A busy Warriors goal crease. Photo by IceHockeyMedia.
Whitley Warriors began their weekend with a 5-1 win against Sutton Sting before narrowly missing out on maximum points in a 4-3 overtime loss to Solway Sharks on Sunday evening.
Certainly not short of numbers as they took to the ice with much the same line-up which faced Nottingham Lions last Sunday, Whitley Warriors made the trip to Ice Sheffield on Saturday to confront Simon Butterworth’s Sutton Sting whose team included Captain Scott Morris, Slovakian Adrian Palak and former Steeldogs Lloyd Gibson, Tom Relf and Jamie Scott.
Fixed on opening their account, the Warriors applied their offensive efforts early in the first period to bring Sutton’s netminder Nicholas Winters into the action. Captain Dean Holland was not afraid to try his luck, though his attempt deflected off defenceman Tyler Nixon to bring the first stoppage of the contest. Continuing their attacking play, Whitley forced a hooking offence from defenceman Cameron Glasby on 7:04 and it took just thirty seconds for David Longstaff’s men to make it count, blue liner Harry Harley burying his shot courtesy of Canadian forward Phil Edgar. Whitley’s first penalty of the contest soon followed as the Hillheads outfit picked up a bench minor for too many men on 8:11 and forty seven seconds later, versatile forward Martin Crammond made way for slashing to give the home team a 5-on-3 power play. After battling back to full strength, the Warriors found the net approximately three minutes later when left winger Ben Campbell utilised his skill to force Winters from his goal before passing to forward Ross Murray who buried the puck into the empty net. Striving to counter, Sutton were handed yet another 5-on-3 advantage, this time Murray and Latvian defenceman Rolands Gritāns sinbinned on 16:17 for hooking and tripping respectively. The Warriors once again threw everything into defence to prevent Butterworth’s team from capitalising and grabbed their third goal forty two seconds after these penalties terminated, this time Campbell the man on target with support from Holland and Alternate Captain Jordan Barnes.
Taking a 3-0 lead into the second period, the Warriors were quick to widen the margin further as Campbell bagged his second of the game on 21:54 following Holland and Gritāns’ efforts to test netminder Winters. Turning on the skill, Edgar sought to weave his way through the Sting’s defence without success whilst Sutton’s Captain Scott Morris attempted to push play into Whitley’s defensive zone to see both sides hunt for possession. The Warriors then extended their lead further just before the midpoint of the period, defenceman Dan Pye supplying the puck to Holland whose shot chimed off the underside of the bar to make it 5-0 on 29:36. Though there were several attempts by Sutton to counter this play, the outfit were unable to beat Lawson and the Warriors were pleased to gain an advantage in the latter stages of the period when Relf was sidelined for hooking. Making the most of his team’s additional skater, Harley fired home only to see his goal ruled out due to a player in the crease. Unable to achieve a sixth goal before the second interval, the Warriors filed from the ice and were content with the five-goal gap separating the two teams.
The third period underway, Whitley came close to scoring through Campbell and his effort was then followed up by Edgar’s attempt to fire the puck home, the forward forcing shot stopper Winters to collect. Countering, Gibson responded with a low shot to test Lawson who made the stop with ease. Murray then tried to get a shot away at the other end of the ice before Relf wrestled back possession for the home team, his deflected pass failing to connect with Gibson’s stick, allowing Lawson a comfortable save. As time progressed, Sutton became increasingly forceful and forward Callum Watson appeared to bear the brunt of this. Continuing to pose a threat, Harley hit the post as his second goal continued to elude him. Shortly afterwards, Latvian ‘D’ man Gritāns earned himself a penalty of 2+2 for clipping and interference on 58:59 to award the home team a power play. With time trickling away, and their penalty kill seemingly a success, the Warriors were stunned when Sutton erased their shutout in the final second of the game as Palak netted following a pass from defenceman Relf to achieve a small consolation for the hosts, making it 5-1 in the process.
Stats
Shots on goal
Sting: 22
Warriors: 51
Points
Sting:
Adrian Palak (1+0), Tom Relf (0+1)
Warriors:
Ben Campbell (2+1), Dean Holland (1+2), Harry Harley (1+1), Ross Murray (1+0), Jordan Barnes (0+1), Phil Edgar (0+1), David Longstaff (0+1), Rolands Gritāns (0+1), Dan Pye (0+1)
Penalty minutes
Sting: 6
Warriors: 12
Man of the Match
Sting: Oliver Mitchell
Warriors: Jamie Ord
Returning to Hillheads to take on Solway Sharks on Sunday evening, Whitley Warriors found themselves with a line-up of twenty skaters and netminders Richie Lawson and Jordan Boyle available for the clash; new signing Adam Finlinson was again on the absentee list alongside forward Niall Ryder and defenceman Gary Walker. By comparison, Solway travelled with an equally strong squad though finding themselves without forward Gordon Horne and Latvian-born defenceman Patriks Grigors, as Captain Struan Tonnar, Finn Jaakko Heiskanen and experienced shot stopper Gary Russell all made the trip.
