SOLIHULL Barons came away with the points from a tricky away tie to play-off semi-finalists Whitley Warriors at their Northumbrian home thanks to a 4-2 victory.
The two sides stepped onto some less than optimum Whitley ice on Sunday, ice which would later see the line markings break up causing a delay to the start of the final period.
It would be the home side who would be the first to find the net, Dean Holland putting the puck beyond Solihull goalie Josh Nicholls on 15 mins. Within a couple of minutes the score would be back level, Tom Soar making the most of a Barons powerplay.
The second period would also see the sides trade a goal apiece. Dean Holland once more scored for the Warriors, this time within a couple of minutes of the face-off.
The home supports enjoyment of the Warriors lead would again only last a couple of minutes with Niklas Ottosson quickly returning things level for the Barons.
Into the final 20 and the Barons began to break the deadlock. Within five minutes, a quick goal from Matt Maurice would first put Solihull into the lead for the first time in the game, followed swiftly by Andy Whitehouse establishing a two goal cushion which would last until the buzzer.
After a couple of weeks on the road, the Barons support have a home tie to look forward to this Sunday when the Deeside Dragons come calling. The two sides met in the preseason with Barons comfortably coming out on top against the newly promoted Dragons. Deeside are however now up to full strength and have shown themselves able to adapt to the increased pace of the Moralee Division, recently taking both points off of the Telford Tigers at their Shropshire rink. Face-off 6:00pm.
