Dean Holland celebrates with his teammates. Photo by IceHockeyMedia.
Whitley Warriors achieved a 4-2 road win over Solihull Barons at Hobs Moat Road on Sunday evening to claim the NIHL North 1 league title.
Travelling with nineteen skaters although missing suspended forward Phil Edgar and top points scorer Ben Campbell, the Warriors headed into the game knowing that a win against Solihull Barons’ eighteen-man team would see Whitley crowned champions of NIHL North 1.
Facing off for the first period, Whitley Warriors involved themselves in some slick passing play whilst defenceman Dave Rogers made his presence felt early on for the Barons. However, a roughing penalty for Latvian defenceman Rolands Gritāns on 4:31 proved costly as Solihull’s forward Richard Slater drilled the puck past shot stopper Richie Lawson on the power play forty two seconds later to give his side a 1-0 lead, defenceman Marcus Maynard and forward Thomas Soar assisting. Further penalty trouble followed when defenceman Dan Pye was punished for a hooking offence on 7:55 and, just fifty nine seconds after working hard to quash Solihull’s advantage, forward Callum Watson was sidelined for roughing to see the Warriors endure further pressure in their defensive zone. Though the first period became an increasingly difficult one, both teams continued to give their all, Soar posing a threat in Whitley’s offensive zone whilst Watson unleashed a shot at the other end of the ice only for netminder Sam Hewitt to make the save. With the score line still 1-0 to Solihull, David Longstaff’s line-up were pleased to gain a power play just ten seconds before the first interval when seventeen-year-old forward Henry Adams was sidelined for hooking.
With Adams’ penalty running into the second period, the Warriors were intent on equalising on the power play and did so, Captain Dean Holland firing past Hewitt on 21:00 after receiving the puck from forward Callum Queenan. Just over three minutes later, the Barons began to apply pressure to Lawson’s net and it paid off as forward Paul Stanley slotted home a rebounded shot to recover his side’s one-goal lead, making it 2-1 on 24:13. Quick to respond, Whitley levelled the scoring just before the twenty eighth minute when Watson rocketed a shot from distance to cancel out the Barons’ previous effort. With the contest a challenging one, discipline proved difficult and Whitley handed Solihull another power play when Watson was shown to the sin bin for tripping on 33:03. Before this penalty was over however, a clash between forward Philip Mulcahy and netminder Lawson saw both players pick up penalties for goaltender interference and slashing respectively. These penalties killed, Alternate Captain Jordan Barnes was sidelined for hooking on 37:00 and again the Warriors worked hard to stay on level terms. Just twenty nine seconds after Barnes’ return to the ice, defenceman Josh Maddock was made to sit out for the same offence, handing Solihull a power play which ran into the third period.
Twenty one seconds after Maddock’s return to the ice, the Warriors took the lead for the first time in the game on 41:50 through forward Adam Finlinson who shot from distance to Hewitt’s left to make it 3-2, blue liner Harry Harley and Holland assisting. Following his reaction to this goal, Rogers was ejected from the game for unsportsmanlike conduct. With the game continuing to be a close one, forward Philip Mulcahy went through on goal just before the midpoint of the period only to find his progress unfairly halted by Whitley, resulting in a penalty shot. Stepping up with hopes of equalising, Mulcahy hit the puck wide of Lawson’s net and, to make matters worse for Solihull, incurred a holding penalty shortly afterwards to give the Warriors a power play. Making the most of their advantage, Whitley netted on 51:48 when Harley and Holland teamed up once again, this time finding Gritāns who buried a low shot into Hewitt’s net to make it 4-2. A hooking penalty for forward Shaun Kippin and an interference penalty for Gritāns called just six seconds apart moments after this goal gave Solihull a 5-on-3 power play but the Warriors were given some reprieve when the Barons picked up a bench minor for delaying the game just over a minute later. One second after the Barons’ penalty terminated, Harley was sinbinned for a holding sticks offence on 55:28. After working hard in defence to prevent Solihull from scoring on the power play, the Warriors were handed an advantage of their own in the final two minutes of the game after defenceman Daniel Harrison’s late hit on versatile forward Kyle Ross. Comfortably seeing out their 4-2 victory in consequence, the Warriors were elated when the final buzzer called time on the game to confirm their NIHL North 1 league title win.
Stats
Shots on goal
Barons: 40
Warriors: 48
Points
Barons:
Richard Slater (0+1), Paul Stanley (1+0), Marcus Maynard (0+1), Thomas Soar (0+1)
Warriors:
Dean Holland (1+2), Callum Watson (1+0), Rolands Gritāns (1+0), Adam Finlinson (1+0), Harry Harley (0+2), Callum Queenan (0+1), Ben Richards (0+1)
Penalty minutes
Barons: 35
Warriors: 20
Man of the Match
Barons: Paul Stanley
Warriors: Callum Watson