A jubilant Warriors with the league cup. Photo by IceHockeyMedia.
League champions Whitley Warriors made amends for their 13-3 road defeat to Solway Sharks on Saturday evening with a 5-2 win over Blackburn Hawks at Hillheads on Sunday.
After securing the league title against Solihull Barons last weekend, Whitley Warriors made the trip to Dumfries without defencemen Craig Johnson and Dan Pye, Alternate Captain Jordan Barnes and first choice netminder Richie Lawson as well as injured left winger Ben Campbell and suspended forward Phil Edgar. Meanwhile, the Sharks had seventeen skaters at their disposal, just one man less than the Warriors, as they took to the ice with Slovakian Peter Gápa, Czech Viktor Nestrasil and sturdy netminder Gary Russell in their ranks.
As a result of Whitley’s lengthy absentee list, forwards Anthony Wetherell, Ross Douglass and Thomas Fraser were amongst those to gain ice time in the early stages of the contest. The Warriors took the lead when Ben Richards slipped the puck past Russell on 4:37 courtesy of fellow forwards Adam Finlinson and Ross Murray. With just this goal separating the two sides in the opening stages, Whitley gained a power play on 9:27 when Gápa was sidelined for hooking. Twenty one seconds before the Sharks were restored to full strength, Finlinson reduced Whitley to four men following a tripping offence, providing the home team with a power play of their own on Gápa’s return. Whilst unable to capitalise, Solway were handed a second advantage just over a minute later when defenceman Josh Maddock incurred a tripping penalty. Wasting little time in making this count, forward Gordon Horne beat netminder Jordan Boyle to level the scoring at 1-1 on 15:57, defenceman Liam Stenton and forward Iain Bowie assisting. Forty five seconds later, Solway were awarded a third consecutive power play when Latvian defenceman Rolands Gritāns was shown to the sin bin for delaying the game but Whitley killed this penalty, leaving the score line at 1-1 at the end of the first period.
Returning to the ice with a view to recover their lead, the Warriors were disappointed when they were unable to make the most of a power play as forward Scott Henderson was sinbinned for a holding offence on 24:46. The side were quick to regret their inability to capitalise; a delay of the game penalty for Richards on 27:16 resulted in the Sharks taking the lead for the first time in the game as Horne netted his second of the contest seventeen seconds later. It was not long after that play was further fragmented by penalties, the Warriors losing forward Callum Watson to the sin bin for crosschecking on 34:34 only for Captain Dean Holland to follow suit forty two seconds later whilst Sharks’ forward Henderson returned to the sin bin for holding on 35:59. Shortly after Watson’s return to the ice, Gápa opted to fight forward Callum Queenan who wanted no part in the fray. Both players received 2+2 for fighting in consequence and, feeling the injustice of their teammates’ punishment, forward Shaun Kippin and defenceman Harry Harley made their feelings known to respectively receive a game misconduct for unsportsmanlike conduct and a ten-minute misconduct penalty. With 3:02 remaining on the clock and the score line 2-1 in Solway’s favour, the period was brought to a close with a view to clean blood from the ice. Playing the remainder of the second period after the interval, Holland returned to the ice and netted a wraparound thirty one seconds later, this time Murray assisting alongside Gritāns. The Sharks were quick to reply however as eighteen-year-old forward Ewan Anderson wrapped his unassisted effort around the post on 39:39 to recover his team’s lead.
The third period eventually underway, Gápa was quick to make an impact on his return to the ice, beating Boyle straight from the faceoff after a neat pass from Anderson on 41:15. In response, Watson confronted the Shark and was ejected from the game for fighting, picking up a match misconduct penalty in the process, whilst Holland simultaneously incurred a ten-minute misconduct penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. Seventy seconds later, Anderson snatched his second goal of the evening, netting on the power play with support from Captain Struan Tonnar and Nestrasil to make it 5-2. Moments later, the Warriors took exception to a boarding offence from Kieran Hair, this time Anthony Wetherell dropping the gloves whilst forward Niall Ryder left the bench to become embroiled in the incident. Hair received a match penalty for his original offence and Wetherell incurred two minutes for roughing whilst Ryder was dealt a heavier punishment of 49 penalty minutes comprised of 2+2 for leaving the bench, a game misconduct for the same offence and a match penalty for fighting. Matters rapidly worsened for the Warriors when the Sharks’ Alternate Captain Stuart Kerr scored to make it 6-2. Opting for a change of tactic, Whitley pulled Boyle from his net to ice an additional skater, giving the Warriors four skaters to Solway’s five, but Gápa completed his hat-trick with two goals hit into Whitley’s empty net in the space of sixty seven seconds. A faceoff in Whitley’s defensive zone saw the outfit continue without a netminder and Gápa collected his fourth goal of the evening to increase the deficit to 9-2, scoring even-handed as a result of forward Scott Rae serving a hooking penalty. Returning to full strength, the Warriors continued to ice an additional skater in place of their netminder; Henderson and Gápa added two more to Solway’s tally, scoring twenty five seconds apart, and Horne completed his hat-trick before the midpoint of the period, scoring his side’s sixth empty net goal in the process. After eventually allowing backup netminder Rory Dunn some ice time, the Warriors went shorthanded when the shot stopper picked up a minor slashing penalty on 54:57. Less than a minute later, Whitley grabbed their third goal as youngster Thomas Fraser buried the puck into the bottom corner of Russell’s net following an assist from Gritāns. The Sharks had the final say however, as sixteen-year-old Andrew Craik hit the target on 57:08, making it 13-3 to Solway.
