Photo by IceHockeyMedia
Whitley Warriors had a busy weekend as David Longstaff’s side had an away double header in which they faced Sutton Sting and the Solihull Barons in 2 testing road games.
Whitley were able to take a strong squad of players to Sheffield on Saturday evening for their clash with Sutton. Warriors enjoyed a superb first period as they led 3-0 after 20 minutes of play thanks to goals from Dean Holland, Callum Watson and Shaun Kippin. The inform Jordan Barnes increased Whitley’s lead in the middle stanza of action when he fired home having been set up by his player/coach David Longstaff.
Sutton rallied and came back into the game in the 3rd period as their talisman Lloyd Gibson grabbed 2 goals in a 3 minute spell. However Warriors were able to grab a late empty net goal through Harry Harley and come away from the clash with a hugely important 2 points thanks to a 5-2 scoreline. Credit must be given to David Longstaff who picked up3 assists in the contest along with netminder Richie Lawson who saved over 92% of the shots that came his way.
On Sunday evening Warriors headed down to the Midlands to take on fellow play off hopefuls the Solihull Barons. Whitley were a little short benched for this clash with several senior players including blue liners Dan Pye, Joe Stamp and Harry Harley unable to make the journey down to Solihull. Once the action got underway Barons had the better of the opening 20 minutes of action as the home side led 3-1 at the 1st interval in the game with Dean Holland grabbing a poweplay strike for Warriors.
The 2nd period saw the 2 sides evenly share 8 goals between them. Warriors quickly grabbed the opening goal of the session when Shaun Kippin fired home. Whitley’s other goal scorers in this period were Alan Yarrow, Lawson Glasby and Callum Watson. Yarrow’s strike was the power forwards first goal of the campaign for the veteran. The final period of the game saw the goals continue to flow with Jordan Barnes and Stu Tomlinson on target for Whitley however Solihull were also able to grab 5 goals in the last stanza which saw the scoreline finish at 12-7 in the home sides favour .
Following the weekends results Warriors sit in 4th position in the NIHL North Division 1 standings with a total of 22 points from the 24 games they have taken part in. Whitley currently have a 4 point lead over the Sutton Sting their nearest challengers for 4th place in the league (last championship play off spot) however last season’s NIHL North champions the Blackburn Hawks cannot be ruled out of contention for a play off berth either.
Warriors once again make the trip to Solihull next weekend as Whitley take on the Barons on Sunday evening in another crucial NIHL North Division 1 clash as David Longstaff and his side look to make the end of season championship play offs.