WHITLEY BAY, UK – The first leg of the ENL North Play-Off final takes place this weekend with league champions Whitley Warriors aiming to do the double over rivals Nottingham Lions.
Photo by Colin Edwards and Richard Blount
The Warriors edged the league title by only two points over the Lions, in a thrilling finale to the season. The pivotal game was a last gasp 4-3 victory for Whitley against the Lions in March at fortress Hillheads. The Warriors atmospheric old rink gives them a distinct advantage over opponents and they have used this to good effect this season. With only two losses at home in the ENL all season, Whitley will be confident of winning the first leg this weekend before travelling down to the Midlands a week later to try and finish the job.
Due to Blackburn Hawks’ issues with ice time and scheduling, Whitley had a less traumatic play-off group to contend with and should be fresh and raring to go. However, to get to the final they did have to beat a solid Sheffield Spartans side over two legs.
Nottingham’s path to the final was less straightforward. A tough Coventry team were despatched over two legs and the Lions ended up literally scrapping for a win in Telford to qualify. Battered and bruised following some less than friendly tactics from Telford, Nottingham were probably relieved when the meaningless return leg was cancelled due to ice time issues at the National Ice Centre.
The potential winner of the final really is too close to call with three out of the four games between the two sides being settled by one goal. Whitley have won twice, Nottingham the once and the two teams played out a 4-4 tie back in November.
Photo by Colin Edwards
Both sides have goals in them as well as a solid defence. For Nottingham, Joe Wightman has been in excellent form with twenty two goals and sixteen assists in the regular season. Whitley have the leagues top scorer in Adam Reynolds who fired in twenty six goals and twenty one assists. Nottingham boast two excellent goalies in Richard Griffiths and Alan Levers, but Whitley are equally strong in defence with the hard working Dale Howey and experienced Garry Dowd on the blue line.
Former Newcastle Viper Richie Thornton joined Whitley mid-way through the season and has impressed with some solid performances. He fully expected to play the Lions again before the season was out:
“We knew we’d get Nottingham in the play off final. They are a fast, young team who have pushed us hard all year and maybe it is only their inexperience in the end that allowed us to nudge top spot in the league,
Ladies always welcome at Hillheads (Photo by Colin Edwards)
“For some reason there’s a full week between the two legs so both teams will have time to adjust and prepare following the first game. On the flip side, you won’t be able to carry any momentum into the second night as you could if it were back to back games. As long as we are disciplined I think we’ll win”
For those fans wanting to watch the ENL North Play-Off final, the first leg is at Hillheads Ice Rink Whitley Bay on Sunday 18 April, face-off 6.30pm. The second leg will be held at the National Ice Centre Nottingham on Sunday 25th April, face-off 7.30pm.
Quick facts:
– Nottingham’s Nick Whyatt and Tom Parker are comfortably the Lions biggest penalty takers. Parker has an incredible 141 minutes in 19 games and Whyatt has sat 137 minutes in his 24 games. Whitley’s Ryan Sample is no angel either with 125 minutes in 23 games.
– Whitley Bay ice rink has seen some hard men over the years but none harder than in 1993 when Macho Man Randy Savage, Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker amongst others appeared on the WWF(WWE) tour.
– Nottingham’s National Ice Centre is a twin pad facility that opened in 2000. The original Nottingham ice rink was built in 1939 and boasted amongst other things, one of the few table hockey games publicly available in the UK at the time. Many children enjoyed the delights of the USSR V USA encounters in the ice rink foyer.
Whitley Warriors 2009/10
Barnes, Brummitt, Barrett, Crammond, Culley, Davison, Dowd, Dunn, Flavell, D Good, M Good, Harris, Hendry, Howey, Kippin, Leach, Lloyd, Maddock, McAllister, Murdy, Reynolds, Ryder, P Sample, R Sample, Taylor, Thornton, Tindale, Watson, Wilson, Windridge.
Nottingham Lions 2009/10
Bell, Birch, B Bliss, S Bliss, Bowley, Cannon, Colegate, Corfield, Davie, Ferrara, Greaves, Griffiths, Larcombe, Levers, Maynard, McEwan, Mills, Nicholls, Norton, O’Flaherty, Parker, Robinson, Rose, Soar, Stones, Ward, Weldon, Whyatt, Wightman.
Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com
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