In their final home match before Christmas, the Hawks were looking to give their fans the ideal present of two much-needed League points. Standing in their way, however, were 'play-off' rivals, Billingham Stars. After suffering a major setback against Whitley the previous weekend, Blackburn had much to prove, and went about their task in spectacular fashion.
Straight from the opening face-off, the home side asserted their dominance, pinning the visitors in their own zone. Indeed, Danny 'Dangy' Brittle, the Hawks netminder was an interested bystander for the first two minutes, as the puck did not even cross the half-way line. The 'all-action' Aaron Davies made his intentions very clear, as he went shoulder-to-shoulder with Ben Davison - a collision which left both players on the ice....and the Arena foundations shaking!! The first powerplay of the evening came the way of the home side, as Campbell tripped Dimitrijevs, but a Jared Owen slapshot was as close as they came to a goal. Blackburn then saw Adam Brittle lose possession on the offensive blue line, and with the defence stranded up the ice, had little option but to take a hooking call, as the Stars forward was poised to test Dangy. A needless trip by David Miekle gave Billingham a 2-man advantage for 40 seconds, but the defence worked tirelessly to close down the Stars forwards. On the one occasion that the goalkeeper came into contact with the visiting front line, Ollie Lomax jumped straight to his defence, sparking a mini-tussle in the Hawks crease. With the home team still short-handed, they broke the deadlock on 7 minutes - courtesy of Adam Brittle. He broke away on the right, cut inside just beyond the blue line, and fired beyond Watson. Two minutes later, and the score was doubled, this time the defence playing a big part. Scott Robson carried the puck the length of the ice, and was just about to shoot when he was tripped. The officials called a delayed penalty, but let play continue, and when Davies took possession, he found Craig Rogers at 'point', and he smashed an unstoppable slapshot into the corner.
Once again, Blackburn found themselves killing a 5-on-3 penalty, when things threatened to boil over in the home side's defensive zone. Reece Cairney-Witter took exception to some 'rough' play by Moss, and having escorted him to the corner for 'further discussion', asked if he would like to drop the gloves - however, he declined. On 13 minutes, the Stars got themselves on the scoreboard when they managed to force the puck over the line at the fourth attempt, although there was a question of players being in the crease. With the clock ticking down and the Hawks on the powerplay, the puck was recycled behind the visitors net, and came out to Davies, who fired speculatively towards the far post. Watson seemed to lose sight of it for a moment, and then reacted too late to stop it, allowing the Hawks to take a 2-goal advantage into the first break.
The second period started with a breath-taking passage of one touch play by Jon Adams, Jared Owen, Adam Brittle, and home debutant Jake Nurse, but the resulting goal-bound shot was plucked out of the air by the glove of Watson. On 22 minutes, Blackburn did find a way past the visiting keeper, when Rick Hughes set David Miekle free on the right. He moved forward, and picked his spot in the bottom corner, with a precise finish, to register the second short-handed goal of the evening. Even at 4-1 down, Billingham still posed a threat, and their forwards tested Dangy with increasing regularity, but he was in defiant mood, determined to keep his goal intact. Nurse was having a good debut, and almost crowned it with a breakaway goal, but his effort struck the crossbar, and flew over.
The final 20 minutes began with both teams a man light, and although there was plenty of space on the ice, neither could fashion any chances of note. Then, on 45 minutes, the Hawks scored their fifth goal of the evening, to wrap up the game as a contest. Adam Brittle danced around Campbell on the left, went around the back of the goal, and spotted Owen in support, who finished coolly. Within 30 seconds, Watson was once again pulling the puck from out of his net, as Owen doubled his tally with a carbon-copy strike. This time, the architect was Adams, who intricate skills bamboozled the opposing defence, and the Blackburn player-coach had the simplest of tasks - firing home from in-close. Moss had his head down next to the boards, and received a bone-crunching 'double' hit from Aaron Davies and Rick Hughes, who arrived at the same time. Both teams took a number of minor penalties throughout the remainder of the match, but a mixture of disciplined defending and agile net-minding kept each set of forwards at bay. The final word went to Owen, who benefited from some good play by Sam Dunford and Chris Butler, to complete his hat-trick with only 3 minutes remaining.
The Hawks' high-intensity, hard-working display throughout warranted the 7-1 scoreline, and they sent their fans home in great spirits.
MVP went to Jared Owen for his 3 goals.
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