Whitley Warriors recorded a four-point weekend with wins away to Sheffield Scimitars and then at home to Nottingham Lions.
On Saturday, the Warriors made the trip down to the Steel City with a number of key players unavailable. Ross Douglass, Callum Queenan and Adam Finlinson all missed out due to work commitments, but a welcome return was that of team captain Dean Holland who made his seasonal debut with a four-point game! The Scimitars are much changed from last season and have seen their veteran core all retire. That meant three units of much younger players and a team focused on development.
Whitley got off to a very strong start in the opening period with a lot of play in the offensive zone. Jamie Ord was one of two players to strike the post within a matter of seconds in what was an impressive individual performance from the forward. Having gone close on that occasion, he got a well-deserved goal at 8:37 to open the scoring when set up by both his linemates, Dean Holland and Phil Edgar.
The Warriors out-shot their hosts 17-3 in the period but for all their puck possession and dominance, amazingly found themselves going into the first break level when Rui Tait scored on a breakaway after being played in by Michael Danecko.
The second period saw more of the same from the Warriors as they once again outshot Sheffield 14-2, but with a number of penalties called, the flowing play seem to slow down and the Scimitars grew into the game more. However, it was a tripping call on Sam Rodgers which saw the Warriors re-take the lead at 25:40 when Phil Edgar converted on Harry Harley’s shot from the point.
Whitley thought they had gone 3-1 up at 34:54 when Steven Chalmers put the puck in the net, but the officials deemed that the Scottish forward had used a high stick when it looked more likely that the puck had struck Scimitars goalie Tom Hovell’s helmet. They went close to a third goal 90 seconds later when Lewis Crisp fired against the post from a Phil Edgar pass but the visitors had to instead be content with a slender 2-1 lead going into the final period.
Whitley took the game away from Sheffield early in the third, when Dean Holland scored his first of the season following good play from Edgar and Harry Harley. Then less than two minutes later with Harry Rushby serving an interference penalty, it was 4-1 when Phil Edgar scored his second powerplay goal of the night with helpers coming from Harley and Holland again. Edgar and Holland had a hand in all four of the Warriors goals as the pair combined well throughout the game.
There was time for Whitley to hit the pipes once again, the fourth of the evening, when Kyle Ross struck the bar from a clever reverse pass from Shaun Kippin who dug the puck out from the boards with his back to the play. With the Warriors in control, Jamie Ord was called for a tripping penalty at 52:19. That presented the Scimitars with a powerplay opportunity and 50 seconds in they converted when Oliver Turner scored from Rushby and Rodgers.
The scoreline probably flattered the Scimitars somewhat but they did grow stronger as the game wore on and made the Warriors work for the two points.
Stats
Shots on goal
Warriors: 41
Scimitars: 11
Points
Warriors:
Edgar (2+2), Holland (1+3), Ord (1+0), Harley (0+3)
Scimitars:
Rui Tait (1+0), Oliver Turner (1+0), Michael Danecko (0+1), Will Szollosy (0+1), Harry Rushby (0+1), Sam Rodgers (0+1).
Penalty minutes
Warriors: 10
Scimitars: 6
Man of the Match
Warriors: Matty McDonald
Scimitars: Scott Morris
The Warriors were back on home ice on Sunday when taking on a Nottingham Lions side that limited them to a slender 2-1 win on the opening weekend of the season but the Lions ran into a much more in-form side at Hillheads as they rattled in eleven goals. They were able to welcome back Ross Douglass who missed the trip to Sheffield the day before, while Dean Holland made his first home start since the playoff game with Blackburn back in April. In total there were seven different scorers, while twelve separate players got at least one point as the goals were shared around the team.
The Warriors went for the jugular right from the first puck drop and found themselves in the lead just three minutes in when Phil Edgar bagged his third powerplay goal of the weekend. Dean Holland and Harry Harley assisting him once again, with a tic-tac-toe move to find Edgar at the back post for a great finish.
Steven Chalmers then doubled his side’s lead just after the mid-point of the period when he scored from a Jamie Ord pass that came from deep in the defensive zone. Chalmers collecting the puck on the left wing, before cutting in on goal and being one-on-one with Sheldon beating him on the catch side with a powerfully driven shot. That soon became 3-0 just fourteen seconds later when Anthony Wetherell finished with a great spinning shot from the high slot which beat Sheldon down low, where previously he had been strong in stopping shots there.
However, the Lions got themselves back into the game when import Zach Yokoyama scored soon after. The Swiss-born Canadian forward beat the Whitley defence for pace and went top shelf to beat Josh Crane with a great finish. They very nearly made it 3-2 before the period was over when Toby Fisher hit the post and that would have put a completely different bearing on proceedings as they headed into the second.
Instead, Whitley reeled off four goals in just 100 seconds of play to put the game beyond Nottingham’s reach. Dean Holland netting at 26:38 with an unassisted effort straight from a faceoff before assisting on a Jamie Ord powerplay goal three minutes later.
A Phil Edgar pass came down from the point to find Dean Holland on the left wing. The Whitley captain’s great vision meant he was able to pick out Ord who finished with a one-time snapshot effort.
Ord opened the scoring burst at 29:47 before Matthew Betham scored soon after which prompted a change in the Nottingham goal. Luca Sheldon being replaced by Matty Bloor.
Bloor ,who was still cold coming into the game, was caught off guard as Chalmers grabbed his second of the night at 31:07, before Phil Edgar added to the Lion’s misery with his second of the night 20 seconds later. The Lions defence backed off from the Canadian as he was able to beat Bloor with a laser beam finish to the catch side.
Matty McDonald also found the net before the period was over to give the Warriors a 9-1 lead. The defenceman’s quick snapshot from the point, went through a crowd of players, and as Bloor lost sight of it, was unable to stop the puck going into the top shelf of the goal.
With a commanding lead, coach David Longstaff used the opportunity to run some changes to his line-up. Jordan Boyle came on in goal to get 20 minutes of action under his belt while Kyle Ross switched from a forward role to that of one on the blue line.
Steve Chalmers completed his hat-trick at 43:24 after some good work from Thomas Fraser in the build-up, before going on to notch a fourth, six minutes later when a great play from Shaun Kippin set Chalmers up in the high slot.
Nottingham did well to limit the scoring in the third period, but Matty Bloor was left frustrated after a long whistle saw him release the puck and the Warriors almost capitalising on it. Bloor pushed the net off its moorings in his anger and earned himself a penalty with 20 seconds left in the game.
With a final powerplay opportunity for the home side it was actually the Lions who had the final say as Jack Crowston stole the puck on a breakaway and finished past Jordan Boyle who had to leave his crease to close down the shooting angle.
But on a night when so much went right for the Warriors, who could begrudge the Lions their consolation?
Stats
Shots on goal
Warriors: 54
Lions: 22
Points
Warriors:
Steven Chalmers (4+0), Phil Edgar (2+2), Dean Holland (1+2), Jamie Ord (1+2), Anthony Wetherell (1+1), Matthew Betham (1+0), Matty McDonald (1+0), Shaun Kippin (0+3), Thomas Fraser (0+2), Harry Harley (0+2), Lewis Crisp (0+2), Rihards Grigors (0+1).
Lions:
Zach Yokoyama (1+0), Jack Crowston (1+0).
Penalty minutes
Warriors: 4
Lions: 8
Man of the Match
Warriors: Anthony Wetherell
Lions: Jack Crowston