Whitley Warriors took on the Blackburn Hawks on Sunday night at Hillheads in a NIHL North Division 1 match up. Whitley were without the services of Ben Richards however Warriors were able to name a strong roster of players which the likes of Harry Harley, Dan Pye, Dean Holland and Callum Watson all in the line up.
Hawks started the game well and grabbed an early goal when d man Nick Oliver found the back of the net with a shot from distance. Warriors almost levelled the scores with 3 minutes on the clock when David Longstaff forced Hawks keeper Stuart Ashton into a fine save however 4 minutes later, DJ Good fired home after being nicely set up by Callum Watson.
Towards the end of the opening period of action, Warriors’ Andre Payette and Hawks’ Reece Cairney-Witter traded blows and were sent to the sin bin for 4 minutes by referee David Emmerson. In the final minute of the 1st period, Hawks took the lead through Nick Oliver once again before DJ Good popped up to level the scores just 14 seconds later.
Five minutes into the 2nd period, Warriors took the lead for the first time in the game when Dean Holland slotted home a powerplay marker while Blackburn player/coach Steve Duncombe was serving a roughing penalty. As the period progressed, Whitley continued to create scoring opportunities and player/coach David Longstaff went close with a wrap around effort which Hawks netminder Stuart Ashton just managed to keep out of the visitor’s net. Warriors made it 4-2 with 30 minutes on the clock when Dan Pye blasted a goal home from just inside the blue line; credit must be given to Warriors forward Jordan Barnes who expertly screened the visiting netminder.
The third period saw Warriors take control of the game as David Longstaff’s side netted 3 goals in a 4 minute spell of play which saw Callum Watson, Jordan Barnes and Dean Holland all find the back of the visitors net. Hawks opted to change their netminder and take a time out late on however these tactics failed to inspire the visitors as Whitley added an eighth goal through youngster Lawson Glasby as Warriors claimed an impressive 8-2 victory over last season’s NIHL North Champions.
Dave Holland Warriors Assistant Coach shared his thoughts on Whitley’s display versus Hawks.
“It was a great result and performance against Blackburn, everyone got ice time other than young Jordan Boyle in goal however he got some ice time against Solway on Saturday evening. Harry (Harley) being back in our squad makes a big difference to us.
“The youngsters saw some ice time late in the game which is always a positive and Lawson Glasby grabbed a goal just like he did last week so he’s doing well.
“We are delighted to have taken 6 points against Blackburn in our recent games against them. They were league champions last year, they are a different squad this year but it’s still a great achievement. We’ve got the series against them now as well which is pleasing.
“Next week we play Deeside who we haven’t played for a long time, they’ve got imports and they play on big ice so it isn’t going to be an easy game for us on the road.”
Man of the match for Warriors was DJ Good who put in a superb all round display for Whitley while enforcer Reece Cairney-Witter was chosen as the Hawks’ top performer over the 60 minutes of action. Warriors face the Deeside Dragons on the road next weekend before their next home game against the Sutton Sting on the 13th November (face off 5pm) at Hillheads Ice Rink in Whitley Bay.