BLACKBURN HAWKS V BILLINGHAM EAGLES
ENHL NORTH PLAY OFF GAME
8th April 2001
Sunday 8th April put the Eagles on the road against Blackburn, having persuaded the wife and kids that I was due a day away I clambered aboard the bus in the Forum car park to find Spike and Andre ringing people trying to persuade them to travel, as we left the Forum with seven players and no net minders the thoughts of the impending defeat came to mind, a promise of some younger players turning up at Blackburn after a tournament at Kircaldy was the only light at the end of the trip. Eagles were without, Gary Dowd, Andy Fletcher, Martin Lewis, Simon Hehir,Ricky Hall and Scott Ward was suspended and as stated earlier it was hoped their ranks would be swelled by the appearence of Tom Griffiths, Stephen Wallace, David Flett, Gareth Crinnion and Wes Fawthrop. When we arrived at Blackburn an agreement was given that the face off would be put back thirty minutes and with guarantees that the party from Kircaldy were on the road, Blackburn in the true spirit of the game lent us net minder Robbie Smith to start in the pipes. As the national anthem played we saw the welcome sight of the Kircaldy winners walking through the door. Tonights game was to be no walkover, Blackburn had a full bench including the returning Craig Sharman, with Tom Griffiths, Stephen Wallace, David Flett, Gareth Crinnion and Wes Fawthrop already haven given their all that saw them win the gruelling Kircaldy tournament and Stephen Wallace collect the most points the most valued player award and the man of the match award, having earlier that day beaten Inverness, Sunderland and won a final against Sheffield that resulted in them being presented with a trophy at Kicaldy at quarter to three to see them come through the door for their fourth fixture of the day 230 miles away at six thirty and straight into the game is a sign of true commitment to their club and their game, Wes Fawthrop after driving from Kircaldy took to the ice, to reclaim his place in the pipes from temporary Eagle Robbie Smith.
1st Period
The game got underway in the coldest rink I have been in, but saying that the ice looked nice and hard. Blackburn found themselves going shorthanded at 2:26 when Craig Sharman took a 2 minute sit for high sticking the penalty was played off without loss. At 9:11 a nice pass from Brian Perry relaesed Stephen Wallace who skated onto Colin Downie released a shot...saved, collected his rebound fired.....goal, Eagles 1:Blacburn 0. At 12:02 Hawks again found themselves short handed as David Sheffield collected a 2 minute high sticks call. The resulting power play bore fruit as the Eagles set up formation in the Blackburn zone, some nice passing and movement of the ouck resulted in Ian Richardson collecting from Brian Perry as he moved onto the goal, his first shot was blocked but Ian got to the rebounded puck to hit it home for the Eagles second of the night. Eagles found themselves a man down at 15:10 when Brian Perry collected a 2 min tripping call. At 16:18 the Hawks came to life as they attacked 2 on 2 Daniel Mckreil drew wide to the right before releasing a nice diagonal shot to the left side of the Eagles net, to clip the Eagles lead back to one goal. Next came my goal of the season for Eagles Ritchie Thornton ( a short handed goal) who collected in his own zone skated the length of the ice went round the Blackburn defence then released a wicked shot that went over the left shoulder of Colin Downie to make it Eagles 3 : Hawks 1.Forty seconds later as Stephen Wallace and Daniel Flett skated into the Blackburn zone, Stephen released a high pass over the stick of the Blackburn defenders to Danilel Flett who put some wood onto it and knocked it down to beat Colin Downie, giving Eagles their second shorthanded goal in a period of forty seconds. The first closed at a score we would have dreamed of as we left the Forum earlier that day, Blackburn Hawks 1 : Billingham Eagles 4.
