Whitley Warriors and family members at the end of the game. Photo by Andy Grant.
Whitley Warriors booked their place at the playoff finals in Altrincham next weekend with a 12-5 aggregate win over Deeside Dragons.
On Saturday Warriors made the trip across to North Wales and were seen in the driving seat, Lewis Crisp scoring five minutes in. However, Deeside levelled 50 seconds after the restart but a minute later the Warriors were back ahead through Kyle Ross.
Further strikes from Phil Edgar, who was returning from injury, Adam Finlinson and Ross again took the game away from Deeside by the end of the second period.
The Dragons did pull one back with eight minutes to go but Dean Holland’s goal at 57:53 meant the Warriors took a 6-2 lead with them into the second leg at home.
The following night Whitley could welcome back Ross Douglass and Liam Smedley, giving them nineteen skaters. Phil Edgar made his first appearance on home ice since a rib injury forced him out of action against Blackburn last month. He was on the top line with Dean Holland and Kyle Ross, while Shaun Kippin centred the second line with Ross Douglass and Adam Finlinson. The third line saw Lewis Crisp, Anth Wetherell and Jamie Ord together. Thomas Fraser, Matthew Betham, Owen Yarrow and Jay Lucas rotated on the fourth line.
A full compliment of defencemen available saw Rihards Grigors, Adam Wood, Harry Harley, Matty McDonald, Connor Lewis and Liam Smedley ice. Dean Bowater got the start in goal with Josh Crane on the bench.
With Deeside arriving into Hillheads needing to make up a four goal deficit they had to go for it early on. That meant an open and entertaining twenty minutes of hockey in the first period. But it was the Warriors that further extended their lead, Dean Holland and Harry Harley setting up Phil Edgar for a powerplay goal just four minutes in. Less than three minutes later Whitley made it 2-0 on the night. Kyle Ross finishing well from Edgar and Harley.
But with a six goal deficit, Deeside suddenly came back into the contest, Michael Clancy cut the arrears with an emphatic finish a couple of minutes later, before Petr Valusiak hit a one-timer in mid-air just inside the offensive zone at 12:51 for a powerplay goal.
Deeside had worked hard to get the score back level on the night but with sixteen seconds left in the period. Dean Holland scored his twentieth goal of the season, and what would prove to be his last ever at Hillheads in a Whitley shirt. Phil Edgar got an assist on the goal, claiming his eightieth point of the season.
Whitley started strong after the intermission with Shaun Kippin scoring a well deserved goal to make it 4-2. Once again the Warriors in a comfortable position, holding a six goal cushion. However, one thing you can guarantee with Deeside is that they never give up. Ross Kennedy finishing Petr Valusiak’s pass to cut the score once again.
Such was the nature of the game you couldn’t rule out the Dragons and when Adam Wood was given a slashing penalty with four minutes left in the period, it presented them with a great chance to tie the game up on the night.
However, Whitley scored two short handed goals 35 seconds apart to finally end what was looking like a spirited comeback, Shaun Kippin’s stretch pass from his defensive zone splitting the Dragons defence for Anth Wetherell to bury the puck into the back of the net. Moments later Dean Holland registered his 75th point of the season to set up Phil Edgar to score. That made it 6-3 on the night and 12-5 on aggregate.
With no further goals in the final period it meant Whitley could run down the clock and start to look ahead to Altrincham and a semi-final match up with north east rivals Billingham Stars.
At the end of the game there was a presentation for outgoing Head Coach David Longstaff and General Manager Paul Matthews. It was also a final farewell for Equipment Manager Phil Gosling and Captain Dean Holland, who announced his retirement earlier this week. After ten seasons with the club he is finally hanging up the skates. This season has seen Dean combine with Phil Edgar for 156 points! A tally that will surely be missed in the coming years. But with potentially two more games to go, what could be more fitting than seeing the Warriors captain lifting a final piece of silverware?
Stats
Shots:
Warriors: 38
Dragons: 32
Scorers:
Warriors: Phil Edgar 2+2, Dean Holland 1+2, Shaun Kippin 1+1, Kyle Ross 1+0, Anth Wetherall 1+0, Harry Harley 0+2, Liam Smedley 0+1, Ross Douglass 0+1, Connor Lewis 0+1.
Dragons: Petr Valusiak 1+1, Ross Kennedy 1+1, Michael Clancy 1+0, Matt Wainwright 0+2, Si Furnival 0+1.
PIMs:
Warriors: 8
Dragons: 10
Man of the Match:
Warriors: Adam Wood
Dragons: Ross Kennedy