With the league now well underway and the Zoo Accounting Solihull Barons having now faced most of their Moralee opposition, it seemed a good point to catch up with Phil Lee to see how he felt the Barons season was coming together :
“Having had a few games now under our belt I wanted to give you an update on the progression of the team. Sheffield turned out to be a good test for us, it allowed us to work on some of the systems we have been practising. Although the score suggests it was a one-sided game, it definitely wasn’t. Sheffield is a young side who skated until the very end of the game, they tested both our defence and special team plays. Overall, it was a satisfactory victory with lots of positives, and some areas to work on.
We then saw ourselves travelling to Solway and Widnes. The Solway game was a real test, we didn’t really seem to get our systems working, and we looked lacklustre during the game, which was disappointing after the good start against Sheffield. Solway will certainly be a team that everyone will be aspiring to and is the standard the Barons need to strive to. The second part of the double header was Widnes, the intensity seemed to be little under parr and coupled with coming up against a hot net minder made the game really challenging. However, there were positives, we created plenty of chances and spent a lot of the time in Widnes end, but couldn’t take the goaltenders eyes away and convert the chances in front of goal. Defensively it was a better performance, however there were a few goals that could have been avoided, with better communication throughout the team. The weekend certainly gave us some food for thought and some areas of the game we need to work on if we want to compete at this level.
The feedback from the Billingham game (that covid kept me away from!) Again, the team started off a little slowly but managed to find their touch and moved up a gear in the latter stages of the game against a very good Billingham side. The game was physical, and penalty ridden however, we managed to secure a valuable victory against a very good side, who pulled off a very good win against Solway, the week before. Thanks to Davey Graham, Rob Eley and Ian Lewis for covering the game in my absence.
Blackburn was another challenge, the first time this year we have seen them at Solihull, having had a close fought game earlier in the season in Blackburn with a marginal victory in their home barn. We knew we were going to have to be on our game to get any sort of result. This was another game that was very hard fought right up to the third period just one goal apart. Again, there were lots of positives throughout the game and the PK worked well, containing the Blackburn special teams, killing off a double power play (5-3) for 4 minutes. The short-handed goal was a bonus which increased the lead and gave us the result in our favour, an exciting and hard-fought game from start to finish.
Looking ahead to Whitley Bay, this will be another big test for the team. Whitley is a well drilled team and are setting the standards within the league along with Solway, this will also give us an assessment of how we are progressing as a team.
I would like to thank all of the supporters and off-ice staff for the continued support.
Leepy
As mentioned above, the Barons play host to league high flyers the Whitley Warriors this Sunday evening. The Warriors, under the leadership of Head Coach Dave Longstaff, will always put on a good show with strong technical skills backed by a physical approach to the game. While presenting real strength in depth, key players to watch out for from the visitors include Phil Edgar and Adam Finlison, both of whom have been good for a goal a game in the Moralee so far this season. An entertaining game with full commitment from both sets of players looks on the cards so it is one not to miss!!!
See you all there ! Face-off 5.30pm, Sunday 23rd October
#COYBARONS