(Image permission: David Strover)
ENGLAND, UK – Hull Pirates progressed to the semi-finals of the Moralee D1 play-offs courtesy of a comfortable 29-4 aggregate victory over Sutton Sting.
Sheffield Steeldogs are also through to the last four after running out 13-6 winners overall against Blackburn Hawks.
Telford Tigers overcame a scare to eventually see off Solihull Barons in their quarter-final tie. The Tigers lost 7-5 at Solihull, but triumphed 8-0 on home ice to make it to the next stage.
Whitley Warriors resisted a stunning comeback by Solway Sharks to book their place in the semi-finals. The Warriors won 6-1 at Solway, but the Sharks fought back to take the second leg 8-4.
Ollie Barron (4) topped the scoring for Widnes Wild as the Laidler D2 champions secured a 9-5 victory at Deeside Dragons.
Bradford Bulldogs enjoyed a four-point weekend, winning 7-5 at Blackburn Hawks 2 and 5-2 at Altrincham Aces.
The Bulldogs will join Wild, Telford Tigers 2 and Hull Jets at the D2 play-off weekend in Widnes on 20th and 21st April.
Ollie Lord (2), Jekabs Bisnieks (2) and Sam Chandler were on target for Coventry Blaze NIHL in their 5-1 home victory over Sheffield Senators.
WEEKEND RESULTS
Moralee D1
Hull Pirates 14-1 Sutton Sting
Sutton Sting 3-15 Hull Pirates (agg 4-29)
Sheffield Steeldogs 7-2 Blackburn Hawks
Blackburn Hawks 4-6 Sheffield Steeldogs (agg 13-6)
Solihull Barons 7-5 Telford Tigers
Telford Tigers 8-0 Solihull Barons (agg 13-7)
Solway Sharks 1-6 Whitley Warriors
Whitley Warriors 4-8 Solway Sharks (agg 10-9)
Laidler D2
Altrincham Aces 2-5 Bradford Bulldogs
Blackburn Hawks 2 5-7 Bradford Bulldogs
Coventry Blaze NIHL 5-1 Sheffield Senators
Deeside Dragons 5-9 Widnes Wild
PHN’s top two talking points
PHN All-Star awards become official
The voting for this season’s NIHL All-Star teams and individual awards for players and coaches will be coordinated by Pro Hockey News in both the north and south divisions.
A panel of coaching staff and senior players from across every team in the league have been asked to cast their votes for their standout performers this season.
The All-Star teams will be published by PHN ahead of the respective NIHL play-off weekends, with the individual awards announced at each event.
We’ve already had responses from over half of the clubs in the north and will be firing out reminders this week – check your emails and direct message folks!
Sting deserve praise for taking the plunge
Hull 29-4 Sutton. If anyone needed any proof that change was needed in the NIHL, this aggregate scoreline in the play-offs highlighted it perfectly.
However, it would be unfair to allow the result to mask the progress made by Sutton in a hugely unsatisfactory set-up this term.
Sting finished eighth ahead of Billingham Stars and Nottingham Lions to vindicate their decision to move up a level after winning the league below.
It would have been good to see Widnes follow the same path after claiming top spot this term, but the announcement of season tickets for another year in D2 appears to have scuppered those hopes.
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