Darren Bellerby was thrilled to end the ENL One season with a victory at Hobs Moat Road after his Barons recorded a shock 3-2 victory over league runners-up Whitley Warriors.

Erik Bakalar’s 100th goal for the club cancelled out the Warriors’ early opener and Rob Eley then equalised for a second time when he hammered home on the powerplay. Richard Slater swept home midway through the second to complete the scoring and seal the surprise victory to leave Bellerby happy.

The Barons closed the season with a victory over ENL N1's perennial top teams, the Whitley Warriors.

"It’s just a nice way to end the season,” said Bellerby. “We’ve had a win to end on and that’s all that matters.

“We could do that all season, but the problem is inconsistency. We’ve not had the consistent performances every week and that’s why we’ve suffered. Tonight we’ve played a quality side, second in the league, and we’ve gone and turned them over.”

The Barons had been on a nine game losing steak, and with beaming smiles all around Hobs Moat Road, Bellerby admitted his relief at ending the run and hopes that it can give his players a boost of confidence heading into next season.

“It’s the best feeling in the world [to win]. It’s what we train for and when it doesn’t happen it’s obviously disappointing. We’ve got people paying good money to come in here to watch us and we have to turn up, that’s it, and I’m glad we did.

“It just gives a bit more confidence to some of these lads. I’ve said all along that we are good enough to be in this league, we’re just not consistent enough. I had four defencemen missing and we still managed to turn a team over as good as Whitley.”

Relegation was confirmed long ago, but the season hasn’t been without its plus points with a double home victory over Nottingham Lions, a draw with champions Billingham Stars and, of course, the victory over Whitley to name just a few. But in summing up the season, Bellerby was clearly focused on the next campaign when he’ll attempt to launch an immediate return to Division One.

“I’m glad to see the back of it [the season]. We’ve had highs and lows, but I wouldn’t have done it any differently. It’s been a big learning curve and I’ve got some young guys coming through now who will hopefully aspire to play next season. If we get some experience alongside them we’ll be ok and we should be in this league again for 2013.”

Young defenceman Luke Smith has emerged as a strong and disciplined blueliner this season. The Barons will be hoping for more young players to come though over the coming seasons.