Warriors celebrate their victory over Blackburn. Photo by Pyro-Media.
Whitley Warriors secured two points in a thrilling 7-6 penalty shootout win against Sheffield Scimitars on Saturday before triumphing 10-1 over Blackburn Hawks in front of their home crowd on Sunday evening.
Though making the trip to Sheffield with eighteen skaters and an absentee list of left winger Robert Farmer, forward Callum Queenan, youngster Connor Lewis, defenceman Craig Johnson and Alternate Captain Jordan Barnes, Whitley were boosted by the return of forwards Phil Edgar, Matěj Valíček and Niall Ryder as well as recent re-signing Richie Lawson who was available to take his place between the pipes with fellow netminder Joshua Crane serving as backup. By comparison, Sheffield had just one player more at their disposal, their line-up including experienced forwards Warren Tait, Vladimír Luka and Craig Elliott.
Making a slow start to the game, the Warriors watched as the Scimitars seized an early lead when Tait stabbed the puck home just fifteen seconds in, forward Thomas Palmer assisting alongside Luka. Moments later, young forward Thomas Fraser tripped defenceman Sam Colton to place the home team on a power play on 1:45 and Whitley were soon reduced to three men as blue liner Harry Harley was punished for delaying the game forty two seconds later. Just after Fraser’s return to the ice, the Scimitars capitalised on their power play, Tait doubling his team’s tally on 3:51 following a pass from defenceman Steven Duncombe. Striking back to ensure the score line did not run away from the Warriors, forward Phil Edgar found the net on 5:46 with support from Captain Dean Holland in the build-up and just over a minute later, Whitley gained a power play following Elliot Knell’s hooking offence. This supplied the Warriors with the opportunity they needed to draw level, Harley firing past netminder James Hadfield fifty five seconds into his team’s advantage. It seemingly appeared that Valíček had put Whitley on the back foot after incurring an interference penalty but forward Adam Finlinson broke clear of the Scimitars’ defence whilst his side were shorthanded to unleash a shot into Hadfield’s net on 11:08, Edgar assisting. After Whitley returned to full strength, Edgar stunned his opposition with his second goal of the evening for 4-2 and with just twenty four seconds remaining in the period, Elliott was sinbinned for hooking to see the Warriors head in with a two-goal lead and the knowledge that they would be returning to the ice with ninety six seconds of their power play remaining.
Though the Warriors could not increase their lead on the power play, it was not long before it was 5-2 as Holland took control to net on 23:03 after Latvian Rolands Gritāns’ attempt was prevented by the Scimitars’ defence, Edgar linking up with defenceman Dylan Hehir to assist their captain. Just over two minutes later, forward Shaun Kippin gave Whitley a four-goal lead but the home team countered through Elliott who went one-on-one with Lawson to see his shot saved. Moments later, an interference penalty for Elliott provided Whitley with another opportunity to go on the attack but Luka saw this as his chance to surpass Whitley’s defence and did so, achieving a shorthanded goal on 29:40 as Tait worked with Duncombe to set up their teammate. A wraparound from versatile Scimitar Lloyd Gibson then took his team within two goals of the Warriors less than five minutes later, forward Cameron Pywell assisting. With play end to end, Whitley gained a two-on-one breakaway but Finlinson could not find the target. A sweeping motion from utility player Adam Wood initially prevented Luka from snatching his second goal of the game but he could not be stopped from rocketing a powerful shot beyond Lawson on 35:40, Duncombe and Tait on hand to supply the puck, making it 6-5. Gaining momentum, the Scimitars equalised sixty eight seconds before the second interval when Luka went one-on-one with defenceman Matty McDonald to fire at Lawson only for Elliott to net from the rebound. Whitley ended the period on a power play as defenceman David Pyatt picked up an interference penalty following his actions towards Valíček on 39:01 but the Warriors were unable to make the most of their advantage before the break to leave the score line at 6-6.
