Makings of a great game

Whitley Warriors face a top-of-the-table clash with English National League leaders Billingham Stars tomorrow night, when the Teesside based outfit make their first appearance in more than two years at Hillheads.

And to make the game more interesting, Whitley coach Garry Dowd is a former Billingham player, while five of the Stars squad were part of the double winning side at Hillheads last season.

“It has all the makings of a great game between the two in-form sides in the league,” said Dowd, “and with the connections between the two sides, that can only add to the spice of the occasion.”

However, the two sides have met once before this season when the Stars won 7-2 in Billingham and Dowd is keen to reverse that result.

“I thought we were competitive with them for the first period and were unlucky to go into the break only drawing 2-2,” he added, “but for whatever reason we never reached that level of intensity for the rest of the night and conceded five goals without reply. 

“Whether that was down to me getting our tactics wrong, or that we were short on players and ran out of steam, I don’t know, but they were worthy winners by the end.

“However, it will be different this time,” he promised, “we will be taking the game to them right from the start and with more bodies on the bench than last time, I’m confident we will last the pace.”

“We are also coming into some form now,” the coach continued, “netminder Richie Lawson and forward Dean Holland had both just joined the side when we last played Billingham; and both are now integral parts of the team.”

David Barrett returns to the Whitley squad after missing the 7-0 win over Nottingham last Sunday, while Harry Harley and Christian Johnson are both available after being on Under 18 duty last weekend.

Mark Good returned to training this week after he took a puck to the face during the warm-up for the Blackburn game two weeks ago and has an outside chance of playing, but Martin Crammond is unavailable.

And the atmosphere off the ice will be just as intense, with Dowd acknowledging that both sets of fans are very passionate about their team.

“I would imagine there will be an atmosphere that Hillheads has not witnessed for an ice hockey match for a very long time,” he said.

“And I sure both sets of players will respond to produce a game that befits the top two sides in the league.”

Tickets for the game with Billingham tomorrow are available on the night, priced at Adults £7.50, Under 16’s & Concessions £5.50, while a Family Ticket is available for £22. The action gets underway at 5.00pm, with a big crowd expected the doors should open earlier than the normal 30 minutes before face-off.