Whitley Warriors took on the Sheffield Senators on Sunday night at Hiilheads ice rink in Whitley Bay. Warriors opted to give young netminder Mark Turnbull his first start of the season inbetween the posts with Jordan Boyle acting as the back up goaltender. Whitley operated with 4 forward lines and 3 defensive pairings throughout the contest with every member of the Warriors match day roster getting significant ice time during the NIHL North Division 1 match up.
Warriors flew out the blocks and took the lead just 30 seconds into the game when Martin Crammond found the back of the net from close range. Whitley were dominating play and Scott Cooper doubled the home sides lead after 8 minutes of action when he slotted the puck into the roof of the net after some slick stick handling.
Just over a minute later Josh Maddock grabbed his 3rd goal of the season when his shot from just inside the blue line evaded Senators netminder Mark Hartley. Whitley made it 4-0 with 10 minutes on the clock when Callum Watson finished from an acute angle after some pleasing approach play from both Harry Harley and DJ Good. Warriors went onto create a number of other clear chances in the opening period of play however Hartley in the visitors goal made a number of impressive saves to prevent Whitley from increasing their lead.
The 2nd stanza saw Warriors continue to create offensive opportunities and 6 minutes into the period Callum Queenan lit the lamp to make it 5-0, seconds later skipper Jamie Tinsley almost made it 6 when his shot cannoned against the post.
Warriors got their first powerplay opportunity of the game on 33 minutes when Sheffield’s Jordan Martin was penalised for delaying the game when he knocked Senators goal off position. Whitley’s specialist team moved the puck well which resulted in d man Harry Harley finding the back of the net while Warriors had the man advantage. Youngster Craig Johnson then grabbed an unassisted goal on 38 minutes when the teenage blue liner fired home from distance with a powerful effort.
The third period saw Senators grab a goal of their own when forward Nathan Parkes-Britton fired past Warriors Jordan Boyle who had replaced Mark Turnbull in the Whitley goal during the 2nd period of play.
Whitley went onto claim their 2nd powerplay goal of the game on 53 minutes when Jamie Tinsley fired home after he had been set up by his linemates David Longstaff and Callum Queenan. Under a minute later it was 9-1 in Warriors favour when Martin Crammond grabbed his 2nd strike of the match with a cooly taken goal.
Sheffield’s short bench were now clearly tiring and Warriors netted a further 2 goals late on when import Andre Payette found the back of the net on 2 occasions quickly in succession.
Warriors young forward Kyle Ross was named as Man of the Match for his energetic display out on the ice while the visitor’s netminder Mark Hartley who faced over 100 shots in the game was deservedly chosen as the Senators top player on the night.
Warriors assistant coach Dave Holland shared his views on the match against Senators.
“It’s good to get back to winning ways after last week. They are a struggling team but we went out there and did what we needed to do and we played how we wanted to.
“Tonight was the ideal opportunity for us to give our younger keepers some match night practice so they can develop and we did that by splitting the game between Mark (Turnbull) and Jordan (Boyle). Young Kyle Ross got Man of the Match and he skated hard all night, I also thought Craig Johnson played really well in defence and scored a good goal.
“We moved Andre up front tonight so some of the youngsters such as Craig could get more ice time back on the blue line. Andre was looking to get on the ice late on to get his hatrick but it wasn’t his turn so we called him back to the bench.”
Warriors have 2 away games next weekend when they take on the Telford Tigers on Saturday evening in Shropshire before a local derby against the Billingham Stars on Teesside on Sunday evening. Whitley’s next home game is on Sunday 6th December (5pm face off) when the reigning NIHL North Champions the Blackburn Hawks visit Tyneside for the first clash between Warriors and Hawks in the 2015/16 league campaign.