Wednesday 13 April 2016

Season Update

The Barbarians are already 3/4 of the way through the Bipha Senior B Div 1 and are currently 3rd in the league. So far the season has seen some excellent performances as well as some frustrating results. It is clear that the league this season is extremely competitive and the playing standard has certainly increased since last year, highlighted by the high scoring results that have been seen so far.

The highlight of the season has to be the 8 - 0 win over the Blackhawks, who are currently competing for the league title and contain a very highly skilled roster. Every Barbarians player stepped up and gave a fantastic team performance that resulted in a shutout for Ed, which was his second of the season. The bogey team this year has been the Nordiques, who we have played 3 times and resulted in 1 draw and 2 loses.

The Barbarians have always been based around solid defence and this season has been no exception with the team currently conceding the least amount of goals and Ed leading the netminder stats. Kieran Wilson has also settled into the team very well and is one of the leading points scorers in the league with 24 goals, 12 assists for 36 points.


New Coach

Over the last 5 years the Barbarians have been coached by our current netminder Ed Coote and in this time the team has seen a lot of success and improvement, both in our final league positions and competing in the end of year national finals. In the summer of 2015 Ed felt he would prefer to concentrate on the playing aspect so decided to step down from the coach position.

The Barbarians have now managed to gain Joel Marrow as our new coach for the 15/16 season. Joel has a great deal of playing experience with Norton Junior Cyclones and has won league and national titles as well as playing for GB. Joel now helps out in coaching and running drills during our training sessions.

Joel Marrow

We're back online!

It has been a while but the blog is now back up and running so keep checking back for all the latest information, results and tables.

The summer of 2015 saw a change in the playing roster. The teams top scorer from the 14/15 season James Oades had an offer that he couldn't refuse and signed for the reigning national champions Hallamshire Hornets, who play in the Bipha Central Senior A league. One of our netminders, Chris Cusick also decided to sign elsewhere and joined the Barbarians league rivals Chiefs for the new 15/16 season. We wish them all the best.


James Oades
Chris Cusick


Coming into the Barbarians roster for the 2015/2016 season was Kieran Wilson and Emily Oxley. Kieran will be joining his brother Tom in the red and black shirt and brings a wealth of experience having played for many years with Norton Cyclones and Hallamshire Hornets. Emily will be playing up to the senior league for the first time and competing with Ed for the netminders spot. She has experience playing for Norton Cyclones and the GB Womens team.

Kieran Wilson

Wednesday 4 March 2015

Barbarians come unstuck against Hull

Barbarians 2                           Hull 5


An early morning start at Simply Skate saw the Barbarians take on the inform team of the league at present Hull Fury.  It didn't start well as Hull raced out to a 3-0 period lead. It was only thanks to netminder Coote that the score was only 3. 


The second period Barbarians settled down and started playing some nice hockey.  Oades tapped in from close range to make it 3-1 mid way though the period, however the fight back was short lived as Hull made it 4-1.  Oades added his second with only minutes remaining to reduce the arrears.  Hull however secured the win and points with a fifth as the Barbarians were pushing to find the extra goals.


Final score 5-2 Hull.  This had narrowed the lead Barbarians had over second placed Hull to 1 point with Hull having a game in hand.




Barbarians 4                      Cleckheaton 1


Second game of the day was against Cleackheaton.  After a dismal start against Hull the boys had high hopes of securing there 8th win of the season.  The first couple of minutes saw the Barbarians look a little flustered, but from then on it was a dominate performance.  Wave after wave the attacks came.  To be far to Cleckheaton they held on till nearly half time but it was only a mater of time before Barbarians broke there resolute defence.  Two goals after the break secured the win with Comets scoring a consolation only for the Barbarians to make it 4-1.  A resounding victory that should have been double figures only for the Comets to box out any game plan Barbarians had.

Friday 9 January 2015

Still Unbeaten

Barbarians looked to keep there title momentum going on Sunday.  The festive break hadn't helped with 2 sessions been cancelled.  It was a Monday afternoon between Christmas and New Year that had to do for a session, but a few players had work commitments and the rink was very damp.  Barbarians also had positional problems with a number of defensemen unavailable.  Lycett and Sanderson filling in at the back. 


Barbarians 3                     Bottesford 3


Barbarians face off against Bottesford for the second time in 3 matches.  First encounter saw the Barbarians drop there first point of the season.  History repeating itself as they dropped there second point of the season against the bottom team in the league. 