2nd Period
The second opened with Eagles Philip Pritchatd collecting a 2 minute holding penalty which was played off without loss. At26:16 Stephen Wallace was lucky not to be called for the hooking infringement that went un-called untill the retaliation chop to the back of Stephens Head From Wez Barnett forced the ref to call a penaltty, with both teams a man down play continued 4 on 4. The 32nd minute saw the Eagles set up camp in the Hawks zone that saw some fast clean passing. At 45:23 Craig Sharman found himself in the clear skating one on one to Wes he fired home to clip the wings of the high flying Eagles. Stephen Wallace was called for a 2 minute holding penalty. Eagles were unlucky in the 48th minute when Spike had a goal waived away. Hawks David Sheffield cut the Eagles lead when Wes Fawthrop over committed himself to far out of his goal, with Wes unable to get back to his pipes quick enough Hawks shot home to close the second Billingham Eagles 4 : Blackburn Hawks 3.
3rd Period
Only 2 minutes into the third and Stephen Wallace got himself onto the scoreing sheet again as he hit home with assists from Tom Griffiths and Ritchie Thornton. Six minutes later the Eagles were unlucky to be denied another goal by Colin Downie as he spread himself low and stopping a Paul Windridge shot with his skate. At 49:15 Eagles David Flett collected a 2 minute minor penalty. At 49:57 Tom Griffiths collected a nice Brian Perry pass that released him in the clear going one on one with Colin Downie, who again spread himself well and stopped the puck again with his skate. Hawks went shorthanded when Mark Mcdonald collected a 2 minute roughing penalty, a minute into the power play saw the Hawks net a short handed goal that came from the face off, scored by Danny Mckreil. The fifth goal for the Hawks came within a minute of the fourth, I have been asked not to say to much about the fifth goal, but in the next few games if you hear people shouting "he`s behind you" to Andre when Oggie is on the ice that may give you a clue, a gift of a goal given to and well taken by Craig Sharman to level things at 5 goals each. At 53:21 the Hawks went short handed when Wez Barnett collected a 2 minute penalty. Even though the Eagles turned up the heat the Hawks to their credit denied the Eagles the go ahead goal. The Hawks again found themselves a man down as they worked very hard to keep the Eagles at bay, Neil Howarth collected a 2 minute holding call at 56:49, again the Eagles pushed hard but the Hawks denied them the goal that would seal their northern play off group win. With only 48 seconds left on the clock the pressure paid off as Stephen Wallace completed a very successfull weekend as he skated through the Hawks zone in heavy traffic before picking his spot and fireing home the winning goal. For the remaining 48 seconds the Hawks pulled the keeper playing six out field, as the Hawks called a time out Andre issued his instructions to the Eagles on where to go from the play off, the Eagles defended without ever gainig the 100% control that would have resulted in a shot on the empty goal. The game closed Blackburn Hawks 5 : Billingham Eagles 6.
An enjoyable display of clean free flowing exciting hockey, a nice game for Blackburn to close their season with, I saw a few things last night that restored to me the reasons why I have enjoyed following hockey, I saw the commitment of the younger Eagles Stephen, Tom, Wes and David and Gareth who made that dash after a gruelling day at Kircaldy to make such an impact on the game. I saw the sporting gestures of Blackburn who put the face off back, loaned us players to commence the game and a magic moment when Gareth Crinnion came off after injuring his other knee, as he sat on the bench a very young Blackburn fan around 4 years old made his way to the back of the bench where he looked up to Gareth towering above him (sitting down) and engaged him in conversation about the game or if his knee hurt.Thanks to the Andre Malo fan club who came from Sheffield to give Andre a bit of support and good luck to Blackburn next season........bring on Oxford.
PERIOD SCORES
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | TOTAL | |
| BLACKBURN | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| BILLINGHAM | 4 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
PENALTIES
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | TOTAL | |
| BLACKBURN | 4 | 2 | 6 | 12 |
| BILLINGHAM | 6 | 6 | 4 | 18 |
SHOTS ON GOAL
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | TOTAL | |
|
BLACKBURN |
7 | 8 | * | * |
| BILLINGHAM | 18 | 14 | * | * |
*Awaiting Game Sheet