Warriors travelled to Lancashire to face the Blackburn Hawks on Sunday evening with a strong roster of players as Christian Johnson was the only senior player missing from the squad. Whitley were also without 3 of their promising under 18 forwards Ben Richards, Callum Queenan and Kyle Hindmarsh-Ross who were icing in a crucial age group game.
Whitley opted to play 3 forward lines throughout the contest with Karl Culley joining Martin Crammond and Callum Watson on the 3rd offensive unit at the start of the game. In defence Warriors choose to play 3 defensive pairings with youngster Callum Read getting regular ice time on the 2nd d line alongside the experienced former EPL blue liner Dan Harris.
There was a slight delay to the face off as officials were not happy with the goal nets however this problem was quickly rectified and once the action got underway Hawks quickly got into their stride and took the lead after 48 seconds when Adam Brittle found the back of the net.
Hawks continued to look dangerous and Jake Nurse made it 2-0 to the home side after 8 minutes of action. Shortly afterwards Warriors got a power play opportunity when Blackburn’s Reece Cairney-Witter was given a 2 minute penalty for hooking. Warriors made their man advantage count as Harry Harley netted for Warriors on the power play after 10 minutes of play.
Blackburn continued to test Whitley goaltender Richie Lawson on a regular basis throughout the remainder of the first session of play and Hawks made it 3-1 with 16 minutes on the clock when Jake Nurse grabbed his 2nd goal of the game. Warriors Rob Wilson took a heavy knock on his shoulder towards the end of the 1st period and this injury unfortunately meant he could play no further part in the game.
Once the 2nd period got underway Hawks increased their lead just 56 seconds in when Adam Brittle fired home after some nice work from import forward Jon Adams. Warriors were still battling away though and Daniel Murdy got a goal back after half an hour which saw Warriors 4-2 in arrears at the half way stage of the game.
The home side were now playing some eye catching free flowing hockey and Blackburn d man Scott Robson fired home on the powerplay which saw the home side hold a 5-2 lead after 40 minutes of play. Whitley were dealt more bad news when d man Nathan Ryder did not take to the ice for the 3rd period after looking uncomfortable towards the end of the previous session.
Warriors began the 3rd period short handed as Paul Matthews and Callum Watson had picked up minor penalties towards the end of the 2nd stanza. Hawks made full use of their 2 man advantage as Adam Brittle lit the lamp after being set up by his player coach Jared Owen with a nicely taken powerplay marker.
Warriors continued to run into penalty trouble during the remainder of the contest and Whitley’s penalty killing units worked tirelessly to limit Blackburn’s clear offensive chances with Warriors goaltender Richie Lawson producing a number of impressive stops.
Hawks netted their 7th goal of the game on 54 minutes as Adam Brittle grabbed his fourth goal of the contest when he found the bottom corner of the net with a fine shot. Warriors went onto test Blackburn net minder Danny Brittle on a few occasions during the final stages of the game however Hawks were able to keep Whitley at bay and claim a 7-2 success.
Whitley net minder Richie Lawson was deservedly named Man of the Match for a terrific display in which he saved 52 of the 59 shots that came his way. While Hawks hot shot Adam Brittle was chosen as the home sides most impressive player on the night.
Whitley Points
Harry Harley and Daniel Murdy 1+0, Adam Reynolds, Paul Matthews, Callum Watson and Martin Crammond 0+1
Penalty Minutes
Blackburn – 6
Whitley – 18
Shots on Goal
On Whitley (Richie Lawson) – 59
On Blackburn (Danny Brittle) – 25
Warriors are in action twice next weekend as on Saturday Whitley face NIHL North Champions the Solway Sharks in Dumfries, Scotland before taking on the Sutton Sting on home ice on Sunday evening (5pm face off) at Hillheads Ice Rink in Whitley Bay in a NIHL North Moralee Conference encounter.