Whitley Warriors host the Sheffield Spartans in a NIHL North Moralee Conference match up this Sunday at their Hillheads base. Warriors have lost their last 3 games all of these contests have been against the top 2 sides in the table though and this weekend’s fixture against the Spartans provides Simon Leach’s side with the ideal opportunity to pick up a positive result and start climbing back up the standings.
Warriors should have a strong roster of players available to them this weekend when they take on Sheffield as the only player unable to play due to injury is Nathan Ryder who aggravated a shoulder problem in Whitley’s last home game when the Solway Sharks visited Tyneside. Callum Watson who was ruled out of last Saturday’s game through illness is expected to be back in Warriors line up.
Sheffield are currently 3rd in the Moralee Conference with 13 points from the 12 games they have played while Warriors sit 2 places below Spartans in the standings as they have accumulated 1 point less than this weekend’s opponents. The two sides have already met once this season back in September when the Spartans were able to pick up a 5-3 victory in a game that could have gone either way as both sides created numerous offensive opportunities in an action packed affair.
Warriors alternate captain Adam Reynolds shared his views on this weekend’s clash with the improving Spartans.
“We have to get back to winning ways starting with this weekend. We need a solid 60 minutes against Sheffield. We’ve had 3 unlucky losses on the bounce so need to put points on the board to keep up the pressure on teams above and below us.
“Sheffield are a decent side and have improved from last season but we have the talent to beat any team in this league when we put our minds to it. We will have virtually everyone back this weekend so there will be no excuses for us to not put a good display in on Sunday.”
Fans are reminded that Warriors are at home the next two Sunday evenings as Whitley host Sheffield this Sunday before taking on the Blackburn Hawks a week later both games face off at Warriors normal face off time of 5pm.
Following the Blackburn game on the 8th December Warriors fans are invited to attend the clubs Christmas party which will be held in either the bar or sponsors lounge at the rink while youngsters will also have the opportunity to skate with the players as the club looks to fully enter into the festive spirit in their last home game before Christmas.