Solihull
victorious as Barons overpower Warriors
Whitley
Warriors 4
Solihull Barons 5 (OT)
Lining up for what they
knew would be a difficult game against Solihull Barons, Whitley Warriors had at
their disposal twenty skaters, starting shot stopper Richie Lawson and backup netminder Mark Turnbull; the side
missing blue liner Josh Maddock and forwards Callum Watson and Ross Douglass.
The Barons, meanwhile, travelled with a squad of sixteen which included lone
netminder Daniel Brittle, captain Josh Bruce and skilled Swedish import Niklas
Ottosson; the outfit’s late arrival to Hillheads causing the team to miss out on the warm-up.
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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Facing off against the
Barons, the Warriors provided themselves with the best possible start to the
game as Canadian import Philip Edgar rocketed a shot beyond netminder Brittle
with just fifteen seconds played following neat play from captain Dean Holland
and fellow forward Ben Richards. Stunned to have conceded just after faceoff,
Solihull strove to get back into the game, battling in the corners to gain
possession and subsequently placing shot stopper Lawson under pressure. Spurred
on by their first goal however, the Warriors were quick to counter and some
hard work from Holland saw the home team come close to finding the net before alternate
captain Shaun Kippin struck the bar only for his effort to be mirrored moments
later by blue liner Kyle Ross. With Whitley so close to scoring, it was
frustrating for the side to concede on 13:01 as Solihull’s forward Adam Brittle threaded a
pass to captain Bruce who bagged his side an equaliser to undo the
Warriors’ hard work. Greatly disappointed with this turn of events, David
Longstaff’s line-up took just thirty one seconds to hit back, this time experienced
defenceman Sam Zajac slipping the puck to Holland who utilised his skill to
outwit Brittle. Just nineteen seconds later, an
interference call against Longstaff saw the player-coach sinbinned to allow the
Barons an advantage but managing to kill this penalty without further
concession, the Warriors were soon reduced to four men once more as Zajac was sidelined for the same offence
to allow Solihull a second power play. Remaining strong in defence, the
Warriors achieved possession of the puck at centre ice whilst shorthanded, allowing Holland to race
against the Barons’ defence and unleash a shot which defeated Brittle to see
the home team head in with a 3-1 lead at the first interval.
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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Heading out onto the
ice with a view to be even more dangerous in front of the net, the Barons were
quick to reduce their deficit to just one goal as the side grabbed their second
of the evening with just under two minutes of the middle stanza played, Andrew
Whitehouse the man on target courtesy of fellow forward Elliot Farrell. The
momentum now with the visitors, the Warriors found themselves under increasing
pressure in their defensive zone and, as such, it was little surprise when
Solihull again levelled the scoring, Bruce beating Lawson following
linkup play between forwards Philip Mulcahy and Adam Brittle. Dismayed to have
their lead cancelled out for a second time, the Warriors rallied to hit back
just over a minute later, Richards picking out defenceman
Zajac who fired on Brittle’s net to see the puck tipped in by forward Adam
Finlinson to make it 4-3. Shortly after Whitley regained
their lead, Solihull’s forward Luke Brittle incurred a ten minute misconduct
penalty only to be joined less than two minutes later by
Warriors’ captain Holland who made way for tripping on 33:39 to hand the Barons a power play. Though unable to get ahead with the additional man,
Solihull were presented with another chance to equalise as Holland’s return to the ice saw the forward attempt to grab
a goal, only to collide with netminder Brittle instead which resulted in a penalty for goaltender interference. In consequence, the Barons united to chase down a fourth
goal with great success as captain Tomas Janak fired home with support from
versatile ‘D’ man Dave Rogers and forward Mulcahy to see the score tied at 4-4 at the
second break.
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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Returning to the ice
with the points all to play for, the Warriors were hopeful that they
could still claim a victory from this game but Solihull’s momentum proved
difficult for the home team to contend with. Scrapping for the puck in the
corners before creating offensive opportunities, the Warriors found their play
broken by the Barons time and again to make for an even third period with
neither side able to make an impact in front of goal. A tripping penalty for
defenceman Harry Harley on 50:01 presented Solihull with an opportunity to get
ahead in the game but Whitley remained effective on the penalty kill to return
to full strength unharmed. Moments later, the aftermath of an attempted shot
from Edgar appeared to cause Brittle some pain but officials did not deem the
import’s actions punishable. This incident seemingly prompted Baron Matthew
Maurice to retaliate, the young forward flooring blue liner Liam Smedley to
find himself ejected from the game. With Farrell serving a five
minute penalty in consequence of this incident, the Warriors found themselves
on the power play for the remainder of the period but, despite some close calls
for Brittle, the outfit could not grab the winning goal they were desperately
searching for and therefore failed to prevent the game from heading into
overtime. Their advantage running into this additional five-minute period, the Warriors were allowed
a four-on-three situation for over a minute but this made little difference to
Whitley’s offensive efforts and instead, Solihull returned to full strength to
grab a game winner as Adam Brittle teamed up with his brother Luke who did not
miss his mark to earn the Barons two points whilst Whitley were forced to
settle for one.
