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| Barons’ Josh Bruce takes to the air |
Whitley Warriors are the early NIHL1 North (Moralee Conference) leaders after a 3-2 win at home to Billingham Stars. Two Iain Bowie goals helped Solway Sharks come from two down to beat Manchester Minotaurs 4-2. Jonathon Kirk hit a hat-trick in Sheffield Spartans’ 8-1 win at Telford Titans.
Deeside Dragons lead the way in NIHL2 (Laidler Conference) after a 10-1 home win over Hull Jets – Shaun Kippin scored four. However the Jets picked up their first points of the season with an 8-5 win at home to Sheffield Senators. Solihull Barons had a mixed weekend winning 5-4 at Coventry Blaze, but they slipped to a 2-1 reverse at Nottingham Lions.
London Raiders got their NIHL1 South campaign underway with a 6-1 win at home to Solent & Gosport Devils – JJ Pitchley hit a hat-trick. Wightlink Raiders won 4-3 at Bracknell Hornets. In the NIHL South Cup Chelmsford Chieftains won 5-4 at Wightlink, but blew a four-goal lead at Invicta Dynamos to draw 6-6.
Guildford Flames began the defence of their EPL crown with a pair of wins. Rick Plant scored four as Flames won 6-1 at Slough Jets and they followed up with a 5-3 home success over Bracknell Bees. Manchester Phoenix won 5-1 at Telford Tigers, while Frantisek Bakrlik’s hat-trick helped them to an 11-2 victory at home to Sheffield Steeldogs. Swindon Wildcats won 2-1 at Basingstoke Bison, but lost in overtime by the same score to Slough. Sheffield’s Ashley Calvert scored twice as the Steeldogs won 7-4 at Bracknell.
Dundee Stars’ unbeaten start to the Elite League season continued with a pair of impressive home wins. Two goals each for Mike Wirll and Nikita Kashirsky helped Stars to a 5-2 win against Nottingham Panthers and they followed up with a 4-3 victory over Sheffield Steelers. The Panthers bounced back with a 5-4 shoot-out success at Fife Flyers and a 4-2 win at Edinburgh Capitals. Maxime Lacroix grabbed a hat-trick for the Steelers as they won 10-3 in Edinburgh.
Ryan Ginand (2) and Adam Henrich (2) led the Coventry scoring in their 5-0 win at Belfast Giants, while Ginand scored another four as Blaze beat Fife 6-1 at the Sky Dome. Cardiff Devils lost 4-3 at home to Braehead Clan, but enjoyed a win by the same scoreline at Hull Stingrays in the Challenge Cup.
(Image permission: Keith & Jenny Davies)
