Warriors make their second trip to Ice Sheffield in a week this Saturday when Whitley face the Sheffield Spartans on Saturday afternoon in a game that faces off at 4.30pm. Whitley are set to travel down to Yorkshire with a strong roster of players for their last fixture before the Christmas and New Year break.
Warriors Coach Simon Leach will have the difficult decision of which netminder to start the game with as youngster Mark Turnbull has impressed on his full senior debut against the Blackburn Hawks and also with his display against Sutton last weekend. Competing with Turnbull for the starting spot in the Whitley net is the experienced former Newcastle Vipers goaltender Richie Lawson who has played in the majority of Warriors game to date this term. Richie has a solid save percentage of just over 91% and a goals per game average of 3.84 which compares favourably to the majority of goalies at NIHL North level.
Whitley have few injury worries going into the Spartans game as the only player out of action is blue liner Nathan Ryder who is probably going to be out for the remainder of the season due to a shoulder injury. Warriors alternate captain Jamie Tinsley has been touch and go for recent match ups due to a groin problem but after coming through the Sutton game with no ill effects after the hardworking centreman is expected to be fit and available for the trip to Ice Sheffield on Saturday afternoon.
Spartans currently sit in 6th position in the NIHL North Moralee Conference 3 points and 3 places behind Warriors in the standings. Sheffield have faced Whitley twice so far this season picking up a victory on their own ice by 5 goals to 3 before losing out 7-5 when they travelled up to the North East in early December.
Sheffield have a number of talented offensive players in their ranks such as Ollie Barron, Stuart Brittle and Jonathan Kirk. Olllie Barron has been in particularly impressive this campaign as the Spartans captain has been able to contribute a total of 19 (11+8) points in the 14 games he has played in which places the Sheffield marksmen amongst the most productive forwards in the division this season.
Updates on the game will be posted on the Warriors forum throughout the match up with a match report available on Warriors forum and website on Saturday evening.