Soar found himself gifted the puck in the Tigers end and carefully teed up his shot before putting the puck in the Telford net for Barons goal number three. An early timeout by the Tigers seemed to produce a more solid defensive play by the Telford side and their occasional forward runs would be rewarded by the league's top points scorer James Smith making the most of a short range pass from the back boards to keep the Tigers in contention at the period end.

The second period saw the Barons take full control over the game and convert pressure into goals. The scoring was re-started on the 27th minute as Rich Slater played cat and mouse with the Telford goalie until he committed then played the puck into the free space. A minute later and a silky shot from Soar brought the Barons up to five. Frantic scrambling by Kyle MacFarlane in the Tigers net could do nothing to stop Tomas Janak adding to the total. The period was rounded off with a goal apiece from Jake Larkin and Josh Bruce to leave the Barons in a commanding 8-1 lead going into the final period.

The final period had the Barons continue to add to their lead, Rob Eley knocking in his own rebound, a minute in. The Tigers pulled one back after five minutes, Bradley Betteridge doing the honours. This was almost immediately countered by the Barons, Andy Whitehouse this time. A Josh Bruce effort would round things off for the Barons, to leave a perhaps surprisingly comfortable 11-2 victory.

The Barons now wrap up their league season with an away tie against the Nottingham Lions on Sunday - places on the bus (£10) available here. The following weekend, Easter, the play-off tournament comes to Solihull, with the Barons aiming for more silverware. Solihull's semi-final against the Widnes Wild is on Easter Saturday, 4th April at 6:30 and with the Cheshire side likely to bring a squad of committed players and a bus load of passionate supporters a great tie is in prospect. The following night the Sheffield Senators and Telford Tigers clash in semi-final 2, with things being wrapped up with the final on Easter Monday.

@ Telford

Barons goals : Janak (2), Bruce (2), Soar (2), Henry, Eley, Bakalar Barons assists : Henry (3), Eaton (2), Doyle (2), Bruce (2), Larkin, Bakalar, S Harrison, Janak Barons Man of the Match : Tomas Janak

v Telford

Barons goals : Bruce (2), Soar (2), Larkin (2), Rogers, Janak, Whitehouse, Slater, Eley Barons assists : Eaton (3), Soar (2), Henry (2), McKay, Papps, Larkin, Bakalar, S Harrison, Slater, Whitehouse, Janak, Rogers Barons Man of the Match : Erik Bakalar