SOLIHULL Barons moved up to third in the NIHL North One division thanks to an emphatic 9-4 victory over Sutton Sting.
Sunday evening saw Sutton Sting visit the Barons for the second time in as many weeks and the final score showed a convincing win for the Barons.
But in reality this was a much more closely fought tie than the stats would suggests and a freak couple of minutes early in the third period saw the hosts score four times in quick succession which helped distort the scoreline a little.
The Barons got off to a strong start by scoring a pair of goals in the first five minutes.
Andy Whitehouse opened the scoring with a lofted shot from the lower edge of the right-hand circle with just three minutes on the clock.
Two minutes later and breakaway by Niklas Ottosson saw the Swede deke the keeper for goal number two.
Ten minutes on however and things were looking more even with the Sting levelling things thanks to efforts from Jo Aston and James Spurr.
A couple of minutes into the second period and the Barons had regained the lead as Tomas Janak converted from close in.
This however would be quickly cancelled by the Sting, Simon Offord finding the net for the visitors this time.
Again the Barons would pull out a goal advantage as Eddie Eaton took advantage of a puck given away on the Barons blue line to race up the ice for the Barons’ fourth goal of the night.
Yet again the Sting came back and when a slow line change by Solihull gave the Sting an odd man rush, Richard Oliver found the net for Sutton.
With a minute to go the Barons would however pull back a single goal lead, Tom Soar breaking a personal month long goal drought for Solihull’s number five.
The start of the final period saw the Barons finally break the limits of a single goal lead with four goals in the first four minutes of the final period.
Ed Eaton picked up a pair, with Tomas Janak and Andy Whitehouse also adding to the tally and giving Solihull nine goals on the night.
The Barons will have to be careful over the Christmas period and perhaps turn down that second bowl of Christmas pudding to ensure they are all set for a festive period clash at home to league pace-setters the Blackburn Hawks this Sunday.
