Right now the Blackburn Hawks are the side to beat in the NIHL North, with the Whitley Warriors looking to take up the challenge to them. It never used to be that way however, as back in 2001, it was the Warriors who were the dominant force, and the Hawks who were playing the role of spoilers.
Whitley went the whole of the 2001-02 season losing just two games, once at Altrincham in the league and the other coming in an English Cup game at Blackburn Arena.
Whitley had gone unbeaten during their first 11 games of the season, coming into Blackburn. The Hawks were always tough opponents, and proved to be even in such a dominant season as this.
The game started well for the visitors, with Raymond Haslam scoring an unassisted powerplay goal in the 8th minute, but that would prove to be Whitley's only opportunity with the man-advantage in the opening period, whilst they took 10 penalty minutes of their own. Twice the penalty calls left the Warriors with a 5-on-3 to defend, but on both occasions managed to hold out. 19 seconds into the second period, Wayne Whitby levelled the scores after being assisted by player-coach Bobby Haig.
Wes Barnett gave the Hawks the lead at 34:30 and Craig Sharman netted the insurance marker at 44:22 with another assist from Haig.
Despite Whitley trying all they could to salvage the game, a succession of penalties ensured they couldn't get back into it.
Wes Barnett went for roughing at 54:03, but managed to take both Paul Graham and Lee Baxter to the penalty box with him.
No sooner were Whitley back to full strength than Rob Wilson went for four minutes, with the officials calling curious penalties against the Warriors.
Within 2 minutes of Barnett returning to the ice, he was ejected from the game after further roughing. This time he took goalie Stephen Wall with him, and Kevin Bucas took a 10 minute misconduct penalty for smacking Barnett.
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