Seahawks Return to Winning Ways With Victory Over Berkshire
Hull Reckitt Seahawks v Berkshire Bees – 01/12/2024
“We’ve had a tough stretch, but tonight we turned a corner and, hopefully, we can now get a run going as we head into a busy period in the season.”
Those were the reflections of a beaming Hull Reckitt Seahawks Head Coach, Matty Davies, after his side snapped a three-game losing streak on home ice thanks to a commanding 6-3 win over the Berkshire Bees.
The feeling of relief around Hull Arena after Sunday’s result was palpable as it ended a winless run that went back as far as early November and that included defeats at Hull Arena to the Swindon Wildcats (5-2), the Solway Sharks (6-5) and the Milton Keynes Lightning (9-5).
The recent run of poor form has coincided with the long-term absence of defenceman Lee Haywood, which has resulted in what Davies described as ‘a lack of balance across the team’.
Recent games have seen goals too easily conceded coupled with a failure to convert chances on a consistent basis.
Much-discussed changes to the lines as well as defensive cover, in the shape of Josh Hodgkinson and Tommy Spraggon, drafted in to fill gaps in the roster would finally help deliver results.
However, going into the weekend’s fixtures against the Bristol Pitbulls and the Bees, the Seahawks knew that nothing was certain and that they would need to work hard to come away with league points that have started to become increasingly valuable.
A long trip down to the southwest on Saturday yielded one of those as Hull forced overtime and penalty shots in Bristol thanks to goals from Johnny Corneil (x2), Lee Bonner, Bobby Chamberlain and Emil Svec.
However, Bristol secured the win, and the second point, thanks to Bayley Harewood’s cool head in the shootout and a big performance between the pipes by Pitbulls’ US netminder, Tommy Nappier.
Rewarded on the road by their hard work and effort, the Seahawks returned home on Sunday to face a short-benched Bees.
The Seahawks have already beaten Berkshire once at home this season, 6-1, in October and a note of cautious optimism could be felt among fans ahead of face-off.
That optimism became full blown delirium as Hull went about professionally dispatching their opponents with three goals in the first period.
Goal number one came thanks to a tap in from Chamberlain, at 07:46, assisted by Svec and Jordan Fisher.
That lead was then doubled at 10:27 when Chamberlain netted his second of the night with a thunderous finish past Max Wright in the Bees net, beating the Canadian goalie top shelf on his glove side, assisted by Bonner and Corneil.
Just a few minutes after that, the Seahawks made it 3-0 when Bonner scored on 12:15, assisted by Corneil and Hodgkinson.
At this point, the Bees called a time out to try and re-group after a devastating five minutes.
While Berkshire did little to seriously threaten Jordan McLaughlin in the Hull goal, a penalty called at 19:43 against Hodgkinson would have repercussions in the second period.
However, for now, the Seahawks were euphoric and 3-0 up as they went into the first period intermission.
As comfortable as the first 20 minutes had been for the Seahawks, the start of the second period would be anything but, as the Bees rallied.
At 21:28, Slovakian forward, Domink Gabaj, scored a powerplay goal with Hodgkinson sitting the remainder of his two-minute penalty for tripping, called at the end of the first period.
Defenceman, Stuart Mogg, then added a second on 22:30, also on the powerplay, as Tom Stubley sat in the penalty box for the Seahawks.
As Berkshire brought the game back to within a single goal, the nerves returned to the Hull Arena that is until seven seconds before the end of the period when Corneil scored on the powerplay with a shot from the blueline, assisted by Dave Phillips and Owen Sobchak, to restore the Seahawks’ two goal cushion, 4-2.
Into the final period, Hull were presented with an opportunity to extend their lead when the Bees’ Slovakian forward, Marcel Balaz, was given a two-minute penalty for tripping, at 43:16, and Svec dutifully converted a chance 30 seconds later, assisted by Sobchak and Chamberlain.
As the game entered its final 10 minutes, Balaz atoned for his earlier indiscretion when he netted Berkshire’s third of night but, short benched, the comeback never really materialised for the Bees and the defeat was confirmed with one second left of the game, when Owen Bruton scored the Seahawks’ sixth of the match, assisted by Hodgkinson and James Spurr.
“This was a big weekend for us against two very determined teams,” said Davies in his post-match interview.
“Last night, I felt we were a little unlucky to lose to Bristol. We played well and came up against a goalie in outstanding form.
“Tonight was tough against a team icing only 12 skaters. At times, we couldn’t quite get the rhythm going but when we did we played brilliantly, especially on the powerplay.
“It cannot be understated how important that win was, as it restores our confidence and gets us out of a slump.
“We now need to build momentum, keep the good feeling going and hit form at the right time.
“We’ve got a tough stretch of games in front of us and there are lot of ‘four-pointers’ coming up before Christmas.”
By Mark Bateman
