Billingham Stars failed to make it a hat-trick of derby wins in a lacklustre 5-1 defeat at motivated Whitley Warriors
Colin Edwards
By Andy Baxter
Billingham Stars dropped to third in the NIHL Moralee Conference as they failed to make it a hat-trick of derby wins in a lacklustre 5-1 defeat at motivated Whitley Warriors.
Whitley went into the game with a sense of urgency knowing that time was running out for them to claim a play-off slot and set up camp in the Billingham zone from the outset.
The Warriors opened the scoring in the ninth minute when Adam Reynolds collected the puck just outside the Ultimate Windows Stars crease and flicked it into the roof of the net.
A two-minute tripping call on Rob Wilson took the heat off the Stars but they were unable to make it count and the first period closed with the Warriors one up.
The Teessiders found themselves on the back foot early in the second session following a tripping call against Stephen Wallace, but survived the power play and pushed for an equaliser.
The Warriors increased their lead however when youngster Callum Queenan struck, three minutes before Anthony Price forced the puck past home keeper Richie Lawson for the Stars’ only goal.
Any hopes of a comeback which the travelling Billingham fans held soon ended when Whitley turned their hunger for points into two quick goals.
Ben Richards and Jamie Tinsley both found the back of the net less than a minute apart to leave the Stars facing a mountain they were unable to climb.
Martin Crammond iced the cake for the Warriors when he fired home their fifth goal of the night to seal a solid win which keeps their play-off hopes alive.
The defeat combined with an 11th successive win for Blackburn Hawks against Sheffield saw the Lancashire side replace the Stars in second behind leaders Solway Sharks.
Billingham director of coaching Terry Ward refused to offer any excuses after the game, admitting the Stars got left behind by a side who simply wanted it more.
“We never got started,” he said. “Whitley came out of the blocks flying. They showed they wanted the game badly and I don’t think we did.
“Whitley worked hard in the first period, we came back and worked hard in the second but the third was a copy of the first.”
He added: “We came out and didn’t do anything right. It would be easy to say the puck didn’t bounce our way or any other excuse.
“But at the end of the day it was down to us. We just didn’t perform on the night.”
Whitley remain fifth in the table but are now five points behind and have two games in hand on the Stars.
Ward said: “We need to up our tempo and make all of our games count.
“It’s Sutton away this weekend and if we play like we did on Sunday night we will be on the end of another bad result.”
Whitley’s former Billingham Stars coach Simon Leach was delighted to see his side avenge their 6-2 defeat at Billingham Forum last month.
“We were disappointed down in Teesside with the way we played,” he added.
“We’ve had a few meetings over the last few weeks and got the focus back on what we need to be doing to keep pushing for a play-off spot in April.
“We got the win and our confidence back and we’re still right in the mix.”
Stars’ next opponents Sutton Sting are fourth in the table, three points behind them, and were big weekend winners in defeating Manchester Minotaurs 11-5.
The game precedes a home fixture against table-topping Solway, who won their latest game 6-1 at bottom club Telford.
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