SOLIHULL Barons further solidified their third place in the English Ice Hockey Association Moralee divison with a ground out 3-1 victory over the Solway Sharks.
It was the Barons who opened the scoring on six minutes when Josh Bruce made a short-handed breakaway before passing the puck to Joe Henry who slotted home.
The Barons extended their lead further and this time Bruce went from being the provider to scorer by finding the net himself with a lofted shot which passed through the Solway netminder’s grasp.
By the end of the period, the Sharks had started to find some form and pressure the Solihull net but it was the Barons who headed to the dressing rooms with a two-goal advantage.
The second period proved to be tightly contested but a strong performance by the Barons defence back-stopped by Sam Hewitt kept the Sharks in check while the Barons own offensive chances were limited by playing much of the period under penalty kill conditions.
The Barons scored a third goal at the beginning of the third period when Niklas Ottosson tickled the puck from a foot out and placed it over Shark’s netminder Kieran Hobbins stick.
With five minutes to go the Sharks pulled a goal with a blistering long range shot to spoil Sam Hewit’s clean sheet but this would prove too little, too late for the Scottish visitors.
The remainder of the period descended into a series of scuffles as the Sharks became frustrated by their lack of success on goal and the Barons perhaps frustrated by some debatable refereeing decisions. It would however be the home side who would take home the two points.
The Barons have next weekend off before welcoming the Telford Tigers to Solihull on February 21 for what will be a crucial game as both sides aim to make the play-offs.
