Seahawks Clinch Valuable Home Points Ahead of Festive Run-In
Hull Reckitt Seahawks v Bristol Pitbulls – 15/12/2024
In their penultimate home fixture before a Christmas Yorkshire derby with Leeds Knights, the Hull Reckitt Seahawks recorded a third win in a row at Hull Arena as they beat the Bristol Pitbulls, 4-0, on Sunday.
The two points helped keep things ticking over for the Seahawks in the NIHL standings, as they enter a pivotal period of four-matches over the festive period that will see them first head to Scotland, on Saturday, to face the Solway Sharks followed by the visit from the team from West Yorkshire on Sunday.
The Seahawks then round out 2024 with back-to-back games against another opponent from the white rose county, this time from the south, in the shape of the Sheffield Steeldogs.
But before they could look ahead, Hull had two tough matches to play the weekend just gone, with the Seahawks firstly travelling down to Wiltshire to face the Swindon Wildcats.
Despite being short benched, particularly in defence with Lee Haywood continuing to recover from a broken hand and without defensive cover in Josh Hodgkinson and Tommy Spraggon, Hull pushed Swindon all the way in a highly entertaining match.
The first 20 minutes ended scoreless, before the game sprung to life in the second period.
The Wildcats took the lead through Balint Pakozdi, at 29:58, before the Seahawks restored parity four minutes later thanks to Bobby Chamberlain, assisted by Emil Svec and Jamie Chilcott.
However, the hosts would not be denied and took the lead again, at 36:21, through a Chris Jones effort to take the game into the third period, 2-1.
Ill-discipline from the Wildcats at the end of the second period and at the start of the third would offer a way back for the Seahawks, as Dave Phillips netted a leveller on the powerplay, assisted by Owen Bruton and Tom Stubley, as Jake Bricknell sat a 2+2 for high sticks.
But a powerplay goal of their own would put the Wildcats back ahead, on 52:12, scored by Aaron Nell, as Lee Bonner sat a two-minute penalty for tripping.
The Wildcats then made it a quick-fire double scoring just 24 seconds after the restart, through Reed Sayers, to make it 4-2.
With the game clock winding down, a timeout was called by the Hull bench, at 58:03, and Jordan McLaughlin was pulled for the extra skater as the Seahawks tried to find a way back.
However, the defeat was confirmed, at 59:42, when Bricknell scored on the empty net to end the match 5-2 to Swindon.
Seahawks Head Coach, Matty Davies, felt his team had battled hard in difficult circumstances.
“It was a really good, competitive match-up and could have gone either way at times. I thought their goalie (Renny Marr) played well and unfortunately; they got a couple of goals right at the end.
“The lads battled, and we have a few guys who are battered and bruised. But that is where we are in the season now and every team is in the same place.”
After the long bus ride home, the Seahawks took to the ice against the Bristol Pitbulls. A team that Hull has enjoyed success against this season.
A change between the pipes saw Dimitri Zimozdra restored to the starting line-up as well as a home debut for Spraggon.
The first 20 minutes saw Chamberlain continue his scoring streak for the Seahawks, as the captain netted the period’s only goal, on 09:09, assisted by Phillips and Svec.
Midway through the second period Hull doubled the lead through Johnny Corneil, assisted by Svec and Owen Sobchak.
Into the final period, Sobchak would add to his assist with a goal of his own, on the powerplay, as Pitbulls’ forward Nick Pryce sat a two-minute penalty for boarding.
The final goal of the contest would then fall the way of Chamberlain who added his second of the night, assisted by Sobchak and Jason Hewitt, at 47:35, again on the powerplay, as Rhys Smetham sat a two-minute penalty, also for boarding.
The Pitbulls threw everything at Zimozdra’s net at the end of the match to try and break the shutout, but to no avail.
“Whilst I don’t think we were at our best tonight, we got the job done,” said Davies in his post-match interview.
“It was a strange game. Offensively, we would like to have scored more so that I could rotate and give the young players more minutes, but our aim, defensively, was to limit the number of clear-cut chances that Bristol could have, and we did that successfully, thanks to 40 save shut out by Dimitri.
“We now need to rest up and have a good week of training, as we know what to expect next weekend.
“Solway is a notoriously difficult place for us to go and the match against Leeds speaks for itself.
“The next four games are absolutely pivotal in terms of where we will finish in the season.”
Davies also confirmed that defensive reinforcements are on the way in time for the busy Christmas and New Year period.
“We will have Hodgkinson back for the rest of the season now, which will be a big lift for us, and we are also hopeful of having Haywood back in the team for this weekend as well.”
By Mark Bateman
