Solihull Barons – Widnes Wild

Recap

The Direct Taxis Solihull Barons fell to defeat against a buoyant Widnes Wild on Saturday evening in a tie where the depleted Barons squad stood firm for the first 40 minutes but faded under relentless Wild pressure in the final period.

Solihull were the first to get the scoreboard lit after nine minutes. A deceptive glider of a shot far out on the right wing by Callum Bowley fooled Wild goalie Harrison Walker and earned the Barons their opening goal. By 13 minutes the Wild had equalised, a shot from Berwyn Hughes on the left wing finding the net.

The first half of the second period remained goalless and it was not until the twelfth minute of the period that the score keepers were troubled. Liam Charnock of the Wild found himself free in space in neutral ice on a Barons powerplay and with an undefended sheet of ice ahead, was quickly breaking away and homing in on Graham Laverick, before lifting the puck into the Solihull net.

A minute into the third and the Wild eased out their lead to two goals as Liam Charnock got on the end of a scramble in the crease and tapped the puck home. With 8 minutes to go Berwyn Hughes more or less put the game beyond the Barons, skating up the left wing and past the Solihull D before picking his spot for the Wild’s fourth goal. A minute later and the Wild’s Vlads Vulkanovs reinforced the point, skating through the centre of the Barons zone for the visitor’s fifth. This was quickly followed by Widnes’s sixth following a powerplay to the Wild, Richard Haggar this time. With three minutes to go, the Barons pulled back a consolation goal, Calllum Bowley tapping home from an Elliot Farrell feed.

A disappointing result, and while the Barons have been struggling with a short bench for some time now, there is optimism around the corner as we head toward the play-offs. As supporters will have observed, a number of players have been absent for some time through injury but the hope is some will be ready to return to play as we close out the season. Ashley Calvert will not return and has been released from the Barons. Meanwhile the rescheduling of the Wild game had left some players temporarily unavailable last night and when we are next back at Hobs Moat on the 20thMarch, they, together with Niklas Ottosson, will return to the Solihull top line, the Swede having completed his 4 match suspension picked up at the end of the Solway game.

The Barons are away at Nottingham on Sunday evening and will have their final regular season away game at Widnes on the 13th before returning to Hobs Moat for four consecutive home games, rounding off Solihull’s 21-22 Moralee campaign starting with Billingham on the 20th March.

Barons Man of the Match, Callum Bowley (J&K Davies)

Wild’s Man of the Match, Berwyn Hughes (J&K Davies)