Stars
dazzle Sharks to claim sixth league win
Billingham
Stars 7
Solway Sharks 5
Taking to the ice with
fifteen skaters, Billingham Stars found themselves shortbenched with captain
Michael Elder, player-coach Michael Bowman, forward Scott Ward and defencemen
Andy Finn, Thomas Keeley and Darren Stattersfield making up their lengthy
absentee list. By comparison, Solway Sharks travelled to Teesside with a squad
of sixteen players which included captain Struan Tonnar, in-form forward Duncan Speirs and two-way players Josh
Grieveson and Jordan Buesa, the Dumfries
outfit having made the trip without injured alternate captain James Hutchinson,
defenceman Scott Cooper, Czech blue liner Vaclav Kolarik, youngster Ben
Coughtrie and Houston brothers Luke and Lewis.
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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Prepared to make amends
for last weekend’s double header defeat to Solihull Barons, Billingham Stars
were determined to grab two points from this contest and showed their
commitment to their cause by opening the scoring on 5:53 through stand-in
captain Chris Sykes who capitalised on passing play between Jack Davies and
player-coach Richie Thornton to provide his side with the head start they were
looking for. Spurred on after falling behind in this encounter, Solway bagged
themselves an equaliser just over two minutes later when Speirs
hit the target courtesy of left winger Steven Moore to take Billingham back to
square one. Shortly afterwards, referee David Emmerson called Stars’ forward
Jack Davies to the sin bin for tripping to see Solway gain a power play but,
working hard on the penalty kill, the home team ensured that their visitors
were unable to make the most of their advantage to leave the score line at 1-1.
Throwing everything at Billingham’s netminder James Flavell in this period, the
Sharks were frustrated to have little to show for their hard work but a slashing penalty dished out to blue liner Ben Davison presented Solway with a second chance at a power play goal and it
was no surprise that the side were successful in their efforts as Buesa played
the puck to Czech defenceman Marek Charvát who netted with a wrist shot through
traffic with just fifty two seconds of Billingham’s penalty remaining, allowing his
side to head in with a narrow 2-1 lead at the break.
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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Setting out to draw
level at the earliest opportunity, the Stars worked hard in the opening moments
of the middle stanza to beat Hepburn for a second time as Latvian forward Deniss
Baškatovs linked up with fellow forward James Moss to play the puck to Jack
Emerson who achieved his fourth league goal of the season on 22:04
as a result. Fifty one seconds later though, the Sharks regained their lead as
Tonnar surpassed Billingham’s defence to slot the puck beyond Flavell
following neat work from alternate captain Ross Murray and forward Connor
Henderson. With the visitors leading by three goals to two, the Stars were
aware that they needed to continue to persevere to ensure the game did not get
away from them; the side challenging Hepburn where possible, though still
finding themselves outshot by the Sharks. As Solway’s persistence in front of Flavell’s
net showed no signs of diminishing, the Dumfries outfit earned themselves a
fourth goal as Speirs buried an unassisted effort from behind Flavell’s goal
line on 31:00 to prompt a change of netminder for the Stars eight seconds
later; shot stopper Mark Watson taking Flavell’s place between the pipes.
Sixteen seconds after this change of netminder, the Sharks then went
shorthanded as Tonnar was sinbinned for hooking to present Billingham with a
power play. The score line 4-2, the Teessiders were eager to reduce their
deficit and, though unable to do so with the additional man, the Stars punished
the Sharks just over two minutes after Solway’s return to full strength;
Davison netting on 35:48 as alternate captain Callum Davies grabbed an assist. With the margin between Billingham and the Sharks far narrower than a moment
before, Solway tried their luck against Watson in a bid to extend their lead
before the second interval but, in spite of their efforts, there was no further
change to the score line prior to the third period to see the Stars head in
just one goal behind their opposition.
