SUPPORTERS of Solihull Barons got their money’s worth on Sunday evening after watching their side come from four goals down to beat The Dragons in a 17-goal thriller.
Those who slapped their £8 entrance fee on the counter witnessed one of the best matches of the season as the Barons came from behind to win 10-7 following a match that could have gone either way with just five minutes remaining.
The visitors took the lead with six minutes on the clock when an attempted clearance fell straight to Peter Gazda who whistled the puck into the back of the net.
A couple of minutes later the Dragons’ lead was doubled with Scott McKenzie breaking away with his shot only partly slowed by Sam Hewitt in the Barons goal.
A further two goals for the visitors would follow in quick succession to see the Barons in the unfamiliar territory of being four goals down inside the first period.
A time-out was called by Barons coach Perry Doyle which steadied the Solihull ship and a few minutes later a lofted pass from behind the net by Tomas Janak was collected by Matt Maurice for Solihull’s opener, while a further goal would be pegged back courtesy of Ryan Selwood.
The second period was marked out by a number of early goals, two for the Barons with Richard Crowe and Tomas Janak finding the net before it fell to Dave Rogers to bring things level with a blistering shot.
The even scoreline proved to be short-lived with Scott McKenzie poking the puck under Sam Hewitt to once again but the Barons continued to counter with Tom Soar forcing the puck through from short range.
Elliott Farrell scored his first goal in a Barons shirt with 30 seconds of the period remaining to put Solihull in front for the first time in the evening.
By midway through the final period the scoreline had been evened out to 7-7 as Ryan Kemp brought the visitors back on par.
With the sides closely matched going into the final minutes of the game, the tension was racked up, each attack by either side offering the possibility of a winner but any errors likely to be punished on the counter.
It would be the Barons who would however put the most into the final five minutes with a flurry of three goals, Matt Maurice taking the lead, Richard Slater consolidating and Josh Bruce rounding things off with an empty net goal much to the relief and joy of the home support.
After the excitement of this game the Barons have a full weekend to look forward to as they make the small trip up north to take on rivals Telford Tigers on Saturday before hosting Sheffield-based Sutton Sting on Sunday.
25th Apr, 2024
