The Whitley Warriors turned what was a tricky weekend into another four point haul. Both the Sutton Sting and Billingham Stars made life difficult for the Tyneside outfit but were unable to stop a free-scoring offence, with David Longstaff and Dean Holland bagging 3 goals each over the course of the two games. Richie Lawson was also in fine form putting in a man-of-the-match performance against the Sting before following that up with a world class save against the Stars the following night.
In what was yet another typical derby against the Stars, both teams played their part in a fiery encounter, with tempers boiling over on more than one occasion. One of the main talking points was when Swedish import Dennis Bostrum collided with Jamie Tinsley, the pair getting tangled down by the boards. Several Whitley players were unhappy about the incident, but not for the first or last time during the game, a ‘non-call’ from referee Michael Evans left one of the sides fuming. The calls he ‘did’ make were just as bizarre with a slashing call on Michael Elder at 14:32 looking slightly weak when the blade of his stick tapped that of a Whitley player’s.
Whitley were much the better team, however and most of the play had been in Billingham’s defensive zone, but for all the Warriors possession and attack, could not find their way past a resolute Billingham side, who battled hard all game and defended well. Of course even after Whitley did get past the Stars D-men James Flavell was waiting for them between the pipes to make an endless amount of saves.
Whitley had thought they had taken the lead with around three minutes remaining in the opening period, but the goal was rightfully waved off with three Warriors players in the crease. Not to be denied though, Whitley hit straight back and with 1:37 remaining finally got the goal, their overall play had deserved. Josh Maddock fired in from the point, and after Flavell had pushed that first shot away, the puck fell nicely for Dean Holland who found himself unmarked in front of goal. The Whitley power forward had time to pick his spot and went top shelf over Flavell’s left shoulder, before celebrating enthusiastically. Clearly big Derby goals like that meant a lot to the Whitley player, and it was great to see. After the goal Chris Sykes cross-checked Andre Payette, with both receiving penalties after the latest disagreement between the two sides.
The second period was much more scrappy than the opening twenty minutes, but again Whitley probably just about edged it. Billingham were struggling to create much offense with them pinned back in their own zone but a high sticks call on Dean Holland [again it was the wrong call as it was more of a hook] seemed to galvanise them. The respite from having to defend suddenly gave the Stars fresh life and even after the powerplay had expired, seem to look much more dangerous going forward. Their best chance fell to Michael Elder, who was tucked up by the boards on the Left Wing, when he received the puck, having broken away fast he headed towards goal but snatched at his shot and it went wide of Lawson’s net. Billingham were convinced they had solved Lawson with their next attack, going top shelf, but the Whitley Goalie somehow managed to get across his goal line and twist in mid-air to snatch the puck before it went under the bar. A save that, had it been made by Carey Price, would have been showed around the world. Lawson even drew applause from the visiting Billingham supporters, who normally give him such a hard time. Billingham probably should have tied the game at that point, but soon the momentum swung back the Warriors way.
With seconds remaining in the Second Period David Longstaff was able to fend off a number of Stars players before circling behind the net, and tapping home a wraparound which gifted his side a 2-0 lead.
Billingham were up against it and really needed to hit back early in the final period if they were to salvage their stuttering playoff push. With 5:20 gone the Stars had a face-off in the Whitley defensive zone. As soon as the puck dropped, it came to Dennis Bostrum who unleashed a very powerful wrist shot, which gave Lawson no chance of stopping.
It was now game on, but the Billingham fans were getting increasingly frustrated by the decisions from the on-ice officials and felt their task was being made that much harder. Referee Evans was certainly having a bearing on proceedings, moments before the face-off which led to the Stars goal, he appeared to interfere with a Billingham player, pushing him out of the way from the puck. Billingham in-turn broke down the other end of the ice and on the face-off which lead to their goal. Evans who was being berated for not calling penalties in the Stars favour had now ironically help set up the visitors goal.
Whitley were now pushing to try and find that killer third goal, and restore their two-gaol advantage, but the Stars continued to battle, and showed great character to still be within a chance of taking something from the game. However there was still time for Evans to upset the travelling support once more and prevent any chance of the Stars from tying the game.
Whitley were defending in their zone and blasted the puck the length of the rink, with most expecting an icing call to be made. Certainly the Stars bench felt that way, as goaltender James Flavell skated off to allow the extra attacker on, as his side pushed for the leveller. Just as he made it to his bench the icing was waved off and Callum Queenan was able to wrestle the puck off two Stars defenders in the neutral zone before the puck made its way through for Dean Holland to compose himself and shoot past the lone defenseman on the line.
There may have been over a minute left to play in the game, but the Stars had realised it was not to be their night. Whitley deserved their win, even if one or two lucky bounces did go their way. There has been plenty of occasions when the boot or indeed the skate has been on the other foot. Billingham probably did have a right to feel aggrieved though, having battled so hard throughout the game but every fan I spoke to afterwards was in agreement that officials aside, the better side had won.
