Phil Edgar. Photo by IceHockeyMedia.
Whitley Warriors faced the Nottingham Lions on Sunday evening at their Hillheads base on North Tyneside. Warriors were skippered by the experienced d man Dan Pye as Warriors were without regular captain Dean Holland. Mark Turnbull started the game in goal for Whitley after a superb start to the campaign for the talented young goaltender.
Lions travelled North with a healthy roster as the side from the lace city were able to bring a squad that included 20 skaters and 2goaltenders. Nottingham looked to have a good blend of youth and experience in their squad which has been assembled by their long serving coach Matt Bradbury.
Eight minutes into proceedings Warriors import forward Phil Edgar broke the deadlock when he fired home after being nicely set up by Liam Smedley and Adam Finlinson. Young blue liner Smedley was also involved in the games 2nd goal when he and player coach David Longstaff picked up the assists on a strike from the in form Shaun Kippin.
The middle session of play saw no further goals scored however there was still plenty of action to take in as the officials on duty handed out a combined total of 20 minutes in penalties to the 2 sides. It was Warriors import Phil Edgar who grabbed the games next goal when he fired home an unassisted marker with 43 minutes on the clock to extend Warriors advantage to 3 goals to nil.
Warriors netminder Mark Turnbull was denied his shut out late on as Marc Levers grabbed a consolation powerplay effort for the visitors. The young goalie had a superb game between the pipes though as he was able to save 41 out of the 42 shots that came his way during in the contest.
However that was not the end of the goal scoring as Warriors Phil Edgar grabbed his hatrick marker with an empty net goal which saw Warriors claim a 4-1 success. Edgar picked up the Man of the Match award for yet another impressive display for Whitley while Ondrej Pniok was chosen as Nottingham’s best player over the course of the contest.
Warriors are in action on home ice again next Sunday evening (face off 5pm) when the Deeside Dragons visit the north east for the first time in the 2017/18 season.