Whitley Warriors took on the Blackburn Hawks last weekend in a NIHL North Moralee Conference match up on home ice. Warriors went into the game with a strong roster as the only player missing from their line up was defenceman Daniel Harris who was unavailable.
Richie Lawson started the game in goal for Warriors with teenage goalie acting as Whitley’s back up netminder. Warriors used 4 senior d men throughout the match up with youngster Callum Read and Nathan Ryder who has recently returned from injury taking shifts from time to time. Up front Whitley started the game with 4 lines Harry Harley, Jamie Tinsley and Adam Reynolds played on the top offensive line once again.
Both goaltenders were kept busy in the opening minutes of the contest as the 2 sides created a number of early opportunities. Warriors d man Rob Wilson was penalised for hooking mid way through the 1st stanza and Hawks netted the opening goal of the game on the powerplay when Blackburn’s prolific forward Adam Brittle found the back of the net.
Whitley went on a powerplay of their own after 27 minutes when Hawks Craig Rodgers picked up a 2 minute penalty for Cross Checking. Warriors special team quickly clicked into gear and Adam Reynolds tied the scores up just 10 seconds after Whitley were given the man advantage.
Blackburn were still creating plenty of their openings though and Hawks regained the lead just before the 2nd of the period when Adam Brittle notched his 2nd goal of the contest with another powerplay marker which was set up nicely by Danny Mackriel and Jon Adams.
Warriors began the final period of play 2-1 down and an altercation between Whitley’s Jordan Barnes and Blackburn’s Jake Nurse occurred just as the 3rd period was getting underway. Both players were given 4 minutes in roughing penalties for their coming together in the middle of the ice.
Whitley re-jigged their lines a little in the latter stages of the game as Warriors Coach Simon Leach tried to find the right offensive combination. However it was Blackburn who grabbed the games next goal though when Hawks import forward Jon Adams fired past Richie Lawson in the Whitley net with under 6 minutes remaining in the game.
Simon Leach then made the brave decision to pull his netminder to allow Warriors an extra forward out on the ice and this decision immediately paid off when a shot from Harry Harley on the blue line was tipped in by Jamie Tinsley which saw Whitley only 1 goal behind their opponents. Harry Harley remained in the thick of the action as the young forward was then given a penalty for roughing shortly afterwards.
Blackburn’s subsequent powerplay saw Matt Viney light the lamp to increase the visitor’s advantage to 4-2. Warriors then opted to pull their netminder again and continue to throw men forward to find a way back into the game and with just 35 seconds left in the match up Adam Reynolds found the back of the net after being fed the puck by Captain DJ Good.
Seconds after the goal Hawks Adam Brittle let his frustration get the better of him and he was given 12 minutes in penalties for checking to the head. Warriors Rob Wilson did not take kindly to Brittle’s actions and he too was given 12 minutes in the sin bin for his coming together with Brittle which saw both players sit out the remainder of the game.
Whitley were still creating chances though and Warriors found the game tieing goal with only 11 seconds left on the clock when DJ Good netted his first goal of the game from close range after Warriors had worked the puck well around the Blackburn defensive zone. The large passionate crowd inside of Hillheads erupted when Warriors clinched a point against the in form Hawks who had led by 2 goals with only around half a minute left in the game.
Whitley Coach Simon Leach shared his views on the game.
“I think it was quite an even game, we did a lot of things right and 5 on 5 I thought it was evenly matched game.
“We had some good chances as did they and on another day we might have won, but on the balance of the overall game a draw was probably the fair result.
“Everyone played really well, we played with 4 lines at the start and then changed things around and moved guys in and out and it’s good to be giving everyone ice time. I can’t fault any of the guys as we are sticking together as a team as we battle to make the end of season play offs.”
Warriors next game sees the Manchester Minotaurs visit North Tyneside next Sunday (2nd March)evening with a face off time of 5pm. Whitley currently occupy 5th spot in the Moralee Conference so the club needs to continue picking up positive results between now and the end of the regular season if Warriors are to finish in the top 4 and ensure play off qualification for the post season.