Seahawks Vanquish the Knights to Bring the Curtain Down on the Regular Season
Hull Reckitt Seahawks v Leeds Knights – 23/03/2025
“While it didn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things, it was a great way to celebrate what has been a brilliant season.”
That was the assessment of Hull Reckitt Seahawks Head Coach Matty Davies after Sunday’s 4-3 penalty shootout win over the Planet Ice NIHL National Division Champion Leeds Knights in front of a packed Hull Arena.
Considering there was nothing to play for in the final weekend of the regular season, the final fixtures of the campaign where full of action and drama, which started on Saturday with the trip down to the southwest to face the Bristol Pitbulls.
The Seahawks were without several players for the game, including Dave Phillips, who was still unavailable through injury, Tommy Spraggon; due to the terms of his two-way deal with the Billingham Stars; and Johnny Corneil; who sat the game out as a precaution with the playoffs on the horizon. The team was also without the services of Emil Svec, Declan Balmer and Jamie Chilcott.
The first period saw the Pitbulls race into a two-goal lead, thanks to markers from Sean Morris, on the powerplay, and Mitch Walinski before Seahawks Captain Bobby Chamberlain scored his 49th goal of the season, to pull one back for Hull, assisted by Owen Sobchak and Jason Hewitt.
Early in the second period, Chamberlain chalked up goal number 50 on the season, as he seized on the loose puck after a scramble in front of the net to tie the contest.
Hull then managed to turn the game around before the second period intermission, with Sobchak making no mistake on the breakaway and a neat finish past Tommy Nappier in the Bristol goal.
However, it would be the third period that would write itself into the history books of the 2024/2025 NIHL National Division season.
Less interestingly, it started with four unanswered Bristol goals, which would ultimately earn the Pitbulls the points.
Mason Lipsey scored at the second attempt to equalise at 42:47.
Bristol then went ahead for the second time in the game, thanks to an effort from youngster Joshua Poole.
Rhys Smetham then extended the Pitbulls advantage in the 45th minute, before Ewan Hill netted the final goal of the game, at 51:13, to end the match 6-3 in favour of the hosts.
Now for the interesting part… with 4 minutes and 46 seconds left in the contest, the match officials abandoned the game following a bench clearance between the two sides.
The all-mighty melee unfolded after Jason Hewitt was hit in the head and while the former GB star was laid prone in the centre of the ice, the game continued resulting in Owen Sobchak being hit in the face by a high stick.
Feeling suitably provoked, several Seahawks players jumped to the defence of their stricken teammates and fights broke out across the ice in response.
The officials were unable to restore order for the game to continue and signalled the end of the match at 55:14
Consequently, Sean Morris, Jacob White-Sey, Tommy Nappier, Reece Cochrane and Bobby Ragan, for the Pitbulls, and Bobby Chamberlain, Jordan Fisher and Lee Haywood, from the Seahawks, will now face the judgement of the EIH Department of Player Safety.
With the excitement of Saturday over, the Seahawks made the long bus journey back to the East Riding of Yorkshire to face White Rose rivals and playoff opponents the Leeds Knights.
The game would prove particularly poignant for Jordan Fisher and Chris Wilcox, with both players confirming they will be departing from the Seahawks in the summer.
Unfortunately, Fisher was suspended for the game along with Bobby Chamberlain and Lee Haywood. Jason Hewitt joined Dave Phillips on the sidelines through injury.
However, the Seahawks were able to welcome back Tommy Spraggon, Johnny Corneil, Emil Svec, Declan Balmer and Jamie Chilcott.
Hull formed a customary guard of honour to welcome the Knights onto the ice, following their championship-winning season.
Niceties observed, what would follow was an epic Yorkshire derby that had both sets of fans fixated.
The opening goal of the match fell the way of the Knights, with Finley Bradon getting the team from the west of the county off the mark at 02:25.
But, with the first period drawing to a close, Declan Jones would tie things up for the Seahawks, with the forward tipping a shot from the blue line past Harrison Walker in the Leeds net, assisted by Josh Hodgkinson and Lee Bonner, at 15:24.
The second period was just as keenly contested as the first, only this time it would be the Seahawks who would find the go-ahead goal – as Emil Svec tapped in a rebound, at 26:50.
Oli Endicott would restore parity for the Knights in the 34th minute to send the teams into the dressing room at the end of the second stanza all-square.
At the start of the third period, Johnny Corneil was called for two minutes for boarding, which put Leeds on the powerplay. Bradon scored his second of the night just under a minute later to put the Knights back in front.
With the seconds counting down on the final regular season game, the Seahawks were chasing another equaliser to force overtime, and it came at 54:17 courtesy of Lee Bonner.
Five minutes three-on-three couldn’t separate the two teams and so it went to a shootout, with the league’s top points scorer – Owen Sobchak – netting the game-winning penalty shot after Dimitri Zimozdra denied a host of chances from the visitors.
The Seahawks now need to gear up for a three-week contest against the Peterborough Phantoms, the Leeds Knights and the Telford Tigers for a place at the finals weekend in Coventry.
“We can’t read too much into tonight’s result,” said Matty Davies in his post-match interview.
“Playoff hockey is very different and the next three weeks will see a real step up in terms of speed, aggression and intensity.
“We’ll take a few days off to rest up, but then it is all-go in terms of our preparation for the playoffs, starting with Peterborough at the weekend.”
By Mark Bateman
