The long summer ceasefire finally came to an end on Sunday night as the Blackburn Hawks swooped back into action for the 2025/26 NIHL 1 season. A packed-out Hawks Nest would play host to Blackburn’s opening battle of the campaign – a ‘War of the Roses’ clash against the Leeds Knights II.  The home team had impressed on their previous outing last weekend, sparring with a strong Solway Sharks Select side in a frenzied Pre-Season ‘friendly’. The Hawks offensive core received a significant upgrade with the return of Forwards Liam Charnock and James Royds, however the back-end suffered a slight setback with Tom Barry being the only absence from last weekend’s squad. The first to face the new-look Lancashire side would be their ‘White Rose Rivals’ from Leeds.  The Knights crossed the Pennines with an extremely youthful regiment, as even their most battle-hardened veteran was born in 2002. The young Knights came out ready to prove themselves against a hotly favoured Hawks side, with this game being the first chance to get ahead in both the League and Cup tables.

It may have been a new season, but the Hawks were up to their same old tricks after puck drop – starting the game in their signature speedy style, Blackburn pressured in the Knights’ territory from minute one. Leeds could only hold-out for two more minutes before Blackburn broke through. From behind the Knights net, Captain Andy McKinney set-up Adam Barnes as he slammed in a slapshot from the slot for the Hawks’ first official strike of the 2025/26 season. There were no signs of the home side letting up after this opening effort, as the Forwards chased down every foray into the corners of Leeds’s zone. One of these relentless wingers was Liam Charnock, whose insistent effort was rewarded after squeezing off a shot from a tight angle and deflecting the puck off Daniel Norton’s stick into the net. With the Hawks two goals ahead and in complete control of the contest, Leeds’s tactics became more attacking focused. The latter half of the first period saw the young Knights grow into the game – a sign of things to come…

After a pretty dominant first period, Blackburn came out for the middle twenty minutes eager to put the Knights to the sword. However, Leeds’s opening period siege mentality switched up as they sent out a vanguard to ambush the Hawks. This pressure resulted in a defensive mix-up at Blackburn’s rear guard, allowing Owen Dell to regain possession of the puck and play through Frankie O’Sullivan in front of the net. The young gun fired and wheeled away in celebration, not only becoming Leeds’s opening scorer of the season, but becoming the youngest player ever to score in a NIHL 1 game at just 15 years and 257 days old – truly a goal for the history books. Inspired by their young squire, the Knights pushed on and continued battling with Blackburn. The Hawks produced several strong chances, with a link-up between new signings Garry Simpson and Charlie Thompson managing to force another past Norton in the Knights net. However after heavy protestations from Leeds, this goal was waved off by the on-ice officials and play resumed with the scores still stuck at 2-1. After spending last year defending Leeds’s ‘Castle’, Blackburn goalie Harrison Walker was called into action many a time against his former team – producing several sensational saves to secure the 2-1 scoreline. The period looked to be heading for a frantic final five minutes, however a plexiglass issue brought proceedings to an abrupt halt. In order to remedy this problem, it was decided that the remainder of the second period would be added to the start of the final twenty minutes: setting the game up for a colossal concluding chapter.

The Hawks re-appeared rejuvenated and ready to face-off one final time against their ‘White Rose Rivals’ in Lancashire. The action commenced with a cruel twist of fate for the visiting Yorkshire-side as Leeds-born Blackburn player Bobby Streetly would be the one to create the Hawks third goal. The Defenceman launched a lofted puck goalwards, which was brilliantly batted out of the air and into the net by Jacob Lutwyche. This finish from the Magic Man not only opened his account for the season but ended any fears of a Knights renaissance in the final period. An embodiment of the ‘Wars of the Roses’ attitude going into the clash, the game had a particularly physical end. Melees would break out after the whistle at both ends of the ice, with the most notable instance of this involving ex-Hawk Daragh Spawforth showing some ‘love’ to his former teammates as the final buzzer sounded. Once the dust had settled and the hostilities concluded, both teams came together and showed respect after a hard-fought game saw Blackburn win 3-1.

Improving on their opening night loss in the previous season, the Blackburn Hawks ended Gameweek 1 at the top of the NIHL 1 North table. The victory over a surprisingly strong Knights side also provided Blackburn with the first points on the board in the NIHL North Cup. The Hawks will look to extend their successful start to the season next weekend, as they welcome another Yorkshire rival to the ‘Red Rose County’ for a high-flying face-off against the Hull Jets.

 

 

The Blackburn Hawks will play against the Hull Jets @ Blackburn Arena on Sunday September 14th, Face-Off: 6:00pm

 

 

 

Article Courtesy of Nathan Dove

 

FEATURED IMAGES CREDIT:  Steve Pollitt