Kyle Ross and Joey Coulter take the face off as Adam Finlinson looks on. Photo courtesy of Widnes Wild.
Whitley fell to a third straight defeat on Sunday, losing 5-2 to Widnes Wild. They travelled without Garry Simpson, Ross Douglass, Matty McDonald and Thomas Fraser, as well as injured trio Adam Robinson, Olly King and Owen Yarrow. Rihards Grigors made a welcomed return on the blue line while Gary Kelly was making just his second Warriors appearance.
That meant they had ten forwards, five defencemen and Ryan Wardell starting in net. The top line of Callum Queenan, Kyle Ross and Adam Finlinson stayed together, while Shaun Kippin and Jamie Ord and Gary Kelly on his wings. Anth Wetherell, Matty Betham, Lewis Crisp and Jay Lucas rotated on the third line.
The Wild blew the Warriors away at times with a fast counter-attacking style. However, after an even start it was the visitors who registered the first meaningful effort on target, Callum Queenan getting a shot off whilst squeezed between two Widnes defenders.
Widnes didn’t take long to show their intent though. Having soaked up a sustained Warriors attack in their defensive zone, a quick break out saw player coach Joe Coulter shot on net from the right wing boards. A minute later, Widnes went close again. Innes Gallacher, who was making his Wild debut having arrived on a two-way deal from Kilmarnock this week, broke clear but was eventually forced to shoot wide by a smart piece of goaltending by Ryan Wardell.
Jon Williamson was the next home player to test Wardell when he sent a one-timer on net whilst on the powerplay, before Gallacher forced Wardell into further saves with two chances, the first on the powerplay followed another less than a minute later with his side on a 5-on-3 advantage.
Another breakaway, this time from Connor McNulty, in the final two minutes of the session saw the Wild go close again. Widnes finally went ahead at 18:46, a long stretch pass from Wild goalie Luca Tessadri saw the puck sail under the sticks of one of his team mates and Rihards Grigors, distracting Ryan Wardell, and ending up in the back of the Whitley net. Perhaps a cruel way to find themselves fall behind, but Whitley were thankful for Wardell when he made a great save from McNulty at the start of the second period, with a kick save from a shot through traffic, while the follow up was fired over after the Whitley goalie forced the shooter to go high.
But for all the Wild’s breakaway chances, Whitley used one of their own to get themselves back onto level terms. Seconds after Wardell had made that important save, Gary Kelly scored his first Warriors goal when he caught the home side on the break, destroying their defence with his lightning pace before finding the net for 1-1.
Whitley were much improved in the second period but were left frustrated when a flurry a penalty calls against them left them shorthanded for large spells. The Wild generated a lot of shots during that time and once again Ryan Wardell was on hand to turn them away, stopping eight efforts during the period, including taking an Innes Gallacher shot from the right wing off his helmet.
The game continued to open up with both sides exchanging breakaways, Matt Barlow having two chances either side of a Callum Queenan effort that was saved by Tessadri. With a little over five minutes remaining in the period, Widnes thought they had broke free until Kyle Pow recovered well to lead his opponent away from goal and towards the boards, breaking the play up.
But soon after the Wild re-established their lead when Alex Mitchell sent Innes Gallacher away to score. Whitley getting caught by the high-man at the back.
Whitley started the third period much better and were arguably the better side throughout most of it.
Shaun Kippin went close twice during a delayed penalty call, with Kyle Ross firing a shot from the left wing that narrowly went over the angle of the goal frame during the resulting powerplay, Jamie Ord doing a good job of screening the Wild goalie for the latter effort. Ord then went close himself, forcing Tessadri into a glove save.
It was a good powerplay from the Warriors. They then continued to apply the pressure as they searched for an equaliser. But were caught on another breakaway when Torran Anderson put Innes Gallacher away to make it 3-1 with nine minutes remaining. It could have been four soon after when Mike Gilbert stole the puck and went close to goal.
But despite that killer blow, Whitley refused to give up and still pushed forward. Anth Wetherell found Gary Kelly for a shot on Tessadri’s glove side, with Matty Betham’s follow up just going over the bar.
However, it was all over for the Warriors at 56:01 when the Wild grabbed their fourth of the night. The Wild did well to outwork Whitley in the corner, resulting in a quick pass from Jack Murray to find Joe Coulter in the low slot to score.
Forty seconds later Whitley gave themselves the slightest of lifelines back in the game when Shaun Kippin’s persistence paid off, the Whitley captain collecting his own rebound to slip the puck under Tessadri’s pads for 4-2.
But when Innes Gallacher crashed home his own rebound from Wardell’s save for his hat trick marker a minute later, the Warriors’ valiant effort was ended.
Stats
Shots
Warriors: 35
Wild: 28
Scorers
Warriors: Shaun Kippin 1+1, Gary Kelly 1+0, Jamie Ord 0+1.
Wild: Innes Gallacher 3+0, Luca Tessadri 1+0, Joe Coulter 1+0, Alex Mitchell 0+1, Torran Anderson 0+1, Jack Murray 0+1, Nathan Britton 0+1.
PIMs
Warriors: 14
Wild: 22
Man of the Match
Warriors: Ryan Wardell
Wild: Innes Gallacher