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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Starting the third
period in much the same way as they did the second, the Stars found themselves
again searching for an equaliser and this time it took the side close to four
minutes into the final stanza to achieve this feat as Moss collected his
seventh league goal of the season following support from Baškatovs to tie the
game at 4-4. Shortly afterwards, Sharks’ stand-in alternate captain Kyle Horne
was shown to the sin bin for interference to present Billingham with a power
play but despite their many efforts on goal, the Stars could not contend with
Solway’s penalty kill to leave the scoreboard unchanged. With both teams
pursuing their next goal to seize the lead in the moments that followed,
Billingham were able to creep ahead in the contest again on 53:19 when
Baškatovs worked with Hehir to find Sykes whose initial shot
rebounded off Hepburn, allowing him to ping the puck over the netminder at an
incredibly tight angle to make it 5-4. With the clock counting the game’s final
minutes and Billingham’s lead a fragile one, the Stars sought to establish a
two-goal cushion with success, Baškatovs finding the net on this occasion with
support from Moss and young forward Alex Preston. Soon after this goal, Sharks’
Head Coach Martin Grubb called for a timeout to talk tactics and, with just
over a minute remaining in the game, Solway opted to pull netminder Hepburn in
the hope that they could capitalise with the additional skater. This decision
did not work in the Sharks’ favour however, as Sykes bagged himself an empty
net goal to complete his hat trick on 59:47; Baškatovs and Moss with the assists. The game 7-4 and the
Sharks now accepting their defeat, Solway found just enough time to carve
out one last opportunity to find the net as power forward Murray played the
puck to Connor Henderson who linked up with fellow forward Scott Henderson to see the youngster
beat netminder Watson with just two seconds remaining in the game.
Considering Solway’s
road defeat in Billingham, Sharks’ Head Coach Martin Grubb revealed: “We knew
we were going to face a team desperate to beat us after we had won the previous
six games and we got what we deserved. We were outworked from beginning to end
and our third period display was embarrassing but we can’t dwell on it and we need
to move on and get back to winning and limiting our stupid mistakes.”
Stars
plunder points from Dragons’ den as Billingham enjoy four-point weekend
The
Dragons 0
Billingham
Stars 15
Making the trip to
Deeside with a short bench of eleven skaters, Billingham’s line-up included stand-in captain
Chris Sykes, alternate captain Callum Davies, forward James Moss and Latvian
imports Deniss Baškatovs and Artūrs Ozols whilst netminders James Flavell and
Mark Watson were both available for this encounter. Meanwhile, The Dragons had
at their disposal a far stronger squad than they have been able to ice in
recent weeks, lining up with eighteen players, including netminders Oliver
Johnson and Louis Edwards, captain James Parsons and new defensive signings Kenneth Williams, Chad Wynne and Jake Orr.
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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Starting
the game as they meant to go on, the Stars opened the scoring on 2:36 as junior
forward Ethan Hehir beat Dragons’ shot stopper Johnson; Davies and Sykes assisting the youngster in his efforts to get onto the
scoresheet. Disappointed to concede in the early stages of the game, the home
team looked for a way to test netminder Mark Watson whilst the Stars set out to
build on their positive start only to be prevented by the Dragons’
defence and some sturdy netminding from Johnson. As such, it was not until 9:21
that Billingham were able to grab their second of the evening, this time
forward Baškatovs going it alone to find the target. Moments later, Johnson was
again picking the puck from his net when Baškatovs passed to Moss who netted to make it 3-0. Now in full control of the game, the Stars
soon found a fourth goal; Moss teaming up with defenceman Matthew Campbell to
allow Baškatovs to claim his second of the evening. Though attempting to
counter Billingham’s attacking play, the Dragons were unsuccessful in their
efforts and instead, the Stars continued to build momentum to appear dangerous
in their offensive zone. As such, it was not long after that the Teessiders
altered the Dragons’ deficit to five, this time Baškatovs turning assist
alongside Moss to see Campbell strike the back of the net with just over
fifteen minutes on the clock. Moments later, it was the turn of
stand-in captain Sykes to print his name on the scoresheet after receiving the
puck from Davies; blue liner Ben Davison also grabbing an assist in the
process. Though this goal prompted a change of netminder for the Dragons as
Johnson made way for Edwards, the Stars continued to waste little time in front
of the net as Moss bagged his second goal of the game to add to the Dragons’
woes, fellow forward Jack Emerson threading a pass to his teammate on this occasion as his side headed in with a seven-goal lead at the first
interval.
