by Steve Mayers


The Hawks enjoyed a relatively comfortable evening on Sunday, as they took on the Solihull Barons in the Cup.

The home side were without several influential players, and were forced to change their lines, allowing those on the 2nd and 3rd lines a little more ice time. It proved to be successful, as they notched up their biggest win of the season.

Nerves were settled as early as the 18th second, Sam Dunford finding the net with a rasping slapshot. It didn't get any better for the unfortunate Barons keeper, as he then deflected a mis-hit slapshot by Antony Kinder into his own goal. A third goal, after only 12 minutes, by Carl Downey saw the visitors change their netminder, as the Hawks continued to dominate the game. Nick Saxton, getting a rare start in the Blackburn goal was called into action as the first period drew to a close, but he produced a fine reflex save to maintain the shutout.

During the first interval, the crowd were treated to an interview with the 'extremely' strong-man, Mark Felix, who then proceeded to entertain them with various feats of strength. He was challenged to a tug 'o' war by Nick 'Biceps' Bentham, and his brother Jordan 'Beef' Bentham, which ended in a a hard-fought draw!

Back to the 2nd period, and it was only two minutes old when the Hawks extended their lead still further. Ollie Lomax skated hard down the right flank, before crossing to Matt Viney, who lifted the puck high into the roof of the net. Only seconds later, Downey got himself back on the scoresheet, with a clinical finish. Before the halfway point of the match, the home side were well out of sight, after a fine goal by Ryan O'Reilly. The Barons eventually found a way past Saxton, a neat backhand finish between his pads. The scoring was far from over, though, as Wayne Slater, Rick Hughes, and then Kinder all tallied for Blackburn, with a further solitary reply from Solihull. The final minute of the period saw an altercation between Lomax and the much taller Neil Adams, and although it was a real David v Goliath match-up, honours were even.

The final period was something of an anti-climax, with the result already beyond doubt. Jared Owen marked a fine performance with a brace, and there were further strikes from Dunford, Hughes, and Viney. To their credit, the Barons fought hard right up till the final hooter, and were rewarded with 2 goals of their own,

The MVP award was given to Carl Downey, who had put in a superb all-round display.

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