An energetic start to the contest created some rapid end-to-end play with both teams clear in their aim to triumph over the other. Captain Dean Holland received the puck and fired at Russell only for his shot to fly high of its mark before Sharks’ forward Liam Stenton turned his attentions to Richie Lawson’s net but the Warrior was on hand to maintain the deadlock. Some neat play between forwards Callum Queenan and Callum Watson almost resulted in a wraparound for the latter but, unable to turn the puck home, possession fell to Solway once again, only for their attacking play to be quickly defused by the Warriors. A breakaway for Player-Coach David Longstaff was subsequently interrupted by a penalty call against Holland who was sinbinned for crosschecking on 9:19. Successfully killing this penalty, Whitley were restored to full strength and renewed their efforts to beat Russell, a task which proved to be incredibly difficult and resulted in the Sharks going all out to protect their netminder, not least defenceman Ben Coughtrie who engaged in a heated exchange with Whitley’s Alternate Captain Jordan Barnes. Both players avoided the sin bin however, and soon after ‘D’ man Craig Johnson saw his rebounded shot flicked into the net by Longstaff on 15:29 with support from left winger Ben Campbell. Encouraged by his team’s 1-0 lead, Queenan turned on the trickery to supply a neat pass to Watson who could not double his side’s tally, and the home team’s failure to execute after pouncing on a late defensive error from Solway meant that Whitley headed in with no more than a single goal to their name.
Despite some minor conflict at the end of the first period in which former Shark Ross Murray clashed with Slovakian Peter Gápa, Solway focused their attention on clawing their way back into the game in the second period. Gápa endeavoured to beat Lawson at his right before circling behind the net and attempting a wraparound which was instantly quelled by the home team. A tripping penalty for Coughtrie on 23:44 gave Whitley a power play but, with thirty seconds of their advantage remaining, the Warriors were punished for too many men which saw the Sharks eventually gain the additional skater. Moments after they were restored to five men, Longstaff concentrated on extending his team’s lead, easing the puck around Russell on 29:32 to accomplish a wraparound goal. Nineteen seconds later, Barnes was sidelined for hooking to leave Whitley shorthanded again. Although Solway could not capitalise on this power play, the Sharks found the target just under two minutes after Whitley’s return to full strength, the puck bouncing off forward Iain Bowie’s leg and into the path of Heiskanen who zipped a fantastic shot past Lawson on 33:23. Buoyed by this goal, Gápa and forward Scott Henderson continued to pose a real threat in Whitley’s defensive zone as they sought an equaliser. Regaining control, the Warriors engaged in some intricate passing play at the other end of the ice which eventually saw patient Player-Coach Longstaff bury a low shot beyond Russell on 39:07 to claim his hat-trick and thereby restore his team’s two-goal cushion. Spurred into action as a result of this goal, the Sharks danced through Whitley’s defence in the final minute of the period, hitting the post and collecting the puck to return with a snappy shot much to Lawson’s frustration. Despite these efforts, the score line remained 3-1 in favour of the Warriors going into the final stanza.
As the third period unfolded, Solway sought to recover some lost ground and the team worked hard to challenge Lawson who blocked Stenton’s long range shot. Missed chances for Campbell, Watson and defenceman Harry Harley, to name but a few, were indicators of Whitley’s struggle to surpass Russell whilst the Sharks’ determination paid off as the side reduced their deficit to a single goal when Ruairi Lockerbie supplied the puck to fellow forward Kieran Hair who netted on 50:00. Though battling to find a fourth goal, the Warriors’ work ethic proved to be in vain as Solway equalised five and a half minutes later, this time Captain Tonnar claiming possession to fire unassisted into Lawson’s net for 3-3. Though keen to avoid overtime, the Warriors could not secure the winner they were desperately searching for and were consequently forced to play beyond the sixty-minute mark.
Seeking out a goal-scoring opportunity whilst ensuring they did not compromise their defence, the Warriors had several chances to find the net, Barnes first going one-on-one with Russell and Edgar also coming close to hitting the target. With the Sharks always appearing dangerous, Whitley worked hard to win back possession and looked close to scoring when Gritāns outmanoeuvred Solway’s defence, only to be prevented by Russell. Forward Kyle Ross was closer still when his shot trickled beneath Russell before stopping short of the goal line. It was after this that the Sharks broke into Whitley’s defensive zone for one last time, Gápa unleashing an unassisted shot which concluded the game to give Solway a 4-3 overtime win, leaving Whitley with just one point.
Stats
Shots on goal
Warriors: 44
Sharks: 30
Points
Warriors:
David Longstaff (3+0), Ben Campbell (0+3), Craig Johnson (0+1),Dean Holland (0+1), Harry Harley (0+1)
Sharks:
Jaakko Heiskanen (1+0), Kieran Hair (1+0), Struan Tonnar (1+0), Peter Gápa (1+0), Iain Bowie (0+1), Ruairi Lockerbie (0+1)
Penalty minutes
Warriors: 6
Sharks: 2
Man of the Match
Warriors: Harry Harley
Sharks: Liam Stenton