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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Prepared
for the struggle ahead, the Dragons worked hard to prevent Billingham from
grabbing a goal early in the second period but were disappointed to then go
shorthanded on 24:03 when Parsons headed to the sin bin for delaying the game.
However, the home team proved to be effective on the penalty kill to ensure
that the Stars were not successful in their attempts to snatch an eighth goal
on the power play. Piling the pressure onto Edwards’ goal after the Dragons’
return to full strength, Billingham made it 8-0 on 28:14 when Sykes notched
his second of the evening as Hehir and Davies collected assists. Less than four
minutes later, Moss received the puck from Ozols to successfully link up with
Emerson for a second time to help his teammate onto the scoresheet. Nine goals
down, the Dragons found it increasingly difficult to contend with the Stars who
remained in control of the game to take the score line into double figures in
the last two minutes of the period; Ozols burying the puck beyond Edwards after
neat work from Davies and Sykes. Frustrated by this, young defenceman Ross
Kennedy incurred a holding penalty with just twelve seconds left to play before
the break to see Billingham gain a power play which ran over into the opening
moments of the final period.
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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With
damage limitation their aim for the remainder of their encounter with the
Stars, the Dragons found their defence under pressure on the penalty kill and it took only thirteen seconds for Billingham to make their advantage
count as Davies bagged his first goal of the evening after Ozols played the
puck to his alternate captain from stand-in captain Sykes. Shortly afterwards,
Dragons’ defenceman Ryan Jones found himself sidelined for kneeing to hand
Billingham another power play which the Stars were able to make the most of
with just nineteen seconds of their advantage remaining as Ozols snatched his
second of the evening on 46:28 courtesy of Davison and Davies to make it 12-0. Over four minutes later, Sykes completed his hat trick with a superb
unassisted effort to add to his side’s tally as the Dragons continued to
struggle against Billingham’s strong attacking play. With the game in its final stages, alternate captain Davies became the fifth Star
to grab a second goal in this contest following creative play from Sykes and
young defenceman James Hellens on 56:23. Continuing to pose a threat to the
Dragons with the points all but theirs, Billingham then added a fifteenth goal
to their collection just eight
seconds from the final buzzer as Sykes struck the net for a fourth time in the
game; Hehir assisting his line mate once again.
Looking
back on his team’s consecutive victories, Billingham’s stand-in captain Chris
Sykes shared: “It was a four-point weekend for the Stars. We’ve waited a long
time to say that! It’s been tough for us all season but it feels good to get
that, especially with one of the wins against our old NIHL rivals, the Sharks.
What a weekend it was for everyone! It feels good in the Stars’ camp right now
and onto the weekend we go!”
Sharks
sink teeth into Hawks as Solway hit six past Blackburn
Blackburn
Hawks 3
Solway Sharks 6
Completing their road
trip with a journey to Lancashire, the Solway Sharks’ line-up that faced
Billingham Stars on Saturday evening was joined by young defenceman Ben
Coughtrie, whilst Blackburn Hawks took the ice with fifteen skaters, including
top points scorers Rick Bentham, Jozef Ištocy and Aaron Davies.
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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Taking advantage of
playing in front of a home crowd, Steven Duncombe’s Hawks set out to present
Solway with a challenge and succeeded, working hard with possession to
capitalise in front of goal on 2:33 as Ištocy surpassed Sharks’
netminder Kyle Johnston after passing play between player-coach Duncombe and
defenceman Lewis Baldwin. Working hard to combat their difficult start to the game, Solway were rewarded for their perseverance when Hawks’ forward
Bentham headed to the sin bin for slashing on 11:00. Aiming to draw level with
the additional man, the Sharks found the net with just thirty seconds of their
advantage remaining as ‘D’ man Kyle Horne incorporated forward Scott Henderson
into play following a pass from two-way player Jordan Buesa to tie the score
line at 1-1. Just thirty five seconds later, Horne was sidelined by referee
Chris Wells for crosschecking to allow the home team a power play of their own
but the Hawks failed in their efforts to take the lead for a second time as the
Sharks laboured on the penalty kill to ensure their previous hard work was not
undone, with shot stopper Johnston remaining sturdy between the pipes in the
process. Returning to full strength to try to achieve the lead in this
encounter before the interval, Solway again found themselves faced with
Duncombe’s tough team which fought for the puck to try their luck at the other
end of the ice. With neither team capable of edging ahead before the first
interval, the period was brought to an end with thirty six seconds left to play
as Baldwin took a puck to the face following Marek Charvát’s clearance against
the plexi-glass, the sides filing from the ice with a goal apiece.
