ENL North round-up week 29

BLACKBURN, UK – Sami Narkia was the star of the show as Blackburn Hawks surged past Whitley Warriors into the ENL1 North play-off final. The flying Finn’s performance left Warriors chasing shadows and caused a disciplinary meltdown, which cost them any chance of retaining their

play-off crown. The North-East outfit started Saturday’s first leg in Blackburn on the front foot, but surprisingly found themselves behind after seven minutes when Dave Meikle finished after good work from Chris Arnone. Warriors levelled four minutes later when Jamie Tinsley took advantage of Scott Glover’s slip to coolly fire past Danny Brittle in the Hawks net. Rick Hughes put the home team in control with a couple of quickfire goals, before a thunderbolt from Aaron Davies put Hawks three clear. Narkia sent the home fans into raptures just before the first break, as he picked the puck up on his own blue line, beat two men and fired an unstoppable shot past Richie Lawson to make it 5-1. To their credit, Warriors regrouped in the second and DJ Good bagged a couple of quick goals as Hawks became complacent. Whitley continued to press but Brittle kept them at bay to end the period 5-3. The third was a more even contest and both sides created chances but both defences held firm to leave Hawks with a two goal cushion ahead of the second leg at Hillheads. Tom King’s powerplay goal put Hawks in front after seven minutes and Warriors quickly descended into rough-house tactics. In the 14th minute Dean Holland’s senseless two-handed slash down the back of Narkia’s legs, saw him deservedly ejected from the game. The incident was the cue for a shameful bench clearance by the Warriors, resulting in a brawl in front of the Hawks bench. Whitley’s player/coach Garry Dowd attacked Narkia, while a number of Warriors’ players completely lost the plot.   The melee left Hawks on a nine minute powerplay and it came as no surprise when Hughes grabbed his third of the weekend to end the first 7-3 overall. Narkia extended the lead to five in the 26th minute, but two goals midway through the period from DJ Good and Jordan Barnes gave Warriors a flicker of hope. Narkia pinged another effort off the post before Tom King made it 9-5 just six seconds before the end of the second. DJ Good pulled one back early in the third, but Narkia quickly restored Hawks’ advantage. Barnes made it 10-7 after 45 minutes, but the visitors wouldn’t be denied and King’s hat-trick goal with a couple of minutes to go crowned a memorable night for Jared Owen’s men. After the game Owen was full of praise for his team, “It was quite a battle but it feels great to make the final,” he said. “The boys worked hard in both games and really earned it.” Warriors’ forward Shaun Kippin confessed his team’s lack of discipline had cost them dearly, “The best team over the weekend won, but we threw it away by taking too many silly penalties.” Solway Sharks kept their perfect record intact in ENL2 North with a 5-2 win at Sheffield Senators – Nathan Salem (3) & Bob Chalmers (2) got the goals. Sutton Sting warmed up for their promotion play-off against Nottingham Lions with a 10-3 win at Sheffield the following evening. Fylde Flyers beat Flintshire Freeze 13-8 – Andy Clark (5) and Elvis Veldze (4) led the scoring for Flyers. This weekend sees the second play-off semi-final take place as Billingham Stars face-off against Telford Titans. Contact the author at: Michael.Black@prohockeynews.com