Despite being lifted by a late DJ Good double, a depleted Whitley Warriors line up lost out 4-2 on the road down in Sheffield this past Saturday afternoon with hosts Sutton Sting taking the share of the spoils from another hard fought NIHL North 1 Moralee Conference encounter.
Whitley travelled to South Yorkshire without coaching duo David Longstaff and Dave Holland, whilst the Maroon and Gold were also missing key personnel on the ice with Andre Payette, Joe Stamp, Daniel Pye and Ben Richards all unavailable. Sutton welcomed their opponents from North Tyneside having endured an up and down league campaign thus far with Simon Butterworth’s team struggling to find consistently positive results in their last 8 games; winning 4 but also losing out on 4 occasions.
Longstaff’s team went into the game intent on making light of their numerical disadvantage knowing victory was important to erase the disappointment of losing the last 2 league fixtures away to Telford and home to Solihull respectively. Warriors started the game in a positive manner, testing Zack Brown in the Sting goal with a couple of early efforts on target with both sides sharing large parts of the game for the opening 15 minutes. Sutton Sting took the lead and made it 1-0 timed at 16:11 when Mark Turner opened the scoring, taking his opportunity to beat Richie Lawson having been teed up by Scott Morris. Captain James Spurr extended the home side’s advantage to 2-0 just over two minutes later and ensured that despite plenty of promising moments Warriors would go into the first period interval trailing on the scoreboard.
The second period began with Whitley on the penalty kill, skating hard to limit Sutton shooting opportunities with Jordan Barnes sat in the penalty box serving the final part of his 2 minute interference call made by ref Paul Staniforth. Warriors were showing plenty of grit and tenacity, refusing to back down despite being behind on the scoreboard. The visitors were determined to fight for every loose puck and the increasing physicality of the game saw a flashpoint spark between Warriors’ alternate captain Shaun Kippin and Sutton’s James Spurr, both men being adjudged 2 minute roughing penalties timed 31:21. Try as they may, the Whitley forward lines were being met by an inspired netminder for the second game in a row and as the clock ticked to 40 minutes Sutton maintained their 2-0 advantage heading into the final session.
With time beginning to run out and Warriors again forced onto the penalty kill, a nightmare start to the third period saw Sutton grab a crucial third goal of the game. Just 34 seconds into the final period, ex-Sheffield Spartan Chris Wilcox notched a power play marker timed 40:34 leaving Whitley with a mountain to climb. Down but not out, DJ Good offered the away fans a glimmer of hope when the playmaker finally found a way past the impressive Zack Brown having been fed the puck by Dean Holland at 49:09. The goal seemed to give the players in maroon and gold that little bit more belief, and when Good grabbed his and his sides second of the game timed 55:25 on the power play the miracle comeback was suddenly in sight. Warriors opted to pull netminder Richie Lawson and throw on an extra skater with one minute remaining, looking for one last opportunity to restore parity. The high risk strategy would fail to pay off for the visitors, however, with James Goodman scoring an empty net goal at 59:07 and ensuring Warriors travelled back up to Tyneside on the back of a 4-2 road reverse.
Defeat sees Sutton leap ahead of Warriors into 4th place in the NIHL North 1 Moralee standings, the final playoff position. This was the third occasion the two teams have met so far this season (twice at Whitley Bay, once at Ice Sheffield), with the home team being victorious on each occasion by the same 4-2 score line.
Man of the match for Sutton Sting was awarded to netminder Zack Brown for an inspired performance between the pipes producing an impressive 95.65% save percentage. The away man of the match award went to DJ Good for Whitley Warriors, with DJ earning the accolade following a 2+0 performance on the scoreboard.
Warriors are in action this Sunday 18th December 2016 when Deeside Dragons make their first trip to Hillheads in NIHL North Moralee Conference league action. Face off is at the usual time of 5.00pm and is the final game of 2016, so come along and show your support for what has been another exciting year in Whitley Warrior history!
GOALS
Sting – 4
Warriors – 2
POINTS
Sting – James Spurr 1+1, Chris Wilcox 1+1, James Goodman & Mark Turner 1+0, Scott Morris & Charles Thompson 0+1
Warriors – DJ Good 2+0, Dean Holland 0+2, Callum Watson 0+1
SHOTS ON GOAL
Sting – 24
Warriors – 46
PENALTY MINS
Sting – 8
Warriors – 24
MAN OF THE MATCH
Sting – Zack Brown
Warriors – DJ Good
OFFICIALS
Referee – Paul Staniforth
Linesman – David Good
Linesman – Joseph Baggaley