Seahawks Fall Agonisingly Short in Pursuit of a Final Four Place
Hull Reckitt Seahawks v Telford Tigers – 12/04/2025
The Hull Reckitt Seahawks’ season came to an end after splitting the points with the Telford Tigers in the final round robin fixtures of this season’s Planet Ice NIHL National Division Playoffs.
The weekend started with a 7-6 comeback penalty shot victory for the Seahawks against the Tigers at Hull Arena on Saturday.
It was a must-win match for the Seahawks, as they also hoped for a favourable result in the Leeds Knights v Peterborough Phantoms game, to have any chance of going to the Final Four weekend.
The first period was a close affair, ending a goal apiece. The Tigers took control, at 16:17, through Devon Skoleski, but the lead lasted little over a minute as Owen Sobchak found the back of the net for Hull to tie things up, at 17:21.
The second stanza started poorly for the Seahawks, after a two-minute tripping penalty was called on defenceman Declan Balmer right at the start of the period. This would prove a costly error, as it set up a powerplay opportunity for the Tigers, which they would capitalise on just 14 seconds later through Eric Henderson.
The Tigers then extended their lead further, at 24:14, thanks to a Scott McKenzie finish.
At this point, Seahawks Head Coach Matty Davies had seen enough and called a timeout in an effort to reset and refocus his players. It was a decisive move and revived his team’s fortunes, as they would score the next two goals to make the contest all-square.
The first marker would come at 26:13, thanks to Canadian forward Sobchak’s second of the game. He would then complete his hat-trick just over four minutes later, at 30:29, assisted by Owen Bruton and Tom Stubley.
However, having forced their way back into the match, the Seahawks would slip behind again, just before the end of the second period, as Harry Ferguson sent the Tigers to the locker room 4-3 up, with a goal at 38:12.
The start of the third period had many Seahawks fans thinking the season was over after Thomas Byrne (44:18) and Skoleski, with his second of the night (49:28), stretched the Tigers’ lead to six.
However, the Seahawks refused to go quietly and commenced the fightback of all fightbacks, starting at 52:51 with a finish from Czech forward Emil Svec.
Johnny Corneil then brought the game back to within a single goal, at 53:10, before Lee Bonner netted the equaliser, at 56:11, to force overtime and penalty shots.
Up stepped three heroes in goalie Jordan McLaughlin, who denied a string of penalty shots by the Tigers and enabled Corneil and Jason Hewitt to net their chances and secure the all-important win and points for the Seahawks.
“The blood pressure was pretty high tonight,” joked a relieved Matty Davies in his post-match interview.
“It was tough for 50 minutes, but we showed again what great determination we have as a team. We refuse to believe it is over until it is over.
“I called them out after the second period and put it on them to go and show the type of character that they have shown all year, and they did.
“It was our last home game of the season and, while the performance wasn’t the best overall, we got the two points, and we live to fight another day.”
On Sunday, the Seahawks made the journey to Shropshire to face the Tigers in the reverse fixture.
Unlike the evening before, the game started positively for the Seahawks with Emil Svec scoring the opening goal of the match on the breakaway, at 04:56.
Telford did peg Hull back, at 08:05, courtesy of David Thomson, but it was only a momentary inconvenience for the Seahawks as Tom Stubley fired through traffic after a period of sustained pressure to send the visitors to the locker room 2-1 up.
Hull then extended their lead further in the second period. Firstly, through Johnny Corneil, who ripped one high over the shoulder of Brad Day to make it 3-1, at 20:34, before Svec doubled his goal tally for the night, at 27:23.
However, the home side would find a way back into the contest, at 28:55, through a powerplay strike by Rhodes Mitchell-King as the Seahawks sat a two-minute bench minor for too many players on the ice.
The Tigers then made it a one goal game, at 31:12, thanks to Eric Henderson before Scott McKenzie bagged an equaliser at 34:28.
As the second stanza neared its end, Johnny Corneil struck a late strike, at 39:53, to put the Seahawks back in front.
Before the teams came out for the third period, the news came through that the Peterborough Phantoms had beaten the Leeds Knights 5-3 away at the Castle to send them to Coventry along with the Knights out of Group A.
The third period started with the Tigers drawing level again thanks to Thomson’s second of the game, at 40:50.
A Telford penalty, at 43:26, put the Seahawks on the powerplay and Corneil made no mistake to punish the Tigers, at 44:13, assisted by Declan Balmer, to put Hull back in front.
The lead was however short lived, as Telford made it all square through Devon Skoleski, at 46:58.
A quickfire double then put the Tigers in front through Harry Ferguson, at 50:35, and then Edgars Landsbergs, at 51:15.
Bobby Chamberlain, returning from suspension, grabbed the Seahawks’ seventh goal to bring it back to within one, at 57:36, but Ferguson then added a ninth for the Tigers late on, at 59:27, to wrap up the win and the points for Telford and compound the Seahawks’ misery, as Matty Davies’ side exit the playoffs at the round robin stage for a second season.
By Mark Bateman
