Opening weekend review

After the end of 2006-07 season the Solihull Barons dropped from the EPL to ENL South A division. They managed just 4 wins from 16 league games, but they managed to score a very impressive 81 league goals while conceding 89.
Four wins, and a draw from 10 cup games saw them finish joint third out of a six team group.

Last Sunday, they won 4-2 at home to Telford and will be keen to keep the winning start going. The return cup fixture is in Solihull next Sunday at 6-15pm.

Last Saturday saw us lose by the odd goal 5-4 at home against Blackburn. We played well and were worth at least a draw. Stuart Head was injured on his debut, and will be out for both games this weekend. Thankfully, it is not too serious, so he will be back in the line-up next week.

Sunday saw us lose 4-3 away to last years ENL Champions Nottingham Lions. This was a bit of a farce really, with a Ben Lowe goal being ruled out by the ‘goal judge’ and the winner being assisted by their sixth player, and scored by their seventh! Too many players on the ice? Not in the opinion of the referee and that’s what cost us!
Bitter? You bet I am!

Interestingly, the first weekend of the season saw no team win 2 games.
Whitley beat Sheffield, Newcastle beat Blackburn, Sheffield beat Nottingham, Coventry beat Newcastle.

Billingham have yet to play, while Whitley and Coventry have only played one game. However, we are the only team to have lost both games.

My tip for the title: Whitley Bay Warriors. A much strengthened squad, a tough rink (despite the improvements), and a long road trip for us!

We scored some great goals last weekend, and made some great challenges. However most of the team need a couple of games to get used to their line-mates.

The dressing room has a familiar buzz again, but that particular toy has now been confiscated! Seriously though, the lads have returned very determined, and have clearly benefitted from the extra training night on Mondays.

Tristan was very disappointed to get beaten with a couple of shots on Saturday, but as I told him, every lad in that team knows he’s a solid goalie. The opponents came through 5 others to get to him. We signed him because we know he’s a good goalie. We train as a team, play as a team, and win, lose or draw as a team.
Matt Jeffcock looks sharper than last year and will be amongst the goals this season. Ben Lowe (with a broken hand) and Richard Haggar are as fast as ever, and love to close down the opposing defensemen to cries of “Hustle!” from myself and Andy.

Dunny now eats black bananas.
Flo still chuckles.
Adam is still Ziggy.
Jordan has more piercings.
Haggar has all the socks.
Spurge attracts the ladies…(apparently).
Tristan is hair!

And what about Ethan Daintith…what a star…high fiving the players at the start of every period!

So sit back & enjoy this evenings’ game.
Cheer the lads on!

Thanks for being with us!

Go Jets!

Clint.

Ps…see you next Saturday as we welcome Billingham Bombers. Face-off is at 5pm.