(Image permission: Arthur Foster)
ENGLAND, UK – Solway Sharks made the perfect start to their NIHL North Cup campaign with two impressive victories over the weekend.
Peter Gapa scored twice in the Sharks’ 4-2 home win over Whitley Warriors and he followed up with a hat-trick in their 9-7 success at Billingham Stars.
The Teessiders had better luck at Dundee Comets the previous day, racing to a 13-4 victory over the SNL side.
Blackburn Hawks made a disappointing start in the NIHL Midlands Cup, slipping to a 7-3 defeat at Sutton Sting. They bounced back with a 6-1 home win over Widnes Wild.
Niklas Ottosson (4) and Tom Soar (3) topped the scoring for Solihull Barons in their 13-2 success at Nottingham Lions.
Whitley remain top of Moralee D1 after securing a 3-2 shoot-out victory at home to Sutton.
Gowan Beddoes (4), Boris Giba (3), Mark Florence (3) and Reaghan Taylor (3) led the way for Hull Jets as they crushed Blackburn Hawks 2 20-0 in Laidler D2.
Telford Tigers 2 lost 5-4 after overtime at home to Sheffield Senators, but ended the weekend on a high note with a 6-1 win at Deeside Dragons.
Bradford Bulldogs had a mixed weekend, winning 8-5 on home ice against Deeside before falling to a 7-3 defeat at Altrincham Aces.
WEEKEND RESULTS
NIHL North Cup
Billingham Stars 7-9 Solway Sharks
Dundee Comets 4-13 Billingham Stars
Solway Sharks 4-2 Whitley Warriors
NIHL Midlands Cup
Blackburn Hawks 6-1 Widnes Wild
Nottingham Lions 2-13 Solihull Barons
Sutton Sting 7-3 Blackburn Hawks
Moralee D1
Whitley Warriors 3-2 Sutton Sting (SO)
Laidler D2
Altrincham Aces 7-3 Bradford Bulldogs
Bradford Bulldogs 8-5 Deeside Dragons
Deeside Dragons 1-6 Telford Tigers 2
Hull Jets 20-0 Blackburn Hawks 2
Telford Tigers 2 4-5 Sheffield Senators (OT)
PHN’s top two talking points
Farewell to long-serving duo
The NIHL has said goodbye to two of its longest serving players over the past few days, with Ollie Lomax (Blackburn) and Martin Crammond (Whitley) announcing their retirement.
The pair have been a regular feature in the league for many years and will undoubtedly be missed by their respective clubs.
PHN would like to wish both players the best of luck for the future and hope you enjoy doing something else at weekends!
Nasty incidents need to stop
The league has been blighted by quite a few ugly incidents in recent times and there was yet another during the game between Deeside and Telford 2 on Sunday.
It’s fair to say that the video footage doesn’t look great and the news that the police are involved isn’t what ice hockey in the UK needs.
Whoever was to blame and whatever the provocation, incidents of this nature simply shouldn’t be happening.
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