Barbarians hit North East league Milestone

Barbarians hit 365 days without a league defeat.  25th November 2012 saw the teams last defeat a 5-2 loss to eventual league winners Northumberland in the North East BIPHA league.

Since then the team has played 17 games winning 14 and tying 3.  Amassing 90 goals and only conceding 31. 

Biggest win was against Vipers with a score line of 15-0.

Assistant Captain James Oades commented " the team has played some fantastic hockey in this period and have shown we are a force to be reckoned with.  There has been some challenges along the way with injures but the guys have battled hard and never given up.

Noticeable performances were the three tied games for me.  All games that could have easily been lost but we battled to the finish, with games against Khaos and Chiefs goals been scored in the final minute to secure a point."

Next games up are against Khaos and Bottesford on the 22nd December.  Can the Barbairians continue their current run??

Barbarians prefer to come from behind and maintain 100% start

Game 1 Vs Teeside Smoke

A game in which the Barbarians haven’t fared well over the years couldn’t have started worse, going one down early on in the game.  It stayed a tense and edgy affair until Phil Sanderson managed to take advantage on the powerplay slotting home a quick shot low to the blocker side of the opposing netminder thanks to some inspired coaching by Ed Coote.  Not long afterwards Steve Walker put the Barbarians up by one to end the 1^st period 2-1.

Teeside came back early and scored at the beginning of the second period to put the game on level terms again.  Halfway through the 2^nd Ben Bradley edged the Barbarians in front again to make the game 3-2.  Some late penalties on the Barbarians made the end of the game uncomfortable but some great PK work from Steve Walker killed the game off.  A great win against one of the Barbarian’s bogey teams kept the team at the top of the league.

Team stats: - Steve Walker 1+1, Ben Bradley 1+1, Phil Sanderson 1+0

Game 2 Vs York University

Two unbeaten sides met each other with all to play for at this early stage of the season.  York, fielding a nearly new squad, had enjoyed early success in the league and for the 2^nd time in the day put the Barbarians 1-0 down on the powerplay with a backhand shot that snuck though Ed Coote.  Phil Sanderson again brought the Barbarians back level halfway through the 1^st period to end the period all square. 

It stayed a very tense game which could have gone either way until 14 min left when Nick Clapham scored to put the barbarians up 2-1.  Again York pressed, looking for the equaliser but some inspired netminding sometimes from point blank range kept York at bay.  It was to be Nick Clapham scoring his 2^nd of the game which looked to seal the game for the Barbarians with 3 mins left on the clock, but some defencive errors lead to a tense last two mins as no. 97 for York danced straight though the Barbarians defence to score and make the score 3-2 with 1 min 30 secs left.  Try as they might, York couldn’t get back on level terms with some inspired defending from Barbarians.  The end of a good game was marred with a dangerous knee to the head by no. 9 from York which started off a melee where everyone took a partner; the Barbarians were punished unfairly with two key forwards missing the next game with York only missing one player in there next game.      

Team stats:- Nick Clapham 2+0, Phil Sanderson 1+0, Mark Chambers 0+1, Richard Hawke 0+1

Barbarians look to stay on top

Barbarians arrive into this weekend double header against Teeside and York standing a top of the BIPHA north east table. 

However the team is expecting a lot tougher opposition compared to last times outing against both Norton teams.

First up are Teeside Smoke a team that the Barbarians have struggled against over the past couple of seasons. Only 1 win in 3 attempts shows that it's going to be a tough battle.

Next up are York Uni, a team that are usually placed at the lower end of the table. However some big summer signings have paid off as they recorded back to back victories last time out against Cleakheaton and Kingston.  Another tough challenge for the Barbarians.

Face off vs Teeside 12.20

             vs York Uni 14.50