Stats
Shots on goal
Sharks: 41
Warriors: 29
Points
Sharks:
Peter Gápa (5+1), Gordon Horne (3+0), Ewan Anderson (2+2), Scott Henderson (1+2), Stuart Kerr (1+0), Andrew Craik (1+0), Liam Stenton (0+3), Iain Bowie (0+2), Struan Tonnar (0+2), Viktor Nestrasil (0+2), Gary Russell (0+1), Ruairi Lockerbie (0+1), Michael Thomson (0+1)
Warriors:
Ben Richards (1+0), Dean Holland (1+0), Thomas Fraser (1+0), Ross Murray (0+2), Rolands Gritāns (0+2), Adam Finlinson (0+1)
Penalty minutes
Sharks: 37
Warriors: 136
Man of the Match
Sharks: Gordon Horne
Warriors: N/A
Returning to Hillheads on Sunday evening to face Blackburn Hawks, Whitley Warriors were without suspended forwards Callum Watson and Niall Ryder as well as injured left winger Ben Campbell, meaning the outfit had twenty skaters at their disposal, including Canadian Phil Edgar who made his return to the line-up after a six-game suspension. The Hawks, meanwhile, made the trip with a short bench of thirteen skaters and netminders Niks Trapans and Harrison Walker.
Whitley began the first period with much possession as they looked to find a way past Blackburn’s starting shot stopper Trapans and it did not take long for the Warriors to open their account as forward Dean Holland wove through the Hawks’ defence before tapping the puck into the net to make it 1-0 on 1:31. Whitley were awarded a power play shortly afterwards when Blackburn’s forward Tom Revesz was shown to the sin bin for tripping on 4:34 but the Warriors could not hit the target as the Hawks began to cause problems for the home team whilst shorthanded. Despite this, Whitley doubled their lead on 6:52 when neat play from forward Callum Queenan presented Holland with the puck which he fired past Trapans to give his side a 2-0 lead. Gaining momentum, the Warriors were not short of chances to add to their tally, with Latvian defenceman Rolands Gritāns, youngster Thomas Fraser and forward Ben Richards amongst those working hard in Whitley’s offensive zone. A charging penalty for Gritāns on 11:00 left the Warriors shorthanded but the Hillheads outfit were unmoved by this and continued in the same vein as before, outshooting the Hawks by 16 shots to 5 overall, to head in with their two-goal cushion intact at the first interval.
Beginning the second period with a holding penalty to kill after forward Ross Murray was called to the sin bin on 20:31, Whitley worked hard to quash the Hawks’ efforts and, just forty five seconds after returning to full strength, the Warriors achieved their third goal, Murray working with Fraser to set up versatile forward Kyle Ross who struck the puck to Trapans’ left to extend his team’s lead to 3-0. The period beginning to lack tempo, the Hawks grew into the game, though their chances were easily dealt with by Whitley’s calm and composed defence. At the midpoint of the contest, the Warriors switched netminder Jordan Boyle for shot stopper Richie Lawson to allow both ice time and it was not long after that the Warriors went shorthanded again, this time Alternate Captain Jordan Barnes guilty of a late hit. Just eleven seconds after being released from the sin bin however, Barnes received a perfect pass from forward Jamie Ord to achieve a breakaway goal on 33:58. A hooking penalty for forward Samuel Warnock late in the period provided Whitley with a power play but a lapse in concentration caused the Warriors to concede a shorthanded goal on 39:28 when a defensive error led to James Riddoch linking up with fellow forward Aaron Davies who shot past Lawson to make it 4-1 at the end of the second period.
Whitley continued to dominate possession in the third period and found enough time and space to exhibit increasing levels of trickery, with Finlinson tempted to try a showy wraparound and Gritāns pirouetting through Blackburn’s defence to accomplish some spectacular play. A hooking penalty for forward Corey Lee on 47:29 presented Whitley with a power play but the Hawks worked well to prevent the Warriors from adding to the scoreboard. It was only on 55:34 that David Longstaff’s men collected their fifth goal, defenceman Harry Harley firing into the top corner of Trapans’ net after some well-worked passing play between Murray and Edgar. Though it was clear that the Hawks were defeated, Blackburn had the final say in the contest, scoring on 59:49 when Riddoch worked alongside Warnock to find Captain James Royds who beat Lawson to make it 5-2.
After the game, Whitley Warriors were crowned league champions as they collected the NIHL North 1 Moralee trophy from Newcastle United’s Sean and Matty Longstaff.
Stats
Shots on goal
Warriors: 49
Hawks: 27
Points
Warriors:
Dean Holland (2+0), Kyle Ross (1+0), Jordan Barnes (1+0), Harry Harley (1+0), Ross Murray (0+2), Thomas Fraser (0+1), Ross Douglass (0+1), Phil Edgar (0+1), Jamie Ord (0+1),Callum Queenan (0+1)
Hawks:
Aaron Davies (1+0), James Royds (1+0), James Riddoch (0+2), Samuel Warnock (0+1)
Penalty minutes
Warriors: 6
Hawks: 6
Man of the Match
Warriors: Gary Walker
Hawks: James Riddoch