(Image permission: Lois Tomlinson)
LANCASHIRE, UK – It’s getting tight at the top of Moralee D1, with just three points separating the top three teams.
Matty Davies (2) led the scoring for Hull Pirates in their 6-4 home victory over Sheffield Steeldogs. The result leaves Hull in third place behind Sheffield and Telford Tigers with a game in hand.
Telford are a point adrift of Sheffield after a comfortable 7-0 home win against Whitley Warriors – Scott McKenzie weighed in with a couple of goals.
Marek Charvat (4) and Scott Henderson (3) were amongst the scorers for Solway Sharks in their 15-0 victory at home to Nottingham Lions.
Deeside Dragons crashed 11-2 at Whitley, but they bounced back on home ice with a 7-5 success against Nottingham.
In the NIHL National Cup, Solway won 8-6 at Blackburn, Sheffield beat Peterborough Phantoms 6-3 and Telford lost 3-2 after overtime at Swindon Wildcats.
The Laidler D2 title race has been blown wide open, with the top three in the division all losing games over the weekend.
Sheffield Senators ended a three game losing streaking by beating the top two – winning 3-2 at home to Widnes Wild and 6-4 at Altrincham Aces. Widnes also lost 6-4 at home to Hull Jets.
That result completed an excellent weekend for Hull who won 5-4 on home ice against Telford Tigers 2.
Third-placed Sutton Sting won 9-0 at Blackburn Hawks 2, but they failed to follow up on home ice as Telford recorded a 4-3 success – Karol Jets bagged a hat-trick for the visitors.
Jack McKay grabbed the decider for Coventry Blaze NIHL in their 3-2 overtime victory at Bradford Bulldogs.
PHN’s top two talking points
New tier two needs time to bed in
The collapse of the EPL led to a shake-up in the NIHL and it’s fair to say that many people weren’t pleased with the new structure.
The former EPL clubs currently lead the way in both the North and South, although many of the ‘original’ NIHL sides have shown they can be competitive against them.
The new set-up was never going to be perfect from the outset, and there are some issues still to be addressed, but the first three months have shown that a sustainable second tier could finally be on the cards.
All not well at Blackburn?
Blackburn’s defeat at home to Solway on Sunday was their sixth game without a win and the atmosphere around the club seems very tetchy at the moment.
There have been accusations in certain quarters that the Hawks aren’t being run as professionally as they could be, whilst the list of off-ice personnel cutting their ties with the club continues to grow.
Blackburn has the potential to be the biggest club in NIHL North, but things are certainly not as they should be right now.
WEEKEND RESULTS
Moralee D1
Deeside Dragons 7-5 Nottingham Lions
Hull Pirates 6-4 Sheffield Steeldogs
Solway Sharks 15-0 Nottingham Lions
Telford Tigers 7-0 Whitley Warriors
Whitley Warriors 11-2 Deeside Dragons
Laidler D2
Altrincham Aces 4-6 Sheffield Senators
Blackburn Hawks 2 0-9 Sutton Sting
Bradford Bulldogs 2-3 Coventry Blaze NIHL (OT)
Hull Jets 5-4 Telford Tigers 2
Sheffield Senators 3-2 Widnes Wild
Sutton Sting 3-4Telford Tigers 2
Widnes Wild 4-6 Hull Jets
NIHL National Cup
Blackburn Hawks 6-8 Solway Sharks
Sheffield Steeldogs 6-3 Peterborough Phantoms
Swindon Wildcats 3-2 Telford Tigers (OT)
You must be logged in to post a comment.