On returning for the third period, Whitley could not make the remainder of their power play count and ended up on the penalty kill one second after Pyatt’s return to the ice when defenceman Steven Chalmers was penalised for interference. Despite this, the home team were similarly unable to capitalise and a hook from Colton on Gritāns gave Whitley the upper hand on 44:13 but to no avail; Harley misfired through the Scimitars’ crowded defensive zone and Hadfield saved Fraser’s shot. At the other end of the ice, Chalmers dealt with the threat posed by Luka as he set his sights on Lawson’s net once more whilst Whitley gained possession soon after to see Kippin set up Finlinson whose rising shot was high of its mark. With the game creeping into the final two minutes, Lawson made a save to keep the Scimitars out, prompting a timeout from Whitley with twenty nine seconds remaining but, as neither team were able to edge ahead of the other in regular time, overtime beckoned.
Heading into a five-minute period of three-on-three overtime, the Scimitars surprised Whitley with an early effort and came close to scoring through Luka whose shot was forced wide by Gritāns. After a small scuffle between Kyle Ross and Duncombe, Tait found Gibson who hit the bar. Gibson then shot from distance to prompt a kick save from Lawson and the Warriors assumed possession through Edgar who tried to find Gritāns without success. In the latter stages, Whitley were permitted four skaters to the Scimitars’ three due to a holding penalty for defenceman Tyler Nixon but the situation quickly worsened for the home team when Luka vented his views to the officials to find himself swiftly ejected from the game after picking up two ten-minute misconduct penalties, the first timed at 62:55 whilst the second was recorded at the end of the goalless overtime period.
With penalty shots required as a result, Palmer was first to step up for the Scimitars and saw his shot saved by Lawson before Hadfield put a stop to Finlinson’s attempt. Elliott then fired wide and Gritāns came close for the Warriors, chiming the puck against the bar. When Morris’ shot hit Lawson’s pads, Whitley were presented with a chance to win the game through Edgar but the Canadian-born forward went wide also. With three shots taken by each team, the outfits switched sides. Defenceman Harley was next up for the Warriors and buried the puck into Hadfield’s net to give his side the lead and Tait’s subsequent miss meant that the blue liner had secured two points for his team to earn him the Man of the Match award.
Stats
Shots on goal
Scimitars: 56
Warriors: 39
Points
Scimitars:
Warren Tait (2+2), Vladimír Luka (2+2), Craig Elliott (1+0), Lloyd Gibson (1+0), Steven Duncombe (0+3), Cameron Pywell (0+1), Scott Morris (0+1), Thomas Palmer (0+1)
Warriors:
Phil Edgar (2+2), Harry Harley (2+0), Dean Holland (1+2), Adam Finlinson (1+1), Shaun Kippin (1+0), Dylan Hehir (0+1), Kyle Ross (0+1)
Penalty minutes
Scimitars: 32
Warriors: 8
Man of the Match
Scimitars: Steven Duncombe
Warriors: Harry Harley
Whitley Warriors travelled back to Hillheads on Sunday evening to take on Blackburn Hawks, lining up with eighteen skaters to Blackburn’s seventeen and opting for netminder Joshua Crane whilst shot stopper Dean Bowater served as backup.
Whitley made a strong start to the game and created some early chances, the best of them arising through versatile Latvian Rolands Gritāns who came close to finding the target in the opening minutes. The Warriors then opened the scoring through defenceman Harry Harley who struck the net from distance after being picked out by Czech import Matěj Valíček on 6:25. Twenty seconds later, Valíček was sinbinned for interference along the boards but Whitley did not let this slow down their attacking play and netted fifteen seconds later when Phil Edgar unleashed a shot in front of goal to coolly double his team’s tally when handed a great opportunity following a pass played by Captain Dean Holland from the right of netminder Michael Rogers. Blackburn hit back just before the midpoint of the period, Czech Petr Valusiak capitalising when the Warriors lost possession, assisted by forward Aaron Davies, on 9:39. Warrior Kyle Ross was sidelined for hooking on 14:30 and Whitley successfully killed this penalty only to be reduced to four men twenty seconds after returning to full strength when forward Callum Watson was deemed to have tripped his opponent. Again, Whitley cleared their lines effectively to prevent the Hawks from equalising and as the period wound to a close, Gritāns found himself with a goal scoring chance which was halted when defenceman Ethan Mayoh threw his stick at the Warrior. Awarded a penalty shot as a result, Gritāns wound his way towards Rogers’ net and slipped the puck past the netminder to present his team with a 3-1 lead three seconds before the first interval.
