SIHA Round-up - 22/23.11.2014

This last weekend I had the joy of two road trips for my hockey fix. Up first was a trip to Telford on Saturday with Senators which was followed by Spartans who were in action on Sunday up in Billingham.

Despite a solid team performance Sheffield Senators went down 5-0 to Telford Tigers in the NIHL Laidler Conference on Saturday evening. There was nothing between the two teams in the first period and it looked likely to end 0-0 until Telford broke out from their defensive zone to score on 19.14 through James Smith. It was harsh on Senators in fairness who had more than matched their opponents in every department.

Senators started the period strongly and put Telford under some sustained and intense pressure but lady luck was not shining and with Dennis Bell in goal for Tigers having a blinder Sens could just not find a way back into the game. Tigers were still posing a threat on the counter attack and they made it count on 32.01 when Karol Jets finished off a nice move to make it 2-0 to Telford. Sens will have been disappointed with certain aspects of how the goal came about but they couldn’t do anything about Telford’s next two goals. In what was their best spell of the game Bradley Betteridge on 33.35 and James Smith on 37.56 put Tigers in a winning position at 4-0 but they had to with stand a late rally from a hard working Sens team to keep the score at 4-0.

Credit to Senators, they didn’t give up and once again outshot their opponents but they were thwarted once again by Dennis Bell in Telford’s goal who was pushed all the way for his shutout. As Senators pressed forward for a goal whilst on a powerplay Telford once again broke out and with no defensive cover Mark Hartley was given no chance as Karol Jets & James Smith exchanged passes with Karol Jets finally shooting to score to make it 5-0 timed 52.52. Despite both teams best efforts there was no further scoring to leave an unlucky Senators with no reward for what their hard work deserved. They lost to a good, well organised and well drilled team though in Telford Tigers who made the most of their chances when they came and played to their strengths to win the game and are clearly destined for promotion…Final Score: Telford Tigers 5 Sheffield Senators 0

Sheffield Spartans travelled up to Billingham to face the Stars in the NIHL Moralee Conference and despite a good performance came away empty handed, losing 3-0 in an entertaining game of hockey.

In a scoreless first period neither team managed to stamp their authority on the game but there were plenty of chances. Stubborn defending from both teams ensured the score remained 0-0 with Spartans looking comfortable on the puck and coping with anything Stars could throw at them.

Both teams were in determined mood for the second period and after it being end to end Spartans managed to get on top with some good spells of pressure but they couldn’t get past Flavell in Stars goal who was making some fine saves to thwart Spartans attacks. However, Billingham were still a threat and Spartans were grateful to Brandon Stones on a couple of occasions as he too was making the saves but it was Stars that broke the deadlock with controversial goal. Whilst on the powerplay Spartans lost possession as Stars broke out and scored a short-handed goal that appeared not to go in. Brandon Stones was adjudged to have gloved the puck from behind the line. The goal judge & the linesman agreed so the goal, scored by Cal Davies, stood. Opinion was divided as to whether it had crossed the line or not but the goal stood to see Stars 1-0 in front. Spartans continued to pressurise Stars but couldn’t make any headway to see them go into the final behind by the odd goal.

The final period was full of determination and passion in what was an excellent game of hockey but with the advantage of having a goal lead Stars seemed to have more belief as they pressed for a second. Spartans were pushing Billingham all the way but found themselves 2-0 down in the 54^th minute with a lovely goal from Michael Elder who fired in a cracker of a shot after being set up nicely by Cal Davies. Spartans continued to press for a goal which gave us a few exciting moments as the clock ticked down but it just wasn’t falling for them. Once again they were hit on the counter attack whilst on the powerplay when Andy Munroe nicked in to steel possession then skate down the wing to let one fly past Brandon Stones in the final minute of the game to make it 3-0 to Stars which was also the final score.

A good performance from Spartans but they will be disappointed to have conceded two short-handed goals as well as not making the most of some of the 53 shots they put on Billingham’s goal. However there were many positives to take forward to next week’s game against Manchester Minotaurs. On the night it wasn’t our turn but credit to Billingham, they deserved their win…just! Man of the Match Awards went to Scott Morris for Spartans and James Flavell for Stars…Final Score: Billingham Stars 3 Spartans 0

Earlier in the week Sheffield Greyhounds 16’s B enjoyed a 9-1 home win against local rivals Sutton on Thursday evening. Sheffield Lasers 12’s A put in a good performance to beat Manchester 12-1 on Saturday to continue their fine form.

Sunday proved to be a successful day for all of Sheffield’s academy teams with Sheffield Stormers 14’s A enjoying a comfortable 18-0 win over Telford whilst Steelhawks 18’s A overcame Whitley Bay 10-1.

This was followed by an excellent win for Sheffield Senator over arch rivals Nottingham Lions to bounce back from Saturday’s frustrating loss in Telford.

Sens went into a two goal lead through Tom Humphries & Luke Smith but a Craig Wallis goal for Lions pulled them back into it at 2-1 but Joel Aheran justifiably restored Sens two goal advantage in what was a good team performance from Sens.

They continued to play well but Nottingham were posing more of a threat and their efforts were rewarded when Stuart Parker pulled one back to set up a tense final period. With some suspect refereeing for both teams adding to the tension it became a lot closer and it was set up for an exciting finish when Lions equalised through Slawomir Kasprzak. Senators were not to be outdone though and showed character to go and win the game with Nathan Britton grabbing the winner with just less than 3 minutes left of the game. Nottingham pulled their netminder to give them a numerical advantage but Senators hung on to claim a valuable but deserved victory to cement their place in one of the three promotion places.

Slice

Thanks for reading guys. Any questions or comments please get in contact with the Frozen Steel Team on this article, Facebook or via Twitter:-
@FrozenSteelBlog
@TomWalkeden
@FrozenSteelMNL
@hockeybhoy
@RatedRDG

Check out the Frozen Steel Forum

or Email the team at frozen.steel.91@gmail.com