The Blackburn Hawks returned to action this weekend as the division’s only unbeaten side, but they encountered one of their toughest tests yet in the bubbling cauldron of the Billingham Forum. The trip up to Teesside saw the Hawks face a familiar foe in the reigning treble-winning Billingham Stars, a team they’ve clashed with in countless playoff finals battles. Last April’s final match-up still simmers in the memory of both sets of fans, as the Stars came out shining as champions. Blackburn’s task was made even harder by a string of key absences. Young defensive talent Liam Hine earned himself a National League call-up to the Leeds Knights, while forward Charlie Thompson served out a one-game suspension picked up against the Nottingham Lions. However, there’s new firepower on hand, with Sheffield signing Jack Brammer thrown straight into the deep end for his Hawks debut. For Billingham, the game is all about redemption after a surprise 5–4 defeat to newly promoted Telford Tigers 2 last weekend. With few fixtures on the British hockey calendar carrying as much heat as this one, the atmosphere in the Forum saw a large contingent of travelling Hawks fans battling it out on the decibel metre against a sold-out home support.

Both sides came out flying as the game started, trading early chances in a bruising opening spell. Goaltenders Harrison Walker and Jacob Hammond stood tall, matching each other save for save. But eventually, the Stars’ pressure burst the dam. Off a face-off win in the Hawks’ zone, Chris Sykes played through Iain Brown, who slid a prospective puck across the face of Walker’s goal, where Billingham’s Captain Michael Elder flicked it between his own legs and into the Hawks net. The Forum faithful were in full voice two minutes later when the rink itself seemed to lend a helping hand in doubling the Stars lead. Lee Pollitt’s attempted clearance bizarrely bounced off the battered boards straight to James Moss in the slot. Moss managed to jink around Tom Barry before teeing up Callum Wilkinson to tap home. Home-ice advantage certainly looked to be playing a part as Matty Cross’ bobbled clearance was scooped out of bounds, with the bounce quite literally going Billingham’s way. The subsequent penalty kill from the Hawks was pushed to its very limits by the Stars, with several passages of play coming to an end with the Stars swarming Harrison Walker’s crease. The away side defiantly defended their keeper and successfully stopped the Stars powerplay. Back to full strength, The Hawks regrouped and redeployed their efforts in the offensive zone. Spurred on by the substantial support at the far end of the ice – Adam Barnes broke down the right side of Billingham’s zone and, under significant pressure from several Stars, lasered a cross-ice pass for Liam Charnock to wrist top-shelf for 2-1. Blackburn finished the frame the stronger side, however their momentum would be stalled in final throes of the first period due to a late Adam Barnes hooking infraction.

The short-handed start to the second period proved costly for the Hawks as they were immediately put under the cosh by Billingham. The Stars made their extra man count when Elder’s wide shot again bounced fortuitously off the backboards straight to James Moss in front of an open net. With one of the easiest shots in his life, the Stars man grabbed his second point of the game and restored Billingham’s two goal lead. Less than two minutes after ending their own penalty, the Hawks would now find themselves with the man advantage after Billingham’s Darren Stattersfield would lash out when getting a holding penalty – extending his stay in the sin bin to 4-minutes. Whilst the Stars survived the first half of Stattersfield’s sentence, Blackburn’s potent powerplay would punish the Teeside team through the means of a spectacular Tom Barry slapshot. The one-timer from the blueline would sail into the top left corner of Hammond’s goal. A magnificent maiden effort for the summer signing who is quickly becoming a fan favourite.

With the scoreline at 3-2, the game headed towards a critical juncture. Whichever team got the next goal would carry this momentum into the second half of proceedings. It looked as if the advantage would go to Billingham, however after a brilliant blocker save from Walker, Andy McKinney pulled off an astonishing stretch pass to Adam Barnes on the far blueline. The perfectly positioned poacher thrived under the pressure of the one-on-one and didn’t give Hammond a chance with a bardown beauty levelling the score. Billingham briefly restored their lead through James Hellens after an awkward bounce off debutant Jack Brammer’s skate fell for the forward to cooly finish, however Blackburn weren’t finished. The next play saw Tom Barry, brimming with confidence, threading a devastating pass through the Stars defence for that man again, Adam Barnes. The finish was never in doubt as the Hawks top scorer’s second of the game would again level the scoreline for the second time of the evening.

