The Whitley Warriors got their season off to the best possible start when they downed one of the pre-season favourites the Solway Sharks. Quick fire goals at the start of each period and a five point haul from player-coach David Longstaff proved the difference in what was a close-matched affair.
It would be the third line centered by Martin Crammond that opened the scoring 1:43 into the game though. Crammond picked out Left Wing Ben Richards, and the Longstaff-era was officially underway.
The coach singled out DJ Good's line for some special praise after the game, and it was the center's pass that found the speedy Callum Watson, whose one-timer slap shot only just flew over the pipes. Had Watson converted, the net would have came off.
Visiting goalie Keiran Hobbins was subjected to taunts of 'dodgy keeper' by the Whitley faithful but he pulled off a great double save on the 10 minute mark when Watson fired another hard shot which he parried and then somehow stopped Shaun Kippin's follow up.
Whitley seemed well in control at this stage, but the officials called the first of just three penalties (all of them dubious) in the entire game. The penalty kill looked like being our downfall, with Ross Murray levelling the scores after being set up by Slovakian import Martin Cingel. David Longstaff gave Whitley the lead again but a second Sharks powerplay soon saw the visitors level once more, through Cingel. The Slovakian would grab a second goal in just 45 seconds, as Whitley looked like they were still coming to terms with the loss of their lead.
Struan Tonnar, tried his best to provoke a reaction out of the Whitley players all game. His first offence came after he slid into Warriors goalie Richie Lawson, which earned him a strong talking to, by Andre Payette. Tonnar wouldn't escape the period unscathed though as Payette floored him with a great mid-ice hit.
Goals at the start and end of the middle period seemed to turn the game back in Whitley's favour. Another fast start, saw Callum Queenan net after just 65 seconds, after being set up by Payette and Longstaff.
The hard working second line saw Kippin find Watson with another great pass, and not for the first time the latter unleashed a rocket of a shot which the Sharks goalie did well to pluck out of the air.
If Whitley were to win this game it was clear they needed to stop the Sharks danger man Cingel. He would end the night with a hand in all four of his teams goals [2+2]. Andre Payette did a great job in trying to put his fellow import off his game, and was wanting to drop the gloves but Cingel bottled it and simply skated back to his bench. He probably felt vindicated as not long after, he set up Duncan Speirs to edge the Sharks in front once again as they caught Whitley on the break.
The Sharks lead would only last for six minutes though, as Whitley's own star player Longstaff, rolled back the years with a great piece of skill before passing to Jamie Tinsley and putting him through on goal. Tinsley's first shot was saved but the Whitley captain was on hand to collect his own rebound and fire home to level the scores. With just 31 seconds of the period remaining Callum Watson finished DJ Good's fine pass to give Whitley a 5-4 lead heading into the second intermission.
Yet another quick start to the period, saw Longstaff increase Whitley's lead, and from then on it was a very mature and controlled performance by the home side. Tinsley took a bad hit from Stuart Andrews, but thankfully he was good to continue. Longstaff delivered a massive, but clean, mid-ice hit on Joe Coulter, which drew loud applause from the fans.
It was left to Tonnar to play the role of pantomime villain though. With just under seven minutes remaining, he dished out a dirty knee-on-knee hit to Josh Maddock which went unpunished by the officials. Michael Corbett also delivered a dirty hit on Shaun Kippin with 3:01 remaining. Once again the officials thought it was fine to do nothing about it, despite penalising Whitley for next-to-nothing offences earlier in the game.
With 23.6 seconds remaining, and down by two goals, Solway called a time out and pulled their goalie. It didn't work, in fact it was left to the Whitley Coach to close out the game with an empty net goal at 19:55, to bag his hat-trick and move onto 399 points in a Warriors jersey.
Team Line Up
Whitley were without top-line center Dean Holland, following the dirty action by Kirkcaldy Kestrels a fortnight ago. In his absence, Jamie Tinsley was moved up to center David Longstaff and youngster Callum Queenan.
