Former captain Rob Eley ‘couldn’t be happier’ after making a successful return to action in the derby day victory over Coventry ENL Blaze.

Eley struck two crucial goals in the 7-5 victory, and the towering forward has revealed his delight at being back in the centre of the Barons fold after spending the first part of the season on the sidelines.

“It’s brilliant to be back.” He said.

“These players, I don’t just play hockey with them, I’ve known a lot of them for a long time. The likes of Erik Bakalar, Andy Ayres and even some of the younger lads I’ve known for a long time.

“It’s nice to be back, it’s like coming home to family. I’ve been training for a few weeks and its nice atmosphere and the lads have welcomed to me with open arms like I’ve never been away, so hopefully I’ve repaid that by getting a couple of goals against Coventry.

“I was looking forward to the game, it was always planned that this was going to be my comeback match and with it being a local derby, I think it meant that little bit extra to me.

“It’s been a long time out of the game, three or four months at the start of the season. I’ve kept my eye on the results for the lads and not being able to win a lot of the games hurts even when you’re not playing, but it’s nice to come back and to cap it off with a win is even better.

After securing the accolade of being the second top points and goal scorer in the ENL North Division Two last season, the Barons were disappointed to hear that Eley would be taking a break from the game. But that break is now over and Rob has his sights firmly set on helping them put together a winning streak to lift them off the foot of the table.

“We’re on a run of home games and we feel that on our day we can match anybody, especially at home and that’s shown. We have taken points off teams at HMR and in the next couple of weeks we’ve got a couple of games that we feel we can win, so there is a bit of confidence in the camp at the moment.

“We need to be catching teams like Coventry, Nottingham and Telford and the only way we can do that is by beating them – especially in Solihull.

“It’s pleasing (to beat Coventry). I mean they’re so close, in the league and just up the A45, it was a big big win and hopefully it will inspire the team more now. We’ve gone two games without losing, a draw and a win and that’s brilliant and we want to extend that when we play Sheffield Spartans on Sunday.

Solihull Barons v Sheffield Spartans @ Hobs Moat Road.
Face-off 6pm. Tickets £6 adults and £3 concessions.