Team News
The top line of Jamie Tinsley with David Longstaff and Callum Queenan remained the same from the previous night, however the return of Jordan Barnes saw the other lines mixed up a little bit. Callum Watson moved up alongside Shaun Kippin and Dean Holland while Barnes took Watson’s spot on the third line with DJ ‘Stuck in the mud’ Good and Martin Crammond. Adam Reynolds was moved from Skippy’s line to Center the fourth line with Kyle Ross and Ben Richards, who had sat out the game at Sutton. Alan Yarrow was again on the bench
Dan Pye was reunited with Josh Maddock, while Harry Harley was surprisingly moved from his successful partnership with Joe Stamp to line up alongside Craig Johnson. Stamp, who posted an incredible amount of ice time the previous night shared his spot with Scott Cooper alongside Andre Payette. Cooper, who had lined up on a forward line the previous night, reverted back to his more usual spot on the blue line, while Liam Smedley and Phil Pritchard were rested.
Richie Lawson, was in ‘World Class form’ against the stars and once again started ahead of Mark Turnbull.
25 Longstaff – 27 Tinsley – 15 Queenan
14 Holland – 11 Kippin – 6 Watson
18 Crammond – 9 DJ Good – 17 Barnes
13 Ross – 44 Reynolds – 64 Richards
22 Yarrow
38 Pye – 19 Maddock
24 Harley – 4 Johnson
7 Payette – 3 Stamp/21 Cooper
35 Lawson – 84 Turnbull
Opposition View
Billingham stuck with the same line up as the one they took to Sheffield to take on the Spartans, minus Ritchie Thornton, who didn’t make the short trip up the A19. That meant Luke Brown started the game centering the top line with James Moss and Swedish import Dennis Bostrum. The Second line saw Callum Davies flanked by Chris Sykes and Michael Elder, while Player-coach Michael Bowman, spent much of the game with Jack Emerson and Josh Nertney but did switch lines with Brown throughout.
With no Thornton, that left the Stars short on D and meant they only had five players available to them. Jamie Pattison, fresh form an absence through injury played most of the game with Andy Munroe. Matthew Campbell, Ben Davison and Andy Finn were the other blue-liners. James Flavell lined up in goal with Mark Watson named as his back up.
5 Moss – 19 Brown – 71 Bostrum
15 Sykes – 36 Davies – 32 Elder
23 Emerson – 16 Bowman – 4 Nertney
22 Pattsion – 8 Munroe
42 Campbell/11 Finn/ 18 Davison
13 Flavell – 21 Watson
Quotes
'There's always an element of a personal battle between you and the netminder across the other end of the ice, whether us goalies like to admit it or not. Anyone who knows me, knows how crazy competitive I am! You never want to concede first, and when the score is deadlocked you dig deep for your team mates. Both Flav and Dmitri are good solid netminders, so yeah it always feels good to come out with your team on top.'
'As for "that save" to retain our 1 goal advantage, there's no greater feeling for me personally than bailing a team mate out when we all inevitably make mistakes. We lost possession in a high scoring area, and in all honesty I was a bit over aggressive on the initial puck carrier and he made a great cross crease pass to an unmarked man back door. Usually you'd like to read the situation and play the percentages. Playing a bit deeper inside the blue paint enables you to get across quicker. As I played over aggressively and read the pass slightly late, I had to make a strong push and extend as far as possible to take away the lower part of the ice, and just keep my glove in a reactionary position where I read the release well and tracked the puck into my equipment.'
'People often look at SV% as the golden analytical tool to measure a goaltenders success. It can be very useful, but the position is so much more than that. If you look at all the great goaltenders they always seem to make those timely saves, never allowing a goal at a critical time like the opening and closing 2 minutes of a period as those are back breakers for momentum. Making the timely saves instills confidence throughout your team.'
'Lobby has known how and when I play well from seeing me play from a very young age, under his guidance I've been striving to be much more composed and relaxed, which puts me in the best possible mindset to make those timely saves.'
News
* Once again I was fortunate enough to commentate alongside Billingham fan Anthony-James Lowe for NIHL Radio. It was an interesting experience to say the least, stood in amongst the visiting Stars fans. On the other Channel Howard Thornton was on hand to give listeners coverage of the Hawks home game with the Sheffield Spartans which they comfortably won 13-2.
* Stars TV were also on hand recording the game and using parts of the Radio commentary for their highlights package. Sadly not all the fans in Whitley’s ice rink were as receptive to them being there, with one stubborn person in particular threatening violence to both them and their equipment. As you will all agree, that is very sad to hear and should not reflect the views of the other Warriors fans.
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