A 6-5 victory over Billingham Stars at Hobs Moat Road opened Solihull Barons‘ Moralee Division campaign in style on Sunday.
The Barons were good value for the win, despite coming under threat in the final period following three goals without reply from the visitors.
Ruskin Hughes, a man very much in form in the pre-season games, continued his scoring streak to fire the opener on seven minutes, before the Stars hit back through Thomas Rubes and Craig Thurston to go in front.
Rich Slater picked out Matt Maurice to level up the scores after the first period, which preceded a one-sided second period in the hosts’ favour.
Appearing in his first game in over a year for Solihull, Tom Soar struck twice, followed by a goal from Rich Slater to make it 5-2 to the hosts going into the final period.
Adam Brittle capped off the Barons’ scoring with a sixth to effectively seal an opening two points, before three goals in the space of ten minutes had the hosts sweating for the final buzzer.
Matthew Elder started the comeback on the powerplay, added to by Daniel Silar’s strike and Daniel Hehir’s late goal, though their efforts were ultimately fruitless as Solihull held on.
The Barons now make the trip to Nottingham Lions for their first away trip and NIHL Midlands Cup fixture of the season on Sunday (7.30pm), held at the National Ice Centre.
