Warriors captain Shaun Kippin makes a nuisance of himself in front of the Wild net. Photo by Charlie Mood.
Whitley registered their biggest victory of season on Sunday when they claimed a 7-1 win over Widnes Wild. However, celebrations were muted due to the tragic news of Nottingham Panthers forward Adam Johnson’s untimely passing.
Whitley were able to rely on a strong bench for the first time in weeks with Kyle Ross, Callum Queenan and Anth Wetherell all returning from injury. The only players not available were Garry Simpson and Gary Kelly who were both with their parent clubs in the SNL, and Owen Yarrow who is recovering from a broken ankle. Having made his debut last weekend as a forward, new signing Josh Hodgkinson lined up on defence alongside Connor Lewis. Ryan Wardell got the start in goal.
Whitley made a positive start to the game with Adam Robinson going close when he almost crashed home his own rebound a couple of minutes in. The home side didn’t have to wait long for their first goal though, when Adam Finlinson found Harry Harley for the Warriors blue liner to score with a snap shot which was taken early from a tight angle and drilled into the bottom corner of the net.
Later in the period and with the Warriors on the powerplay, Shaun Kippin and Rihards Grigors combined to set up Adam Robinson for his fourth goal of the season.
The second period was disrupted with a series of penalty calls but Whitley soon extended their lead at 28:11. A huge slap shot from Harry Harley came back off the boards and with goalie Luca Tessadri stranded, Kyle Ross found Adam Finlinson who tucked it in at the back post to make it 3-0.
Widnes would ensure they had everything to play for in the final period when they got a goal back at 33:06, Wild player/coach Joey Coulter delaying his shot before rifling home into the bottom corner.
Having killed off a penalty at the start of the third period, Whitley soon restored their three goal lead. Kyle Pow raced out of the penalty box and collected a Kyle Ross pass across the goal to finish a tic-tac-toe move which also involved Adam Finlinson.
Whitley made the game safe with a little over eight minutes remaining when Harry Harley shot on net at an awkward angle to catch Luca Tessadri off guard. They would go on to add two further goals in the final two minutes of the game. With the Warriors on another powerplay, Callum Queenan forced a turnover in the offensive zone before rifling the puck home and Connor Lewis and Matthew Betham combining to set up Jay Lucas, who found the top shelf with a great finish.
Jay’s third goal of the season completed the scoring, with the Warriors back to winning ways. One curious statistic from the game sheet saw Whitley’s fourth goal scored by number 44 while their seventh was scored by number 77. With Adam Johnson wearing the number 47 for Nottingham Panthers, perhaps this was fitting outcome for what was a game played under difficult circumstances.
Stats
Shots
Warriors: 60
Wild: 20
Scorers
Warriors: Harry Harley 2+1, Adam Finlinson 1+3, Adam Robinson 1+0, Kyle Pow 1+0, Callum Queenan 1+0, Jay Lucas 1+0, Kyle Ross 0+3, Shaun Kippin 0+1, Matthew Betham 0+1, Connor Lewis 0+1, Lewis Crisp 0+1, Rihards Grigors 0+1.
Wild: Joey Coulter 1+0, Jake Meehan 0+1, Calum Ruddick 0+1.
PiMs
Warriors: 46
Wild: 28
Man of the Match
Warriors: Harry Harley
Wild: Luca Tessadri