Photo by Ice Hockey Media - Colin Lawson
Whitley Warriors entertained the Solihull Barons on Sunday evening at Hillheads. Warriors had a large squad of players to choose from and player/coach David Longstaff opted to start the game with Richie Lawson in goal and use 3 forward lines and 3 defensive pairings throughout the majority of the contest.
Warriors started the game on the front foot and 4 minutes into the contest Josh Maddock lit the lamp with a sweet strike from just inside the blue line after a precise pass from DJ Good. Whitley almost extended their lead on the 10 minute mark when youngster Ben Richards hit the bar from close range. Solihull were creating some forward openings themselves though and towards the end of the 1st period Thomas Soar found the corner of the net with a nicely taken finish after a defensive lapse from Warriors.
Shortly into the 2nd period Solihull went on the powerplay when Warriors blue liner Josh Maddock was penalised for interference. Barons almost made the most of their man advantage when Tomas Janak brought a superb save out of Whitley’s Richie Lawson.
Whitley took the lead on the half hour mark when the puck bounced kindly for Callum Watson and the speedy winger took the puck past Sam Hewitt in the Solihull goal. Barons were still very much in the game though and Solihull’s Josh Bruce saw his shot come back off the crossbar when he was well positioned.
Shortly into the last session of play Whitley were on the penalty kill when import Andre Payette was given 2 minutes in the sin bin for interference by referee Tony Boynton. Warriors special team were able to kill off the penalty though and preserve their narrow lead. With just under a minute left in the match up Solihull called a time out as the Barons looked for a late equalising goal however Warriors defence impressively stood firm and Whitley picked up the 2 points on offer thanks to the 2-1 scoreline.
Warriors Points
Callum Watson and Josh Maddock 1+0, DJ Good and Jordan Barnes 0+1
Barons Points
Thomas Soar 1+0, Niklas Ottosson 0+1
Warriors assistant coach Dave Holland shared his view on the contest.
“Excellent result for us tonight, for the majority of the game we played well though we did have a few players who didn’t play to their full potential at times. It was our 2nd game of the weekend after a long road trip last night so to come away with the victory is really pleasing.
“In a 2-1 game we had to keep it tight though virtually all the players got some significant ice time. We were without Alex Lawson for the game as he picked up an injury during the Tigers game on Saturday evening and we obviously weren’t going to risk him this evening.”