Dominant Barons rue missed chances

Solihull Barons 2-4 Whitley Warriors
Trafford Metros 7-3 Solihull Barons

By Matt Johnson, Barons’ Press Officer

Solihull Barons were left frustrated by what could have been, after outplaying a brittle Whitley Warriors side, only to end up on the back end of a 4-2 defeat.

The Barons created a number of chances throughout, but a lack of cutting edge in front of goal cost them what should have been their second victory of the season.

Despite the overall domination, they couldn’t have got off to a worse start. The Warriors struck three goals in the first nine minutes, including one shorthanded, to pile further misery onto Barons Head Coach Darren Bellerby after Saturday’s 7-3 defeat at the Trafford Metros.

But Solihull responded terrifically. Rob Perks bundled home a powerplay goal just a minute later to drag his side back into the match, and then they took control.

Shots rained down on Calvin Khass in the Warriors goal as the Barons turned up the heat, but they couldn’t force the puck home and the period ended 3-1.

The short-benched Warriors were struggling to get a foothold, and suffered ten penalty minutes in a backs-to-the-wall second period as the Barons continued to pepper Khass’ goal. But frustratingly for Solihull, they couldn’t make any of their five powerplay opportunities or their total dominance tell on the scoreboard.

The Third began in a similar fashion as a tiring Warriors continued to wilt, but the Barons route to goal remained blocked. That was until with ten minutes remaining, Erik Bakalar powered an effort past Khass to make it 3-2 and set up a frantic finale.

Solihull continued to drive forward in pursuit of the equaliser, but with a minute left, they were hit by the ultimate sucker punch as Adam Andrews inadvertently turned the puck into his own net to kill the game off at 4-2 and inflict a cruel defeat on the Barons.

In complete contrast, Solihull were outplayed 24 hours earlier by a sharper Trafford Metros side. Once again, Barons started slowly and were four goals behind in the first ten minutes, but a tighter second period saw them claw a goal back through Andy Whitehouse, only for the Metros to strike a further three to end the second 7-1 ahead. A revived performance in the third was encouraging as two goals from Richard Slater meant a 2-0 period victory, but Barons succumbed to an overall 7-3 defeat.

Goals (Whitley): Perks, Bakalar
Assists (Whitley): Rodger, Brindle, Thomas
Man of the Match: Perks

Goals (Trafford): Whitehouse, R Slater (2)
Assists (Trafford): Unconfirmed
Man of the Match: Whitehouse