Rihards Grigors shoots on Philip Pearson. Photo by IceHockeyMedia.
Whitley Warriors edged one step closer to a NIHL Cup semi-final berth last weekend when they saw off a battling Deeside Dragons side making their first visit to Hillheads since the 2017-18 season.
Whitley were able to ice four forward lines in what was their largest playing roster all year. Once again coach David Longstaff kept Dean Holland and Jamie Ord on the top line with Canadian Phil Edgar after they had a successful weekend last time out.
The welcome return of Callum Queenan to the second line meant Shaun Kippin switched to left wing with Steven Chalmers on the right, while Adam Finlinson also returned and lined up alongside Kyle Ross and Ross Douglass.
Warriors were able to ice a fourth line for the first time this season, with Anth Wetherell partnered by Thomas Fraser, Lewis Crisp and Matthew Betham who alternated on shifts.
The five-man defensive system saw Rihards Grigors, Harry Harley, Adam Wood, Matty McDonald and Connor Lewis rotate. Josh Crane got the start between the pipes with youngster Jack Wakefield on the bench.
Deeside arrived in town with an unbeaten start to the season having won last weekend in Sheffield and then defeating Widnes in the cup on Saturday. They iced three set lines and defensive pairings with a couple of spare players cycling in on certain shifts. Mike Rogers, one of two goalies who travelled with the Dragons, took a puck to the face during the warmup and required treatment before the game. The puck was lodged between the metal bars of his face cage, such was the force of the shot.
The Warriors got off to a great start and had a lot of the play in the early exchanges. Their sustained pressure told when just two and a half minutes in, Dean Holland opened the scoring with an unassisted strike.
The lead was doubled at 8:32 when Harry Harley also found the net. But rather than simply roll over, Deeside upped the physicality to their play, and they slowly began to come back into the game.
Andrew McKinney was at the heart of the Dragons resurgence but overstepped the mark at a faceoff when he cross-checked Adam Finlinson, with the latter also receiving a penalty for retaliation.
The second period could not have got off to a better start for the Dragons though when just 14 seconds in, Jared Dickinson cut the deficit to a single goal when converting a McKinney pass.
At that point the visitors were very much back in the contest, but another lapse of discipline from McKinney saw the Warriors back on the powerplay, Latvian defenceman Rihards Grigors punishing his latest misdemeanour on the man advantage.
With the Warriors back to a two-goal advantage the game changed just after the mid-point when Reece Cairney-Witter caught Callum Queenan with the butt end of his stick to bring him down. That caused a domino effect of events which saw Cairney-Witter drop the gloves with Shaun Kippin while McKinney went toe-to-toe with Grigors in a bout which lasted over a minute. Both the initial tripping and both fights were called correctly by the officials to see the Warriors on another powerplay.
By the time things had calmed down, the Warriors edged further ahead when Thomas Fraser finished a great pass from captain Dean Holland to make it 4-1.
Before the period was over Deeside ran into further penalty trouble and Whitley capitalised with 26 seconds left in the session, Adam Finlinson finishing a move that involved Harry Harley and Holland.
Once again it was Deeside who started the final period well and got a goal back at 45:05 when Ross Kennedy’s tame effort seemed to wrong-foot Josh Crane and just creep over the line. However, a couple of minutes later Whitley made it 6-2 when Phil Edgar grabbed his eleventh goal of the season from a Jamie Ord pass.
With less than five minutes remaining in the game Harry Harley scored his second powerplay goal of the game. At 58:02 David Longstaff used the opportunity to change goaltenders and give Jack Wakefield his first team debut.
Adam Finlinson had the honour of sniping the best goal of the night when he found the net with a perfectly struck shot with a onetime effort, Dean Holland collecting his fourth assist and fifth point of the game.
But with just 48 seconds remaining in the contest there was sufficient time for Deeside to get into further penalty trouble, Karl Bacon being assessed a match penalty for a check to the head on young Whitley forward Matthew Betham.
Incredibly since returning to action last weekend, Whitley captain Holland has twelve points, including nine assists, showing exactly what the team has been missing during the opening weeks of the season.
Stats
Shots on goal
Warriors: 75
Dragons: 17
Points
Warriors:
Harry Harley (2+3), Adam Finlinson (2+0), Dean Holland (1+4), Phil Edgar (1+1), Thomas Fraser (1+0), Rihards Grigors (1+0), Jamie Ord (0+1).
Dragons:
Ross Kennedy (1+0), Jarod Dickinson (1+0), Matt Wainwright (0+1), Karl Bacon (0+1), Andrew McKinney (0+1).
Penalty minutes
Warriors: 12
Dragons: 49
Man of the Match
Warriors: Dean Holland
Lions: Philip Pearson
