(Image permission: Keith & Jenny Davies)
ENGLAND, UK – Solway Sharks kicked-off their Moralee D1 campaign in style with two impressive performances over the weekend.
The Sharks opened their league season with a comfortable 15-1 home victory over Nottingham Lions – Jaakko Heiskanen (3), Ruairi Lockerbie (2) and Stuart Kerr (2) topped their scoring.
Martin Grubb’s side were forced to dig deep at Whitley Warriors the following evening, with the home team opening up a 3-1 lead by the end of the second period.
However, the Sharks fought back to force overtime and secured the victory courtesy of Peter Gapa’s goal with just over one minute to play.
The Warriors had better luck the previous day, with Ben Campbell’s double the highlight of a 5-1 win at Sutton Sting.
Tom Soar (2) led the scoring as Solihull Barons won 6-5 at home to Billingham Stars, while Blackburn Hawks triumphed 7-3 at Nottingham.
Bradford Bulldogs maintained their 100% record in Laidler D2, with Evan Coles’ last minute goal sealing a 3-2 win at Deeside Dragons.
Nathan Britton bagged the winner as Sheffield Senators secured a 6-5 shoot-out victory at Widnes Wild.
Telford Tigers 2 opened their league campaign with a hard-fought 4-3 home victory over Altrincham Aces – Filip Supa grabbed the decider.
Hull Jets lost 6-4 at home to Deeside, but bounced in style by demolishing Blackburn Hawks 2 19-0 on the road.
WEEKEND RESULTS
Moralee D1
Nottingham Lions 3-7 Blackburn Hawks
Solihull Barons 6-5 Billingham Stars
Solway Sharks 15-1 Nottingham Lions
Sutton Sting 1-5 Whitley Warriors
Whitley Warriors 3-4 Solway Sharks (OT)
Laidler D2
Blackburn Hawks 2 0-19 2 Hull Jets
Deeside Dragons 2-3 Bradford Bulldogs
Hull Jets 4-6 Deeside Dragons
Telford Tigers 2 4-3 Altrincham Aces
Widnes Wild 5-6 Sheffield Senators (SO)
PHN’s top two talking points
Lions TV initiative hits the right notes
It’s been a tough start to the season for Nottingham, but the club is certainly excelling off the ice.
The Lions are broadcasting all home matches free of charge on their YouTube channel and the service is a splendid addition to NIHL media coverage.
Commentators Chris Gadsby and Jono Bullard do a great job calling the action, working hard to keep their Nottingham allegiances under wraps as much as possible.
Make sure you tune in when your team is in Nottingham this season – the league is a much better place for having this type of coverage.
Future bright for Solway
It was a turbulent summer for Solway, with the club losing most of their top point scorers to other teams.
The Sharks’ new-look roster faced their first tough test of the new campaign on Sunday as they travelled to face Whitley.
The visitors battled back from a two-goal deficit to claim the win in overtime and end the home side’s unbeaten record.
With 11 players under the age of 22 in their line-up, the Sharks clearly have some talent coming through the system. They’ll be tough to beat this season.
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