Photo by IceHockeyMedia
Whitley Warriors took to the ice in NIHL North Division 1 action on Sunday evening when they took on the Solway Sharks on home ice. Warriors were able to name a strong roster of players including the likes of import Andre Payette, d men Josh Maddock and Dan Pye and forwards such as Dean Holland, DJ Good and Callum Watson.
In the opening minutes of the encounter both sides acquitted themselves well, young forward Niall Simpson went close for Whitley early on after a precise centre from his linemate Payette. However Sharks opened the games scoring on 9 minutes when Jordan Buesa who is on a 2 way deal with Sharks and the Braehead Clan fired past Warriors goaltender Jordan Boyle who was chosen to start after impressing in last weekend’s games.
Just 28 seconds later Warriors drew the game level when Jordan Barnes scrambled the puck home after Whitley had put a great deal of pressure on Solway netminder Callum Hepburn. Whitley continued to match the league leading Sharks for the remainder of the opening stanza as both Jordan Barnes and David Longstaff forced Hepburn into smart saves.
The 2nd period of play saw Daniel Abercrombie fire Solway in front after he picked up the puck just inside the Warriors zone after a defensive mistake and fired the puck past Jordan Boyle into top corner of the net. Warriors continued to create openings with the new look 3rd line looking particularly impressive as Payette was linking up well with Crammond and Simpson on a number of occasions. However it was Sharks who grabbed the next goal of the game when young Abercrombie once again netted for the visitors when he was afforded too much room in front of the Warriors net to make the scoreline 3-1 in the Sharks favour.
There had only been 3 penalties called in the contest until the 57th minute of the contest when Sharks Ross Murray was given a 2 minute penalty for cross checking following the infringement Murray exchanged blows with Warriors Shaun Kippin and both players were given 4 minutes in fighting penalties. Following the fight the games momentum changed and Whitley’s powerplay unit only took 3 seconds to find the back of the net when Dean Holland fired home having been fed the puck by Payette.
Warriors continued to pressurise the visitors defence and with under a minute remaining in the game Callum Watson drew the scores level when he fired past Hepburn in the Solway net. This late goal saw Whitley claim a highly impressive 3 all draw against the runaway league leaders. This was only the 3rd occasion this season that Solway have not won a NIHL North Division 1 match up illustrating just what an excellent display Warriors had put in for the entirety of the game.
Whitley made us of their large roster against Solway as the likes of Lawson Glasby and Stu Tomlinson logged minutes back on the blue line while youngsters Anthony Wetherall and Ross Douglass got a number of shifts up front as Warriors utilised the options they had available to them at every opportunity. Netminder Jordan Boyle also impressed as the youngster saved over 91% of the shots that came his way in a high pressure game.
Warriors ever dependable blue liner Josh Maddock was selected as Whitley’s Man of the Match while Ross Murray chosen as the Sharks best player on the evening by the Warriors coaching staff.
Whitley are in action next weekend on Sunday (face off 6.30pm) when they travel down the A19 to take on the Billingham Stars in what could be the final Tyne Tees Derby of the 2016/17 campaign.