Warriors took on their local rivals the Billingham Stars on Teesside on Sunday evening. Whitley went into the game on the back of a 3-3 draw against the Sheffield Spartans in which Warriors battled back from 3-1 down with a minute to play to earn a point.
Warriors Head Coach Simon Leach iced for Whitley in defence as the Tynesiders were missing a number of experienced blue liners including the likes of Daniel Harris, Josh Maddock and Paul Matthews. Warriors were also able to include Adam Reynolds in their line up now that the prolific forward has fully recovered from a broken ankle he suffered earlier in the campaign.
The first period was quite even with Stars Michael Elder grabbing the only goal of the opening stanza of play when he fired past Richie Lawson with 14 minutes on the clock. Whitley lost influential defenceman Dan Pye to a hand injury during the 1st period of action.
The 2nd session of play was a much different affair as the home side were able to net 6 unanswered goals which saw Warriors 7-0 down after 40 minutes of action. Warriors opted to replace goaltender Richie Lawson with Mark Turnbull just before the half hour mark when the score was 5-0 in the Stars favour. There was further bad news for Whitley though as forward Alex Lawson picked up a knock which prevented him from finishing the contest out on the ice.
Warriors Callum Watson and Stars Luke Brown traded blows during the 2nd period after the 2 forwards clashed during play. Both players were given 4 minutes in roughing penalties for their actions, Brown made his way back to the home side’s dressing room following the coming together.
Whitley managed to pull a goal back in the final period through DJ Good assisted by the hard working Jamie Tinsley however Stars also got on the scoresheet through Michael Elder once again and the game ended 8-1 to Billingham. Warriors man Scott Cooper had to be helped off the ice in the final stages of the contest and it is suspected that the former Slough Jet has dislocated his shoulder.
Warriors Man of the Match went to rookie goalie Mark Turnbull who made a number of smart stops while Michael Elder who had netted a hatrick for Stars was unsurprisingly chosen as the home side’s top player.
Warriors Head Coach Simon Leach shared his views on Sunday’s game.
“I would like to apologise to our fans as our display against Billingham just wasn’t good enough. We all need to take responsibility myself included and look to put in much better displays next weekend when we take on Sutton and Sheffield.
“We had a number of players out with injuries and then picked up another 3 injuries in the game as Daniel Pye, Alex Lawson and Scott Cooper all had to go off. So we just had to go with what we had available to us, that is no excuse at all for our display though.
“I thought young Mark Turnbull did well when he went in goal and our younger players such as Callum Queenan and Kyle Ross gave everything they had for us out on the ice. Jamie Tinsley also never stopped working out there and typified what being a Warrior should be about.”
Warriors face Sutton Sting away from home next Saturday afternoon at Ice Sheffield (face off 4.15pm) before a home game against the Sheffield Spartans at Hillheads on Sunday evening (face off 5pm) both games are NIHL North Division 1match ups.