Barbarians didn't seem to get into there usual flow which has been seen of late.  The damp rink conditions hampering there new fast flowing transition from defence to offence.  Bottesford broke the deadlock after 3 minutes against the run of play.  Barbarians struck back half way through the first period with a great solo effort from Oades.  Bottesford then regained the lead again 3 minutes later only for Cousins to score a quick fire double just before the break to make it 3-2 Barbarians


Second period was been dominated by the Barbarians but couldn't score the insurance goal to make it 4-2.  Mid way through the period Barbarians started taking penalties increasing pressure from Bottesford.  The team was playing some great Penalty kill hockey.  The clock was running down and it looked like another victory was in the bag, however Bottesford grabbed an undeserved point with 7 second remaining.  Final score 3-3.


Barbarians 6                 York 2


This was the first meeting between the two teams since the legendary National semi final back in June when the Barbarians came form 2 down to win in the  last 2 minutes.  The scores have been very close between the teams since the beginning of last season. 


First period again saw the opponents score first with a goal at 9.03 in the first period.  The Barbarians had been playing some great hockey but hadn't manages to find an opening.  This changed with 5 minutes remaining in the first as the combination of Bradley and Cousins combined twice to secure a 2-1 lead at the interval.


Much of the same in the second period.  Ancliff grabbed his first goal of the season with a wristed pass from the halfway line that eluded everyone on its way to the bottom corner.  A minute later Lloyd finished of a great team goal, with assists coming from Wilson and Hawke.  With 11.50 remaining Walker make it 5-1 after Cousins had been ejected from the game for fighting. Wilson made it 6-1 with a great solo effort going bar down.  The tie was effectively over and with a 7 minute penalty kill it was time to get defensive.  York did get a consolation goal.  Making it 6-2 final score.


3 point weekend that keeps the Barbarians top of the league.  Great defensive work from Lycett and Sanderson having stepped in for the weekend from forward positions.


Next time out its first vs second when Barbarians take on second place Hull.  Since the first meeting between the teams Hull have been on a winning streak of there own closing the gap at the top to 3 points with a game in hand.  Second match of the day is against Comets, a team that the Barbarians have struggled against in the past. 





Saturday 13 December 2014

Barbarians top at Christmas


Barbarians 7                                Kingston 0



Usually most of the games between Barbarians and Kingston were close affairs but this game was the exception.  In the 1st minute of the game the Diva line turned the puck over in the opponents’ half which resulted in Nick Clapham scoring. That was the start of the domination by our first line which would span all three games!!  The 1st period would end with the Barbarians 5-0 up and cruising with goals from Steve Walker (x2) and a 1st goal of the season from Jack Cousins on another offensive turn over by LLoydy who fed the puck to Jack for his first of many (we hope) and Nick with his 2nd of the game in the last minute.  The 2nd period started much more evenly with some good chances at both ends. At the 12 minute mark of the 2nd Nick Clapham completed his hat trick with an assist from Chris Cusick.  With under 4 mins left to play in the game the frustration from both teams meant penalties were called and we found ourselves playing 3 on 3 hockey, creating more space of  which was capitalised on by Tom Wilson with some great give-and-go passing with Steve walker to round the game off at 7-0 a great start to the day.

Stats
Points:- Clapham 3+0, Walker 2+2, Oades 0+2, Wilson 1+0, Cousins 1+0, C.Cusick 0+1

Netminder:- Cusick Shots 19 Saves 19
Penalties:-

 


Barbarians 5                                Bottesford 5


This game didn’t start as planned, conceding 3 lack lustre goals in the space of 4 minutes gave the Barbarians a massive hill to climb, which started on the powerplay as J.Oades scored a ripper from the top of the circles.  This was followed by another goal 3 mins later by the diva line scored by S.Walker. With 1 minute 30 seconds left in the period the Bulldogs re doubled their lead scoring on a delayed penalty leaving the Barbarians a mountain to climb to get back into the game.  To make things worse for the Barbarians the Bulldogs scored their 5th goal in the 2nd period on the powerplay when the PK line pushed up too far and got caught on a 2 on 1 break that was finished well.  The Barbarians were now 3 down and only 15 minutes of the game left, surely they were dead and buried?  Well the team from last year may have imploded but this year’s squad stuck to their game plan and started the comeback at the 14 min mark with a goal from Phil Sanderson and 3 mins later Tom Wilson was on the score sheet to make it 5-4.  The comeback was complete with 7 mins left when James Oades scored a rap around goal. What followed was a nervous affair as both teams knew that the next goal would win it and both teams had their chances but the game ended 5-5.  A good second period after a period to forget for the Barbarians, but still their first point dropped this season.