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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Recognising their need
to make an impact in the early stages of the second period, Solway Sharks got
off to a great start in the middle stanza as forward Iain Bowie sent his team
into the lead courtesy of Buesa and forward Joe Coulter. Just over three minutes
later, Horne was made to warm a seat in the sin bin as he earned himself 2+2
for hooking and misconduct. With over a minute of this penalty left to play,
two-way defenceman Josh Grieveson clashed with Finnish import and former Shark
Kim Miettinen to see the duo sidelined for roughing on 29:25. With this
disruption affecting the Hawks’ ability to beat Johnston though the side were
still on the power play due to Horne’s punishment, Blackburn were pleased to be
handed an additional opportunity to equalise after both teams had returned
to full strength as Sharks’ young forward Daniel Abercrombie received 2+10 for
a purported check to the head against Baldwin moments later. However, the
Hawks’ power play did not last long as over a minute later, Davies also received 2+10 for a check to the head in an unrelated incident against Czech defenceman Charvát on
33:33. Remaining composed in the aftermath of these incidents, the Sharks were
able to ignite their offensive play once more, Coulter again teaming up with
Buesa to allow Bowie to bag his second goal of the evening with 36:52 on the
clock. Having worked hard to achieve this two-goal cushion, Martin Grubb’s men
sought to further increase the margin between themselves and the Hawks and it took less than two minutes for captain Struan Tonnar to drive the puck
beyond netminder Ashton to make it 4-1 following a neat pass form Horne. Twenty
nine seconds after this goal, Hawks’ alternate captain Luke Boothroyd earned
himself a minor roughing penalty to award Solway a power play which ran into
the third period by forty one seconds due to the visitors’ inability to
capitalise with the additional skater prior to the break.
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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Resuming play on the
penalty kill, the Hawks achieved possession and made it count following faceoff
as Bentham linked up with fellow forward Matt Viney who scored just twelve
seconds into this stanza. The score line 4-2, Blackburn felt that they could
claw their way back into the game and did so as Bentham’s unassisted effort
flew beyond Johnston on 42:19 to reduce his team’s deficit to just one goal.
With these two quick-fire goals causing concern for Grubb and his men, the Head
Coach called a timeout to reinforce his side’s game plan which was soon put
into practice as alternate captain Ross Murray accomplished his thirteenth
league goal of the season on 46:31 when forward Duncan Speirs and left winger
Steven Moore battled with the Hawks’ defence to provide their teammate with the
best chance of getting on the scoresheet. Trailing by 5-3 at this stage in the
game, the Hawks switched netminder Ashton for shot stopper Trapans to allow their
backup some ice time but, their frustrations beginning to show, both Viney and
Bentham were made to sit out forty eight seconds later; the former receiving a
ten-minute misconduct penalty and the latter picking up a minor for roughing to
see the Sharks gain a power play. Over a minute into their penalty kill, the
Hawks opted for a timeout in an attempt to regain some control of play but
Blackburn could not break down Solway’s tough defence, even after their return to full strength. With neither side able to score as the period
progressed, Blackburn decided to throw everything into the dying moments of the
game, pulling netminder Trapans for the additional skater but this
tactic only provided the Sharks with an opportunity to extend their lead as
Bowie claimed possession to help Buesa slot home an empty net goal on 58:41;
Horne also notching an assist. Unable to recover from this goal with time fast
running out, Blackburn were forced to accept their defeat to Solway as the
Sharks celebrated their 6-3 victory on the final buzzer.
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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Adding to his earlier
comments, Sharks’ Head Coach Martin Grubb observed: “Blackburn made it clear
last week they fancied us in the playoffs and it made things easier for the
players to get up for the game. I don’t think we were anywhere near our best,
especially at the start of the third again but we found a way to win and we
haven’t been doing that lately. We need to continue to look for consistency but
it was nice to get the win tonight.”
