Whitley Warriors take on the Solihull Barons this weekend in a NIHL North Division 1 encounter on home ice at Hillheads ice rink in Whitley Bay. Warriors currently occupy 2nd position in the standings with Solihull 1 place behind them so this Sunday’s game looks set to be a thrilling game of hockey between 2 of the league’s top sides.
Warriors import Andre Payette shared his thoughts on this weekend’s game and the fact that he will be coming up against Solihiull player/coach Perry Doyle who he has fought already this season.
“It should be an awesome game this weekend, Solihull could well be our semi final opponents in the play offs so it’s important we set the tone against them when we play them in Whitley on Sunday and in the road game we have coming up at their place.
“Solihull are a very physical side who all work hard for one another and they are well coached so I think they’ll provide a test for us this weekend. However I believe we have the players to enable us to come out on top against the Barons.
“I still believe I’m one of the toughest players in British hockey and the toughest in NIHL North so I’m looking forward to coming up against Perry Doyle as he’s proved himself to be a tough guy over the years.
“I’ll be looking to get business done on Sunday evening and if that means myself and Perry drop the gloves then so be it.”
Andre then spoke a little about Warriors remaining games this campaign.
“I think we have 5 games left this campaign and we want to win all of those games and go into the play offs at the top of our game. It would be great to go into the championship play offs at Sheffield in such good form.
“This season in Whitley has been a very special one for me and I hope myself and the team can continue to entertain the fans for the remainder of this campaign.”
This weekend’s home game with Solihull gets underway at 5pm with tickets priced at £8.50 for adults and £6.50 for children while a family ticket can be purchased for £24. A large crowd of fans is expected to come along to Hillheads for this match up so there should be a great atmosphere when the referee first drops the puck on Sunday.