Warriors earn a point on the road at Telford
Whitley Warriors made their longest away trip of the season to Shropshire to take on the Telford Titans on Sunday evening. Warriors were without the experienced trio of Karl Culley, Rob Wilson and Callum Watson however Whitley were still able to go with 3 forward lines and 5 defencemen for the NIHL North Moralee Conference encounter.
Whitley opted to play with 3 forward lines and rotate 5 blue liners in defence with regular d man Tommy Ralph playing as a winger to balance out the lines. Richie Lawson started the game in goal for Warriors with youngster Mark Turnbull acting as the back up netminder.
Warriors started the game on the front foot creating numerous opportunities and Jamie Tinsley opened the scoring for Whitley after 5 minutes of play when he fired past Sam Gospel in the Telford goal. Under a minute later Whitley doubled their advantage, Titans net minder Gospel lost the puck and Warriors number 9 DJ Good nipped in to light the lamp.
Warriors continued to create plenty of chances in the remainder of the first stanza of play however Telford were able to prevent Whitley adding to the 2 goals they had netted early on in match up.
Telford started the 2nd period well and Titans got their opening goal of the contest after 22 minutes of play when teenage forward Paul Rigby fired home unassisted. Warriors then ran into some penalty trouble when Ben Richards got 2 minutes in the sin bin for slashing.
Telford’s resulting powerplay quickly broke down and Warriors Jamie Tinsley raced clear to go 1 on 1 with the Telford goaltender however as he was about to get his shot away he was hooked by Titans Ryan Stanton which saw Whitley awarded a penalty shot which Tinsley duly slotted home to make it 3-1 to the visitors after 25 minutes of action.
Titans powerplay continued and Rodden got Telford’s 2nd goal of the evening while they had the man advantage. Whitley quickly restored their 2 goal cushion on 28 minutes though when teenage forward Ben Richards netted a power play marker of his own.
Warriors began the final period positively and Adam Reynolds made it 5-2 to Whitley with 44 minutes on the clock. Telford continued to battle away though and their import forward Karol Jets got them a goal back on 48 minutes when he fired home on the delayed whistle.
Titans continued to press forward and they netted again a minute later which saw them only a goal behind Warriors. Whitley d man Dan Harris then picked up a minor penalty for tripping which saw Telford go on the power play and Hunt fired home for Titans to tie the game up at 5 all with 51 minutes on the clock.
Telford got another 2 powerplays in the final stages of the game however Titans were unable to make their man advantage count on these occasions and the game ended all square at 5 all.
This was Telfords first positive result of the campaign and if Titans young players continue to perform as they did against Whitley their first success of the season won’t be too long in coming.
Whitley Points
Jamie Tinsley 2+1, Adam Reynolds 1+2, DJ Good 1+1, Ben Richards 1+0, Martin Crammond 0+2, Christian Johnson and Daniel Harris 0+1
Penalty Minutes
Warriors – 14 minutes
Telford – 12 minutes
Shots on Goal
On Telford (Sam Gospel) – 39
On Whitley (Richie Lawson) – 32
Warriors Man of the Match went to veteran defenceman Paul Matthews while the home side’s best player was adjudged to be youngster Dan Harrison.
Warriors are next in action this coming Sunday when local rivals the Billingham Stars visit Whitley Bay for a NIHL North Moralee Conference match up. Warriors are currently only 2 points below a play off place in the standings making next weekend’s game against fellow play off contenders Billingham a crucial fixture in Warriors run in.