Penalty shot misery for the Warriors

WHITLEY Warriors agonisingly lost out on penalty shots to the Hull Pirates on North Tyneside last night, writes CHRIS MACKENZIE.

Warriors had their entire squad of players available for this encounter which enabled Whitley to operate three forward and defensive lines throughout the contest.

Richie Lawson retained his place in goal following his man-of-the- match display in last Sunday’s game with the Solway Sharks.

Warriors almost opened the scoring on 15 minutes when a flowing move involving both Ben Richards and David Longstaff set Shaun Kippin in on the Pirates goal. However the officials on duty ruled that the Warriors’ number 11 had strayed offside.

Whitley went close again at the start of the second period when Jordan Barnes was thwarted by Ashley Smith in the Hull goal.

Pirates quickly worked their way up the ice and Bobby Chamberlain grabbed the game’s opening goal for the visitors from close range.

Whitley were not behind for long, though, as a speculative effort from big blue-liner Dan Pye found the back of the net with 23 minutes on the clock.

Hull were looking dangerous offensively though and Matty Davies put the visitors back in the lead when some superb stick handling allowed him the room to fire the puck home.

Pirates continued to create opportunities and Warriors netminder Richie Lawson made several superb stops from the likes of Sam Towner and Bobby Chamberlain to ensure Whitley were still firmly in the game.

Warriors defensive man Martin Crammond tied the game up on 35 minutes, after he picked the puck up from David Longstaff and skated into the Pirates zone before firing home his first goal of the 2017/18 season.

The final period of play saw both sides score, with Callum Watson netting for Warriors and Jonathan Kirk replying in the dying seconds for the visitors.

With scores being tied, the game went into overtime and then penalty shots.

Hull came out on top thanks to successful attempts from Bobby Chamberlain and Matty Davies.