Photo by Ice Hockey Media - Colin Lawson
Warriors took on the Blackburn Hawks in a top of the table NIHL North League game on Sunday evening. Whitley player/coach David Longstaff had a strong roster to choose from and opted to play with 3 forward lines and 3 defensive pairings throughout the match up with Dean Holland and Jamie Tinsley mainly playing their hockey on the 2nd forward unit.
The game started in explosive fashion when Warriors Andre Payette and Hawks Reece Cairney-Witter traded blows after just 4 seconds of the match up. Both players were handed 4 minutes in roughing penalties and sent to the sin bin by referee Emerson for their early coming together.
Blackburn grabbed the game’s first goal when Lee Pollitt fired past Richie Lawson from close range after 3 minutes of play. Warriors almost drew level on 12 minutes when good work by Shaun Kippin on the boards set up David Longstaff however Danny Brittle in the Hawks goal was able to thwart Warriors player coach with a fine save. Whitley did draw level a minute later when Dean Holland shot home a superb unassisted marker after a defensive lapse from the Blackburn rearguard.
Hawks were able to regain the lead on 27 minutes when Aaron Davies found the back of the net before Lee Pollitt made it 3-1 with a powerplay strike for the visitors. Warriors soon got a goal back when Dean Holland grabbed his 2nd goal of the game with Andre Payette and Callum Queenan picking up the assists. Whitley netminder Richie Lawson pulled off a superb save as the 2nd period was coming to its end when he was able to keep out an effort from Adam Brittle after the Hawks forward had broken clear from the Warriors defence.
Warriors equalised 6 minutes into the final period of action when David Longstaff fired home a sweetly struck shot with youngster Callum Queenan and the industrious Martin Crammond picking up the assists. Whitley centreman Shaun Kippin then shot Warriors into the lead with his 4th goal of the season after 54 minutes of play to the delight of the large crowd in attendance at Hillheads.
Whitley’s narrow 4-3 lead came under pressure when Blackburn went on a late powerplay however Warriors were able to kill the penalty off successfully. Hawks continued to commit men forward as they searched for a last gasp goal and their tactic paid dividends as Rick Bentham shot home with just 40 seconds of the game remaining. Both sides then took time outs as the coaching staff of both teams wanted to make clear their tactical objectives however there were no further goals in the match up and the game ended all square at 4-4.
Whitley assistant coach Dave Holland shared his views on the match up.
“Excellent performance and a pleasing result, for us to sit were we are in table at Christmas time is superb. We dug in, played well and matched them all over the ice.
“Dean (Holland) played well tonight as did Callum Queenan and Lobby (David Longstaff). Dean isn’t fully fit at the moment but he’s giving his all for the team while Lobby is playing with despite taking a puck to the face in a recent game. Harry Harley and Dan Pye also did well on defence while netminder Richie Lawson pulled a lot of good save out.
“We have picked up no injuries in the game and we face Blackburn again in the New Year at their place in what should be another good game of hockey.”
Warriors Dean Holland deservedly was selected as Man of the Match while Adam Brittle was chosen as the Hawks top performer over the 60 minutes of play. Warriors next game is an away game against Blackburn on January 10th, Whitley’s next home game is on Sunday 17th January (face off 5pm)when the Telford Tigers visit Tyneside for a NIHL North league match up.