 
Stats

Points:- Oades 2+1, Walker1-0, Sanderson1-0, Wilson 1+0, Clapham 0+1

Netminder:- C.Cusick Shots 20 Saves 15

Penalties:-


Barbarians 7                              The Chiefs 4 


Always a good game when the Barbarians play the Chiefs. In the history of this game honours are about even.  The Diva line got the Barbarians off to a great start scoring twice on their first shift Nick Clapham and Steve Walker adding to the goal tallies for the season.  The next shift proved to be one for the Chiefs as they scored next 1 min after Steve’s goal making it a 2-1 game.  The diva line came out and did it again with Nick Clapham scoring with just over a minute left in the game but again the next shift Chiefs scored a soft goal with under 10 seconds remaining to make the game 3-2 at half time.  In the second shift of the second period the Chiefs equalized only for the Barbarians to retake the lead on the PP with a laser from Nick Clapham (hat trick goal for the game) and then press home their advantage with just over 10 minutes remaining with a goal from P.Sanderson, only to be pegged back again 30 seconds later by the Chiefs making the game 5-4.  Then it was the new 2nd line’s chance to shine as D.Lloyd scored with 5 mins left in the game and a twine  seeking missile from B.Bradley put the game beyond doubt with under a minute left  final score 7-4 win for the Barbarians.



Stats 

Points:-Clapham 3+0, Walker 1+2, Oades 0+2, Bradley1-0, Sanderson1-0, Lloyd 1+0 Wilson 0+1     

Netminder:-C.Cusick Shots 24 Saves 20
Penalties:-

Thursday 20 November 2014

Debutants Shine.

League leading Barbarians faced off against Cleckheaton Comets and rivals Khaos last Sunday.


Both games looking very tough on paper.  The Barbarians struggling against Comets last year falling to a 5-3 defeat and collecting 2 points in a hard fought 2-1 victory.  Barbarians beat Khaos in the opening weekend 5-1 but the games are usually even.








Barbarians 7                                    Comets 0




Barbarians came out of the blocks slower than of late.  Giving the Comets a bit too much respect on the puck.  Netminder Coote with a bit too much to do.  The tie was only 4 minutes old when Collins fired home his first goal as a Barbarians on his first shift.  Two minutes later other debutant Cousins supplied a pass to Hawke who doubled the lead.  The rest of the period was played out to a frustrating end for the Barbarians who looked a little out of sorts.




The second period started much the same as the first with play after play breaking down.  However it was Clapham who made it 3-0 with 16 minutes remaining.  With 7 minutes remaining the smaller benched Comets folded and the flood gates opened. As Walker then Clapham and Bradley (twice) hit 4 goals to total flatten a Barbarians team that never reached that extra gear. 




Final score Barbarians 7 Comets 0.  First shut out of the season for Coote. 
Coach Coote after the game expressed his dissatisfaction with the display saying ''it was ok but we should have at leased a couple more goals''.




Stats
Points:- Cousins 0-3, Clapham 2-0, Bradley 2-0, Hawke 1-1, Walker 1-1, Collins 1-0
             Oades 0-1
Netminder:- Coote 19 shots 19 saves
Penalties:- Bradley 12 mins, Oades 4 mins


Barbarians 4                                       Khaos 2


After a frustrating morning the Barbarians lined up against Khaos with hope of a repeat performance like 3 weeks before.  The Barbarians were up for it and were totally dominant however 2 fortunate goals on the counter attack saw the Barbarians 2 down in the opening 8 minutes.  A situation 12 months previously that the Barbarians would have just collapsed.  This wasn't the case today as the Barbarians stuck to there game plan and started working away.  A power play goal from Wilson who skated in from high slot cut Khaos led to 2-1 with 7 minutes remaining in the period. 


The second period was all Barbarians who were unlucky to be back on level terms if shots would have been on target.  The tie turned in the 9th minute of the second.  A loose puck in front of net saw Hawke go for a puck only for the Khaos netminder to cover the stick and puck at the same time.  Resulting in the netminder to loose his catching mitten.  From the insuring face off on the left Clapham made a clean draw back to Oades who fired to corner to make it 2-2.  30 seconds later the duo made it 3-2 with Clapham firing high blocker side.
Wilson scored his 2nd and Barbarians 4th of the game with less than 5 minutes remaining to give the Barbarians some breathing space.


Final score 4-2 Barbarians.  Great upbeat team performance that merited the way the team has been playing of late.


Stats
Points:- Oades 1-2, Wilson 2-0, Clapham 1-1, Lloyd 0-1
Netminder:- Coote 20 shots 18 saves
Penalties:- Hawke 2 mins, Lloyd 2 mins.


Next time out Barbarians face off against 3 opponents.  Kingston, York and Chiefs
7th December.  Can the Barbarians make it to Christmas undefeated?