A single powerplay strike from Craig Mitchell halfway through the first period ensured there would be no fairytale comeback for the home side who, despite trailing 4-1 from the first leg, worked tirelessly and gave their all only to find Gary Russell in superb form in the Sharks net.
Coach Simon Leach opted to restore Richie Lawson as starting netminder having selected young Mark Turnbull away to Manchester Minotaurs the previous evening, whilst blue liner Rob Wilson was also included in a home squad for the first time this season. Warriors would, however, be without the services of Dan Harris, Jordan Barnes, Scott Cooper and Adam Reynolds once more.
Solway travelled from the Scottish borders a little low on numbers but high on quality with their squad of 11 skaters and 2 netminders including summer acquisition Richard Bentham, Sharks talisman Struan Tonnar and formidable new Belgian import Jens Engelen.
After an impeccably observed minutes silence for Remembrance Sunday, Warriors were straight after their opponents as soon as the puck had dropped, determined to strike early in order to gain momentum. A sustained period of pressure almost created the perfect opening when Russell was only able to block a fierce Dean Holland bullet from the high slot after 4 minutes, the puck dropping invitingly in front of the Sharks goal but with no Warriors player able to tuck away the rebound. Holland was again in the thick of the action at 9:57 when the lad from Walkergate was adjudged to have been guilty of a check from behind on Alan Crane resulting in a 2+10 punishment.
Solway called on their powerplay unit to take to the ice and saw their special team make the difference almost immediately. Just 9 seconds after being handed the man advantage, the big frame of Jens Engelen was able to hold on to the puck near the point and feed across to Craig Mitchell who quickly took aim and fired through bodies beyond Richie Lawson to put Sharks 1-0 up on the powerplay after 10:06.
Into the second period and Sharks started out controlling the flow of the game and seeing chances come and go. Stevie Moore should have made it 2-0 after 24 minutes only to see an outstanding recovery dive from Lawson deny what had seemed an open target finish. The hosts refused to give up hope though and once again Warriors established themselves on the front foot. Captain Jamie Tinsley saw an unbelievable shorthanded chance to level on the night come and go before the outstanding Russell stood tall to deny Callum Queenan, whose efforts to loft a back handed goal were thwarted.
Knowing they had only 20 minutes of hockey left to keep their cup hopes alive, Warriors turned things up a notch in the final period, throwing everything at Russell in the Sharks net yet time and again their efforts went unrewarded. When Dean Holland somehow managed to wriggle out of a tight spot in the corner and force a route back towards goal it looked like this was the moment those inside Hillheads had been waiting for. Poised to take aim and place the puck into the roof of the net, Holland looked certain to score with defenders scrambling to get back at him only for his effort to be blocked by Sharks’ man of the match Gary Russell.
With 59 seconds remaining on the clock Warriors pulled netminder Richie Lawson to allow for an extra skater but even with the additional attacker, Russell and his colleagues stood firm to take a 1-0 win and run out 5-1 winnesr of the St. Andrews Cup over two legs.
Former Shark and current Warrior Adam Reynolds gave his thoughts after seeing his team mates lose out in his absence:
“It was a great game to watch tonight; both sides were very physical and gave their all. We were the better side and I’m sure we would have won had it not been for Russell in the Sharks goal. Him and Ritchie (Lawson) made some unreal saves.
“We knew we had to win tonight, once it got too late in the game to win the cup it was important to just try and win the game on the night. It wasn’t to be but if we play like that for the rest of the season teams are going to struggle against us.”
Man of the Match for Warriors was Jamie Tinsley, while Sharks’ award went to Gary Russell.
Whitley Warriors’ next home game is Sunday 14 December 2014 against local rivals Billingham Stars, face Off 5pm.