Solihull Barons – Nottingham Lions

Recap

The Direct Taxis Solihull Barons had to battle hard to earn a victory against a determined and defensively energetic Nottingham Lions on Sunday evening in a tie much closer than many would have predicted. With the skating several strides faster and the checks that bit harder, it was clear early on that the Barons dial had been turned up a notch or two from the pre-seasonal Huskies games the weekend before.

The visitors were the first to find the space to finish with Callum Worthington-Evans making the most of a counter attack for the Lions first, a little after two minutes. The Barons returned the compliment just after six minutes with a rapid Brodie Jesson tearing up the left wing before rattling the puck in off the Lions cross-bar to tie things up. Two minutes later and the Barons took the lead, a neat feed from Richard Crowe being picked up by Dan Mulcahy for Solihull’s 2nd. The rest of the period would see the Barons pushing, only to face stout Lions defence which would only be broken with a minute to go. Tom Soar took advantage of a powerplay man advantage to float the puck above the blocker of Lions goalie, Luca Sheldon, for the Barons third.

A minute into the 2nd and the Lions pulled one back on the Barons as goal mouth disorder allowed the puck to slip round a supine Graham Laverick. With 28 minutes gone the Barons restored their two goal buffer as Andy Whitehouse fired the puck home from the slot. A sequential minor high sticks penalty against the Lions offered a further chance for Solihull to ease their lead out. Cyclic passing by the Barons powerplay unit opened gaps in the Lions defence to convert the first of these into a goal, Tom Soar with the final touch to give Solihull five.

The third period would continue the general pattern of Barons pressure being soaked up by the Lions, the visitors chasing the puck carrier and clogging the path to net whenever the Barons got close on goal. This stalemate would be broken with eight minutes to go as James Smith made the most of a goal mouth scramble for Solihull’s sixth. The Lions bounced back quickly as a cheap Barons penalty gave the Lions the man advantage – Tom Dermott doing the damage with a Lions goal. With less than two minutes to go, another soft penalty was given away by the Barons and the Lions pounced again, Alex Cleves this time, to close to only two goals. Ultimately however Solihull would edge it in a close game whose scoreline went against historic form.

The Barons are back on home ice this Sunday when they take on the Sheffield Scimitars in a Moralee cup tie. The Scimitars are newly reformed this year but on early performances are looking to be a solid squad comfortably beating the Blackburn Hawks and running the Solway Sharks close in early season fixtures.

Barons Man of the Match, James Smith (J&K Davies)

Lions Man of the Match, Luca Sheldon (J&K Davies)