On returning for the second period, the Warriors resumed their creativity in the Hawks’ defensive zone and were handed a 5-on-3 power play when Czech Michal Novak was sidelined for hooking whilst the Hawks’ bench simultaneously incurred a penalty for delaying the game on 22:36. Holland then teamed up with Harley to find Gritāns who tipped in the blue liner’s shot to beat Rogers on 23:41. With just under a minute of the Hawks’ second penalty remaining, the two sides faced off once more and Watson grabbed a second power play goal for his team to make it 5-1 by pouncing on defenceman Steven Chalmers’ rebounded effort. With a four-goal lead, the Warriors continued to apply pressure to the Hawks’ defence and their work ethic paid off again on 29:04 when Harley rocketed a shot past Rogers from just inside of the blue line, Holland and Edgar assisting. Forty nine seconds later, Watson played the puck to Gritāns who slotted it into the net to claim his hat-trick, prompting a timeout from the visitors. Shortly after play resumed, the Hawks went on the attack, leaving the Warriors to spectacularly clear their goal line and, with the game becoming more of a physical one, Watson and Blackburn’s most recent signing Karl Bacon dropped the gloves approximately three minutes later to earn each player five minutes in the penalty box for fighting on 33:42. Just forty six seconds later, some skilled play between Gritāns and Edgar culminated in a goal for Holland who made it 8-1. With Whitley’s onslaught unwavering, utility player Adam Wood fired a low shot from distance which blistered through the Hawks’ defence to extend his team’s lead on 36:38. Soon after, forward Ross Douglass was penalised for holding on 36:54 but a trip from Rogers fifty five seconds later saw the Hawks also reduced to four men. Despite these penalties, there were no further changes to the score line, allowing the Warriors to head in with an eight-goal gap between themselves and Blackburn.
As the final period got underway, the pace of the game slowed and Blackburn put Crane under greater pressure than they did in the first two periods to force some saves from the Warrior. Forward Shaun Kippin soon found himself on a breakaway at the other end of the ice but was unable to sufficiently control the bobbling puck to get his shot away. A hooking penalty for Alternate Captain Jordan Barnes on 48:40 gave Blackburn a power play but Whitley worked hard to clear the puck from their defensive zone and the Hawks were unable to make the most of this opportunity to claw back a goal. Just over three minutes after Barnes’ return to the ice, Gritāns achieved his fourth goal of the evening, Kippin assisting alongside forward Niall Ryder to take Whitley’s goal count into double figures. With the game winding down and the final buzzer confirming the Warriors’ 10-1 win, defenceman Samuel Warnock charged Harley by Blackburn’s bench, leading Wood to step in to fight the Hawk. Blue liner Logan Jean-Jacques and Captain Reece Cairney-Witter then became embroiled in the action alongside Warrior Valíček. In consequence, Warnock received two minutes for charging whilst his teammates Jean-Jacques and Cairney-Witter were both dealt five minutes for fighting as well as twenty-minute game misconduct penalties for third man in and leaving the player bench respectively. Meanwhile, both Wood and Valíček picked up five-minute penalties for fighting, this brawl bringing the game to a fiery close.
Stats
Shots on goal
Warriors: 46
Hawks: 34
Points
Warriors:
Rolands Gritans (4+2), Dean Holland (1+4), Harry Harley (2+1), Phil Edgar (1+2), Callum Watson (1+1), Adam Wood (1+0), Thomas Fraser (0+1), Shaun Kippin (0+1), Matej Valíček (0+1), Niall Ryder (0+1), Steven Chalmers (0+1)
Hawks:
Petr Valusiak (1+0), Aaron Davies (0+1)
Penalty minutes
Warriors: 25
Hawks: 63
Man of the Match
Warriors: Callum Watson
Hawks: Karl Bacon