WHITLEY BAY, UK – English National League North League and Play-Off double winners Whitley Warriors are confident of repeating their success again this season.
When Whitley Warriors clinched the league title last season with a routine victory over Kingston Hawks, indoor fireworks lit up a delighted Hillheads rink, giving owner Francis Smith his most nervous moment since celebrity chef Ken Hom filmed his “Hot Wok” TV programme on centre ice in the mid nineties.
Hillheads survived the potential fire risk and the Warriors then went on to clinch the Play-Offs with a fantastic two legged win over Nottingham Lions. One virtual ever present in the team was goalie James Flavell, and he believes it was their resilience that proved to be the winning ingredient:
“Having plenty of experience and character in the team certainly helped us get points in games where we were struggling” explained Flavell. “On the flip side, the nights when we were playing well there weren’t many teams who could live with us”
Unfortunately, the summer has seen a number of the team departing with both Captain Bryan Dunn and long serving forward Andrew Tindale choosing to take time out of the game, plus youngster Nathan Taylor heading to Wightlink Raiders in English National League South. It hasn’t all been bad news for Warriors fans though, as defenseman Richie Thornton signed up full time following his mid-season transfer from Newcastle Vipers last time out. Add this to the return of last season’s top scorer Adam Reynolds, who was appointed team captain by Coach Simon Leach, plus the return of defenseman Kevin Bucas after time away from the game, and suddenly things don’t look so bad. Flavell maintains that despite the comings and goings at the club, the Warriors will be aiming to repeat last season’s achievements, and pre season training is going well:
Photo by Richard Blount
“Pre season has been going good for the team with everyone looking forward to get back playing again” he smiles. “I think we will be disappointed if we don’t take the league again this year but obviously there are probably four or five other teams with the same mindset. I’m expecting it to be just as tight once again which makes for a good season”
Optimism proved to be well placed last weekend as the Warriors won the inaugural Northern League “Face-Off” tournament at the Metro FM Arena. The newly formed league consists of a mixture of ENL North teams and Scottish sides, with big names such as Fife Flyers, Blackburn Hawks and Solway Sharks all committed to the competition, along with Newcastle based Northern Stars, Bradford Bulldogs, Flintshire Freeze and Sheffield Spartans. The weekend involved these teams playing a series of games against each other over two days to launch the newly formed league, and it was the Warriors who triumphed with a close 2-1 win over the Sharks in the final.
Flavell believes that the Warriors participation in the Northern league alongside their ENL North commitments is a plus for his team, and the sport in the North of the United Kingdom:
“Yeah it’s good to see teams coming together up here and trying to move hockey forward” said Flavell. “It can be quite isolating with just the ENL North for clubs that have plenty of ambition. For the Warriors you have plenty of players that want to push themselves in games and could probably play at a higher level,
“Last year the Northern League gave us a good challenge playing against teams like Fife and Solway who play some great hockey. It’s especially good to see the Northern Stars come into the league this year with plenty of drive and professionalism. On a personal note, I’m looking forward to playing against some former Billingham team mates who are now playing there”
Photo by Colin Edwards
Flavell came up through the ranks at Billingham before heading off to the USA to play midget AAA in Michigan. A regular with the senior side on Teeside at just 16, Flavell enjoyed a league and play-off winning campaign with the Bombers, but now aged twenty two; he enters his second season as a Warrior looking to add even more silverware to his haul of 2009/10. As for the long term, Flavell is under no illusions as to how hard it will be to advance his hockey career:
“I think it’s hard for goalies to move up leagues without putting in some serious bench warming first” said the stopper. “I’m always interested in how many games I’m going to be playing so it’s tough to justify stepping up when I’ve been approached,
“I feel very capable of doing a job at a higher level without losing respect for the level I play at now. I think the ENL North is a very competitive league with the lack of EPL teams around; one of the reasons I think Whitley have always put out a really good side. It would definitely be interesting to see how we would perform against higher level opposition”
Hopes of a restructure of hockey at this level may be mere pipedreams at present, but hockey fans and players in this part of the world hope that their isolation from the EPL or similar level hockey will not be forever and that the newly formed Northern league is a stepping stone to better things.
Contact the author: david.carr@prohockeynews.com
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