DJ Good returned after missing the Kestrels game and slotted in perfectly with his friend Skippy and pacey winger Callum Watson. Both Good and Kippin supplied some great passes to Watson, exploiting his pace to perfection, while Skippy also impressed with some great defensive play in his own zone, as he helped close out the game.
The third line saw Martin Crammond with Ben Richards and Kyle Ross. Andre Payette moved back to help out on the blue-line after Jordan Barnes took a knock in the warm-up and had to go for a hospital scan.
Scratches - Joe Stamp, Alex Lawson, Dean Holland, Jordan Barnes, Jordan Boyle, Dan Pye.
25 Longstaff - 27 Tinsley - 15 Queenan
11 Kippin - 9 DJ Good - 6 Watson
64 Richards - 18 Crammond - 13 Ross
19 Maddock - 7 Payette
71 Tomlinson - 4 Johnson/24 Harley
21 Cooper - 8 Smedley
35 Lawson - 84 Turnbull
Opposition View
Solway arrived with a short bench, the experienced Allan Crane was a noticeable absentee, and it meant they only iced four defensemen. Import Juraj Senko partnered Aidan Fulton while Stuart Andrews was paired with Craig Mitchell. The forward lines saw Stevie Moore sporting a very impressive mullet, one which wouldn't have looked out of place at a Guns 'n' Roses concert. In fact Moore was double-shifting and centered the top line [Joe Coulter & Ross Murray] and the third line [Struan Tonner & Michael Corbett]. Maybe it works that Moore gets a line and his hair gets the other? just a thought. Iain Bowie centered the second line with Duncan Speirs and import Martin Cingel. Keiran Hobbins was the starting goalie with Kyle Johnston on the bench.
Stats
* In David Longstaff's first stint as a Warrior 1989-1996 his stats were paused at 248 games played, 183 goals, 211 assists, 545 PIMs and 394 points. With his 5 point haul against the Sharks that moves him onto 399 points. It's a safe bet to say his next game will see him hit the magical 400 mark!
* I can't quite work out how some people vote for the Man of the Match. Tonner was deemed Solway's best player when it was clear for anybody to see Cingel was the Shark's star performer with his four points.
* Dean Holland gave same promising news that he might be back on the ice slightly earlier than first thought. He confirmed he will be out until Christmas but hopefully we will see him back in the Maroon and Gold in early January rather than late February/March as first feared.
Quotes
David Longstaff: 'It was a bit funny being in a Whitley shirt after all those years away, but it's great to be back home. Callum Queenan is very quick, I struggled to keep up with him at times, that will have to change. I didn't realise my Whitley stats until just now. 500 odd PIMs makes me sound like I was a dirty player when I was a youngster' he joked.
When asked about the incident surrounding the events of the Kirkcaldy game, it was clear the Whitley coach is still upset:
'I don't normally react like that [the fight with Jay Duncan] but I was really angry with what happened. We have lost a really important player [Dean Holland] for some time. It's going to make this season more difficult without having him out there on the ice.'
On DJ Good's performance:
'I know DJ is a bit disappointed with his own performance tonight, but I thought his line was the best one out there. He linked up well with Skippy and Callum and he is only going to get stronger as the season progresses.'
On missing players:
'We were without five players tonight, yet we still managed to get a great win. When we get everyone back and we can start to roll out four lines we are only going to get stronger.'
When asked about his Gretzky-like plays in the Kirkcaldy game, he suppressed a laugh before promising: 'there's more of that to come.'
Shaun Kippin:
Took some great positives from the game against his former side:
'We have just beaten the best team in the league tonight. Solway are always strong competitors and they will be the team to beat again this season. It makes this result tonight all the more important.'
DJ Good:
Spoke of his personal performance and his linemates:
'I'm a bit disappointed with my own performance. It's always tough first game back, and I'm exhausted. Having played with Shaun a lot in the past, we know each other's game well. Callum is easy to play with, he makes it so easy, you just have to find him with the puck. Even if you pass it short just behind him, he is good enough to adjust, and with his speed no one can get near him'
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Solihull Barons v Telford Tigers 1-4
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