Seahawks Return to form with Four Point Weekend
Hull Reckitt Seahawks v Solway Sharks – 26/01/2025
The Hull Reckitt Seahawks revived their recent good form with victories over the Swindon Wildcats and Solway Sharks at the weekend.
Last Sunday’s narrow 4-3 defeat to the Peterborough Phantoms was quickly consigned to the history books thanks to an impressive 6-5 shootout win on the road in Wiltshire followed by a comprehensive 6-1 rout of the Sharks.
On Saturday, the Seahawks made the long bus ride south to face the Wildcats – a team that Hull still have ambitions of reeling in as the season heads towards its conclusion.
The first period ended with the hosts 1-0 up thanks to a Jake Bricknell goal in the seventh minute.
In the second period, Swindon extended their lead on the powerplay through Tomasz Malasinski, at 22:24, while Jamie Chilcott sat a two-minute penalty for delaying the game.
The game then sprung to life with a flurry of goals in what was a breathless 24th minute.
The first came on the powerplay for Hull as they halved the deficit, at 24:33, thanks to Emil Svec, while Balint Pakozdi took a two-minute penalty for the Wildcats for roughing.
But, no sooner had Hull brought the game back to one, Swindon restored their two-goal advantage at 24:33 thanks to Bricknell’s second of the night.
However, 23 seconds later, it was back to within a goal thanks to a finish from defenceman Declan Balmer.
The Seahawks then tied the game up, 3-3, two minutes later, on the powerplay, thanks to Svec’s second of the night while Chris Jones sat in the penalty box for the Wildcats for delaying the game.
The sides would then exchange blows one more time before the second period intermission through Ed Bradley on the powerplay for Swindon before Bobby Chamberlain found another leveller for the Seahawks to send the teams into the break at 4-4.
The third period started with the Wildcats retaking the lead on the powerplay through Bricknell’s hattrick at 40:40 but this would again be cancelled out by the Seahawks, with Balmer netting his second of the match, at 48:54, to finish the contest 5-5.
Overtime couldn’t separate the sides and so it went to a penalty shootout, with Svec and Dimitri Zimozdra the stars – the Czech forward converted the all-important, game-winning shot, but only thanks to several fine saves from Dima.
Sunday’s game was preceded by exciting news that GB under-20 forward Owen Bruton had signed a two-year contract extension with the Seahawks and while he didn’t ice, due to injury, the news was nonetheless well-received by another bumper crowd at Hull Arena.
The first period saw the Seahawks set the tone for the evening with a high press that hemmed the Sharks into their own zone and resulted in the perfect start when Bobby Chamberlain netted the game’s opening goal, at 05:38, assisted by Emil Svec and Josh Hodgkinson.
A second came for the Seahawks at 13:12, when Hodgkinson caught Solway on the turnover and played the puck to Owen Sobchak who found Chamberlain in front of the Sharks goal, with the skipper netting another for the night, high in the top shelf.
As the seconds ticked down towards the first period intermission, Hull pulled further ahead through Johnny Corneil who squeezed a shot into Jordan Marr’s net from the tightest of angles, assisted by Sobchak and Hodgkinson who had combined well again to set things up.
Into the final minute of the period, Solway scored what would prove to be their only marker of the match thanks to John Dunbar’s unconventional ‘baseball swing’ finish to convert a deflected effort past Jordan McLaughlin after Solway had broken away three-on-one.
The second period saw the Seahawks score a fourth, this time on the powerplay, with Svec skating through the Solway defence to finish low in the bottom corner while Kell Beattie sat at two-minute tripping penalty.
Into the third period and two more goals from Hull sealed the win and the points.
The first, and the Seahawks’ fifth, came at 50:32 when Corneil and Sobchak picked up another turnover from the Sharks to set Lee Bonner up for his first of the night and he didn’t have to wait long for a second, and Hull’s sixth, going forehand/backhand on the breakaway before nestling a shot past Marr at 55:10.
“Last night was a great performance from the boys,” said Seahawks Head Coach Matty Davies, as he reflected on the win over Swindon in his post-match interview.
“To dig that result out the way we did. I was very proud of the lads.
“Swindon give up very little on home ice, which makes it a massive place to go and get a win. I can’t remember the last time we went there and got a result.”
After a late arrival back in Hull, Davies was full of admiration for the professionalism of his team for following up Saturday’s win with another positive performance against Solway.
“Today was always going to be a bit flat at times, given the time we got home, the players we have out injured and the number of minutes the rest of the team are having to clock.
“I was particularly pleased with the efforts of our third line tonight. They really came through and brought the energy at the right moments when we needed it.”
By Mark Bateman