Image permission: Rob Hutchinson
LANCASHIRE, UK – Solway Sharks made the perfect start to the new NIHL North season with victories in both the league and cup.
The Moralee D1 champions started the weekend with an 8-5 cup success against Blackburn Hawks and followed up with a 13-2 league win at Deeside Dragons.
Sharks’ forward Iain Bowie enjoyed an excellent personal weekend, scoring seven goals in the two games.
Telford Tigers kicked off their league campaign with a four-point weekend. Joe Miller grabbed the shoot-out decider as the Tigers won 4-3 against Sheffield Steeldogs, while Jason Silverthorn made it four goals over the weekend with a double in his team’s 5-2 success at Nottingham Lions.
The Steeldogs bounced back from their defeat at Telford, winning 5-4 at Solihull Barons – Adrian Palak (2) topped their scoring.
Billingham Stars started the weekend with an 11-3 win at home to Deeside, but they couldn’t follow up against the Hawks as Richard Bentham’s late goal secured a 3-2 victory for the Lancashire outfit.
In Laidler D2, Widnes Wild picked up four points, winning 5-0 at Bradford Bulldogs and 5-2 on home ice against Coventry Blaze NIHL.
Tomas Mitrik (3) and Joe Greaves (2) led the scoring for Altrincham Aces in their impressive 8-1 victory over Telford Tigers 2.
The Tigers bounced back with a 16-1 home success over Deeside Dragons 2. That result completed a miserable weekend for the Dragons who also lost 23-1 at Sheffield Senators.
Blackburn Hawks 2 began life in the NIHL with a 10-2 defeat at Coventry.
PHN’s top two talking points
Mind the gap
Solihull Barons and Nottingham Lions didn’t get the results they craved, but their respective efforts against Sheffield Steeldogs and Telford Tigers bodes well for the rest of the season.
Plenty has been written about the impact the former EPL teams will have on the NIHL, but both sides produced performances that showed the gap might not be as big as many people feared.
Sheffield, Telford and Hull Pirates are rightly fancied to finish as the top three this term, but the remaining teams will take points off them at some stage.
Aces ready to fly
Altrincham Aces’ 8-1 victory over Telford Tigers 2 on Saturday was a big statement of intent.
Former Blackburn Eagles defender Wayne Slater has taken over as player/coach and he’s boosted the Aces’ roster with a handful of players from last season’s now defunct Laidler D2 champions.
There are a few teams who will fancy their chances of promotion this season, but the Aces could well be the team to beat.
WEEKEND RESULTS
Moralee D1
Billingham Stars 11-3 Deeside Dragons
Blackburn Hawks 3-2 Billingham Stars
Deeside Dragons 2-13 Solway Sharks
Nottingham Lions 2-5 Telford Tigers
Solihull Barons 4-5 Sheffield Steeldogs
Solway Sharks 8-5 Blackburn Hawks (Cup)
Telford Tigers 4-3 Sheffield Steeldogs (SO)
Laidler D2
Altrincham Aces 8-1 Telford Tigers 2
Bradford Bulldogs 0-5 Widnes Wild
Coventry Blaze NIHL 10-2 Blackburn Hawks 2
Deeside Dragons 2 1-23 Sheffield Senators
Telford Tigers 2 16-1 Deeside Dragons 2
Widnes Wild 5-2 Coventry Blaze NIHL
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