Warriors
torn apart by Telford as Tigers triumph over Whitley
Telford
Tigers 8
Whitley Warriors 0
Making the lengthy trip
to Shropshire with sixteen skaters and netminders Richie Lawson and Mark
Turnbull, David Longstaff’s Whitley Warriors found themselves without defencemen Dan Pye and Sam Zajac, and forwards
Ryan Sample, Callum Watson and Martin Crammond as they headed out onto the ice to faceoff against Tom Watkins’ Telford
Tigers who lined up with fifteen skaters, including new signings Slovakian
import Filip Supa and blue liner Nick Oliver.
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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Immediately striving
for the net from faceoff, the Tigers hit the Warriors hard, scoring with just twenty
six seconds of the period played as captain Jason Silverthorn picked out
alternate captain Rick Plant, the forward firing the puck beyond Lawson to make it 1-0.
Shortly afterwards, the Warriors were handed a power play as forward Scott
McKenzie was shown to the sin bin for hooking but Whitley were forced to battle
against the Tigers’ strong penalty kill and struggled to make shot stopper
Denis Bell work at the other end of the ice. Dominating possession and labouring
against the Warriors’ defence after their return to full strength, Telford
continued to search for their second goal and it was only due to the hard work
of Whitley’s blue liners and some sturdy netminding that the score line remained
unchanged until 12:15 when Silverthorn printed his own name on the scoresheet
as Plant returned the favour alongside McKenzie to make it 2-0. Having waited quite
some time for this second goal, it took the Tigers just three minutes more to grab their
third as McKenzie buried an unassisted shot to defy Lawson’s shot stopping.
Unable to prevent Telford’s onslaught to effectively achieve their own creative
play, the Warriors found themselves under pressure ahead of the first interval
but, withstanding the Tigers’ attack in the latter stages of the period, the
visitors were glad to file from the ice only three goals behind the former EPL outfit.
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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Returning to the ice to
resume their domination, the Tigers were disappointed to go shorthanded with
close to two minutes played as defenceman Adam Jones was sidelined for delaying
the game to award the Warriors their second power play. Failing to grab a goal
with the additional skater, Whitley were forced to endure further
attacking play from the home team on the side’s return to full strength and conceded a fourth goal on 26:28 when forward Brodie Jesson claimed his
seventh league goal of the season courtesy of ‘D’ man Stokes and alternate captain Plant.
Switching Lawson for netminder Turnbull between the pipes, the Warriors began
to increase their efforts on Bell’s net after only managing four shots on goal
in the first period. Despite their attempts to pull a goal back, the Warriors
found that the Tigers’ would not be denied a fifth goal as Plant bagged his
second of the evening on 32:55; Stokes and McKenzie with the assists. Undeterred
by this setback, the Warriors continued to fight for a goal of their own whilst
primarily working to hinder Telford’s attacking play. Whilst Whitley were
successful in keeping the Tigers at bay for a little over six minutes, Watkins’
team were able to find a way through in the final minute of the period, first
netting on 39:02 as Plant assisted Silverthorn and then grabbing another just fourteen seconds later as Silverthorn returned the favour for
Plant once more with further support arriving from McKenzie in this instance.
In consequence, the Warriors found their deficit suddenly increased at the
break as they headed in on the wrong end of the 7-0 score line.
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Photo
Credit: IceHockeyMedia - Colin Lawson
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Heading out onto the
ice with the knowledge that the points were all but theirs, Telford opted for a
change of netminder as the side switched Bell for shot stopper Jonah Armstrong
to allow the youngster some ice time. Meanwhile, setting out to prevent their
deficit from growing, the Warriors were disappointed to find themselves
shorthanded on 43:46 when Canadian import Philip Edgar was made to sit out for
hooking. Eleven seconds later, Turnbull found himself picking the puck from his
net for one last time as blue liner Jones bagged a power play goal for his team
with the help of forward Warren Tait and versatile defenceman Daniel Rose to
see the scoreboard altered to 8-0. Returning Lawson to his net in place of
Turnbull, the Warriors worked to avoid further concession for the remainder of
the period and were effective in defence to ensure that they did not concede further before the final buzzer called time on Telford’s victory, the side having
outshot the Warriors by twelve shots to four in this period.
Reflecting on Whitley’s
double header after this game, player-coach David Longstaff told NIHL Northern
Trio: “Sunday was always going to be a difficult game because we were missing five
senior players for the away trip. On
Saturday, we started off quite well but, to be honest, Solihull dominated the
game for fifty minutes and probably deserved to win the game in normal time. We
fortunately got a point from the game which we probably didn’t deserve but we’ll
take it.”
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