Solihull Barons – Billingham Stars

Recap

EDG Property Solihull Barons : 7
Billingham Stars : 3

The EDG Property Solihull Barons continued to show very strong home form in a closely fought tie on Sunday evening. This ultimately saw them win over league leaders, the Billingham Stars in a game which was anyone’s for 50 minutes before the Barons capitalised on some late chances.

The game however could have ended differently. With two minutes of the first puck drop the Stars, had pinned the Barons into their own end and confirmed their intent as Iain Brown slotted home from close range. By the 15 minutes mark there had been plenty end to end action but it would take a back-hander from Phil Mulcahy from a precise Niklas Ottosson feed to draw the Barons level. This was quickly followed by a spectacular Niklas Ottosson goal, the Swede breaking up the ice before a stunning diving shot sent the puck beyond Tom Brown and into the Stars net.

By a minute and a half of the second the Stars had drawn level with Chris Sykes racing up the ice and gifting Michael Elder the puck for the visitors equaliser. Two minutes later and the Stars were a goal up as Sykes soaked the defensive heat on his way up the ice leaving Elder again free on the back post for the Stars number 3. The Barons themselves would counter with some hard graft by Alex Whyte to sweep the puck from the Barons end before clearing to Phil Mulcahy to things up from a yard out to level the scoring for the final twenty.

The first half of the final period would see both sides with chances, however it was not until 8 and a half minutes of the third to go that the Barons Richard Crowe would make the most of a powerplay to sneak a tight angled shot under the foot of Tom Brown and give the Barons a slender lead. This advantage was quickly doubled via an Alex Whyte and Niklas Ottosson shorthanded break, the former with the final touch. With a few minutes of the final to go the Barons added a pair more goals on the powerplay from Phil Mulcahy and Brandon Anderton as the Billingham threat collapsed.

The Barons now have a weekend off due to the staging of the Blackburn/Billingham cup final and return to play on the 3rd March away at Whitley. They are back at Hobs Moat the following weekend to take on the Nottingham Lions on Sunday the 10th March, Face off 5.30pm.

Barons Man of the Match : Phil Mulcahy

Stars Man of the Match : MichaEL ELDER

Prizes presented by Q-TOoling

Weekend Round-up

Saturday 17th February
Sheffield Scimitars : 5-13 : Deeside Dragons
Blackburn Hawks : 9-0 : Widnes Wild
(M56 Cup-final, non-league)

Sunday 18th February
Deeside Dragons : 4 – 2 : Hull Jets
Whitley Warriors : 3 – 4 : Blackburn Hawks
Widnes Wild : 2 – 5 : Nottingham Lions