Barely thirty seconds later, Blackburn were back at it again. After possibly feeling left out on the goalscoring action, forward Jacob Lutwyche picked up the puck on the halfway line and decided to perform one of his signature magic tricks in front of the Billingham crowd. A quick turn of pace saw him dagger across to the right side of the ice, where he would then toe-drag the puck past James Hellens to position himself in front of net. Once there, the magic man would fake out going around Jacob Hammond, pull it back across the confused keeper and finish the trick with a backhand flick of the wrist. Whilst the Billingham fans didn’t seem too impressed by Lutwyche’s miraculous moves, the travelling spectators were in hysterics as the Hawks pulled in front for the first time.

The colossal closing period of the game commenced, and it was clear that both teams would do whatever it took to get the win. The Stars applied huge amounts of pressure in the first few minutes of the third, smothering the shotstopper’s crease after every save he made. Veteran defenceman Bobby Streetly was given a tenuous slashing penalty for shielding Walker and the Stars once again found themselves with the man advantage. The extra man seemed not to work for the home side, as a defensive slip up on the blueline set Jacob Lutwyche free yet again. The forward flashed down the middle and sniped a shot which appear to fly into the top right corner. The shooter pointed in celebration, the Hawks fans directly in front of the shot were on their feet, and even Stars goalie Jacob Hammond slouched down in defeat – however the puck emerged out in the corner of the ice and without the Billingham goal judges’ light to confirm the goal, the play continued. As the minutes ticked away, the action became increasingly end-to-end. For every strong Blackburn attack, Billingham responded in kind. With less than fourteen minutes to go, the Stars’ pulled out the big guns. After what had been an uncharacteristically quiet game for Iain Brown, Billingham’s consistent Canadian showed why he topped the scoring charts last season. The winger rushed down the right side, cutting in just before Bobby Streetly, and whipped a shot above the blocker of Walker. The Forum descended into a frenzy as the Stars supporters loudly lauded their team pulling level again.

Chants of ‘Let’s Go Billingham’ and ‘Let’s Go Blackburn’ oddly melded into one as both sets of fans strained their vocal chords in the hopes of spurring their team on in the final minute of play. With the game on the line, Andy McKinney won a crucial face-off in Billingham’s zone. The puck trickled back to Tom Barry who was stood centrally on the blueline. The defenceman smacked the puck first time, with all the voracity emanating from the Hawks fans, as the shot rocketed in for a final minute game-winner. As the life drained from most of the Forum, everyone in the Blackburn section was on their feet in ecstatic elation. On the ice, Barry was swarmed by every Hawk before skating over to celebrate with the fans. However, as Coach Dom Osman reminded his squad – the game was not over yet… The Stars readied themselves for one last push to try and rescue a point from this monumental match. As Hammond was pulled and a sixth skater entered the ice, Billingham barrelled forward. With the puck in the vicinity of Harrison Walker’s pads, the Stars seemingly sent every one of their players to crash the net. The ensuing climatic chaos saw Tom Barry knock the net loose whilst James Moss and Michael Elder clashed with Liam Charnock. Penalties were dished out for roughing as well as a delay of game penalty for Tom Barry. The irate Billingham fans bellowed and bemoaned their frustration at this decision – clearly not happy enough with their extra two-man advantage going into the most important seconds of the game. Even with the extra men, the Stars could not align for a final second equaliser, as the final buzzer crowned Blackburn victorious on Teeside.

Perched atop the table with seven wins and no defeats, the Blackburn Hawks are the team to beat. The Hawks fly out of the North East with maximum points and will be returning home to The Nest to keep their streak alive on a haunted Halloween Night against the Widnes Wild.

 

The Blackburn Hawks will play against the Widnes Wild @ Blackburn Arena on Sunday October 26th, Face-Off: 6:00pm

 

Article Courtesy of Nathan Dove

FEATURED IMAGES CREDIT: Luke Riley