Whitley Warriors entertained the Solway Sharks on home ice on Sunday evening at Hillheads ice rink in Whitley Bay. Warriors were boosted by the return of long term absentee Adam Reynolds who was able to ice after being out of action for around 3 months with a broken ankle.
Whitley Head Coach Simon Leach opted to use 3 defensive pairings along with 3 lines of forwards during the game. Youngsters Liam Smedly and Craig Johnson alternated with one another on Warriors 2nd defensive unit alongside the experienced Rob Wilson in the place of the injured veteran Paul Matthews.
Warriors started the game on the front foot and took the lead 5 minutes into the match up when Rob Wilson fired home from just inside the blue line. Later in the opening period of play Callum Watson came close to extending Warriors lead however he saw his powerful shot cannon off the post with Sharks netminder Jordan Boyle beaten.
The 2nd stanza of action saw both sides creating offensive opportunities with Rick Bentham looking dangerous for the visitors while Warriors Adam Reynolds and Alex Lawson were causing problems for the Solway defence. With 35 minutes played Alex Lawson fired home the 2nd goal of the game after some nice approach play from Kyle Ross and Scott Cooper.
Just over a minute later Whitley were on the scoresheet again when Callum Watson netted from close range. Warriors were now in the ascendancy and Adam Reynolds fired home his first goal of the campaign to make it 4-0 with 37 minutes on the clock. As the 2nd period was coming to a close Sharks Ross Murray was ejected from the game for checking to the head.
Solway opted to switch their netminders after 40 minutes of play with former Whitley goaltender Jordan Boyle being replaced by fellow youngster Andrew Little. Warriors started the final session of play on an extended powerplay due to Murray’s misdemeanour at the end of the middle period however Sharks were able to successfully kill off Whitley’s 5 minute powerplay.
However Sharks did concede a powerplay marker shortly afterwards when Callum Watson fired home while Solway’s Joe Coulter was in the penalty box for a high sticking infringement. Coulter had caught Whitley blue liner Dan Harris in the face with his stick and Warriors number 3 was unable to play any further part in the game. Warriors then ran into a little penalty trouble of their own with Alex Lawson and Jamie Tinsley both taking minor penalties, Solway took advantage of this and grabbed their opening goal of the game when Struan Tonnar fired home while his side had the numerical advantage.
The visitors continued to look dangerous and a Rick Bentham effort caught out Richie Lawson in the Warriors goal to make it 5-2 with under 10 minutes left in the game. With time ticking down Solway opted to pull their goaltender so that they could get an extra skater out onto the ice and this tactic paid off when Stevie Moore lit the lamp late on however Sharks were not able to add any further goals to their tally and the game ended 5-3 in Whitley’s favour.
Callum Watson was named Warriors Man of the Match while Sharks Rick Bentham was selected as Solway’s top performer.
Warriors Points
Callum Watson 2+0, Alex Lawson, Rob Wilson and Adam Reynolds 1+0, Jamie Tinsley and Dean Holland 0+2, DJ Good, Kyle Ross and Scott Cooper 0+1
Sharks Points
Stevie Moore 1+1, Struan Tonnar and Rick Bentham 1+0, Jens Engelen 0+3
Shots on Goals
On Warriors (Richie Lawson) – 40
On Sharks (Jordan Boyle/Andrew Little) – 26/19 – 45
Penalty Minutes
Warriors – 8
Sharks – 29
Referee – Steve Brown
Linesmen – Emerson and Lydall
Warriors have 2 road games next weekend with away fixtures against the Sheffield Spartans on the Saturday and the Billingham Stars on the Sunday. Whitley will be travelling to both games at almost full strength with just Jordan Barnes and Paul Matthews missing the match ups through injury.