ENL North week 6 round-up

BLACKBURN, UK – ENL1 North leaders Billingham Stars comfortably disposed of Solihull Barons 8-0 to stay top of the pile. James Udell and Scott Ward put Stars 2-0 up in the first five minutes. Simon Hehir, Andy Flecther, Stuart Gibbon and a second strike from Ward extended the lead in the second, while final period goals from Gibbon and James McCabe completed the rout. Trafford Metros are level on points with Billingham after a 4-0 away win over third placed Telford Titans.

Coventry Blaze continued their unpredictable form with a win and a loss. They followed a 7-3 success over Whitley Warriors with a 6-2 defeat in Sheffield – Shaun Wild scored twice for Spartans. The Warriors’ quest for a third title on the spin suffered a further setback as they could only draw 3-3 at home to Nottingham Lions. Jordan Barnes gave them the lead but Gareth O’Flaherty and Joe Wightman put the visitors in front by the end of the first period. Wightman added another in the second, but goals in the third by DJ Good and Jamie Tinsley salvaged a point for Whitley. Solway Sharks remain top of ENL2 North after an 18-6 demolition of Fylde Flyers. Goals from Aiden Fulton (2), Bob Chalmers (2), Calum Henderson and Ross Murray gave Sharks a 6-2 lead at the end of the first – Elvis Veldze grabbed both for Fylde. Veldze completed his hat-trick in the 33rd minute, but Murray restored Sharks’ four goal cushion soon after. Flyers hit back through Veldze and Richard Hulme to close the gap to two. Solway ran riot in the final period as Chalmers completed his hat-trick while Adam Reynolds (4), Struan Tonner, Frazer Goldie, Nathan Salem, Lewis Gold and Mark Gallagher were all on target. Flyers only reply was Veldze’s fifth of the night which secured him the MVP award.   Flintshire’s Chris Jones scored three as Freeze beat Lancashire Raptors 7-0 and repeated the feat in their 8-5 win over Sheffield Senators. The all-Yorkshire clash between Bradford Bulldogs and Hull Stingrays saw the Humbersiders triumph 8-4. Solway extended their lead in the ENL North Cup with a 6-2 win over Blackburn Hawks in front of a big crowd at Blackburn Arena. After a scoreless first period the game burst into life in the second as Adam Reynolds and Nathan Salem put the Sharks in front. Rick Hughes pulled one back for Hawks, but Lewis Gold restored the two goal cushion moments later. Salem added a fourth and Mark Gallagher a fifth before Jordan Bannon reduced the deficit for the home team, but Bob Chalmers raced away to score Sharks’ sixth and extinguish any hopes of a comeback. Next week sees the big clash in Sheffield as the Spartans take on the Nottingham Lions in the pick of the fixtures. Contact the author Comment@Prohockeynews.com