Blackburn Hawks – Solihull Barons

Recap

The Direct Taxis Solihull Barons rounded off a successful long weekend away with a dominant display against the Hawks in Blackburn on Sunday evening.

Despite the final result, the Hawks were the first to score, Lee Pollitt firing home for Blackburn just after two minutes. Thoughts the Barons may have been suffering the after effects of Saturday’s hard fought tie in Dumfries were dispelled in the second half of the period as goals by Niklas Ottosson, Tom Soar and Richard Slater gave the Barons a comfortable lead heading to the dressing room after the first twenty minutes. For Slater this would be his 400th point (and 220th goal) for Solihull cementing his place further as number 3 in all time scoring and 4 in all time points for the club.

Into the second and the Barons eased their lead out further and exerted their control on the game as Phil Mulcahy and Rich Slater each bagged a goal for Solihull. At the other end of the ice Sam Hewitt in net and the Barons D held firm to ensure any Hawks chances remained unrealised.

By the final period the Hawks saw no way back, while the Barons peppered the Blackburn net almost without let up and in doing so reached double figures by the 60 minute buzzer. Niklas Ottosson and Phil Mulcahy both buried the puck twice each in the final twenty while Tom Soar got a single to give Solihull 10. A late Hawks goal by Jared Dickinson gave the home support a little brightness after a long evening for the Lancashire side.

The Barons have one more game to complete their long away run when they travel to Widnes next Sunday before finally returning to play at Hobs Moat on the 20th February to take on league leaders the Solway Sharks.