Warriors¹ at Lightning Tournament 2026
On the weekend of 27–28th June 2026, our Warriors¹ team took part in the annual Leeds Lightning Invitational Tournament for the first time.
Tournament format
The tournament consisted of 10 teams, split into two groups.
Teams will play each other within their own group, before proceeding to a knock-out stage.
The top 3 teams in each group will automatically move into the quarter final stage.
The bottom two teams in each group will enter a play-off round.
During the knock-out stages, teams will be paired with teams from the opposite group to that which they played their group games.
Group games, play-offs and quarter finals will be 28 minutes rolling clock.
Semi-finals and final will be 2 x 20 minutes rolling clock.
Teams will then be paired in quarter finals as follows:
- Winner Group 1 v Winner Playoff 2
- Winner Group 2 v Winner Playoff 1
- 2nd Place Group 1 v 3rd place Group 2
- 2nd Place Group 2 v 3rd Place Group 1
- Quarter final winners will move into the semi-finals and winners will then progress to the final.
The Groups
Group A:
Leeds Lightning, Kingston Cobras, Grimsby Trawlers, Black Bears, Cleveland Comets.
Group B:
Leeds Warriors, Grimsby Stormers, Connah Quay Cobras, Don Valley Vikings, Nottingham Knights.
Team news
The Warriors entered this tournament without a full squad as there were significant issues with injuries and player availability, meaning that several familiar faces were unable to take part.
As a result, the team would be without some key contributors - notably, netminder Lewis Pickering was ruled out after picking up a late injury. But fortunately Joe Quinn was available to play between the pipes on day 1, with Ben Briggs taking on the netminder duties on day 2.
With regards to skaters, the Warriors were without Chris Giles, Sam Cromack, Tom Mallon, Adam Gibbons, Andrew Hughes, Callum Greenhalgh, Adam Tomlinson, Matthew Gatenby, Chris Norman and Dzintars Jonuss.
The Warriors were initially short on D, but, once again, Simon Morrow dropped into defence, just like he did at the Cobras Tournament - and we were also blessed with the availability of the Cadman brothers. Sam has played many times for Warriors 1 but Luke was stepping up a level from his usual ranking as top defenceman for Warriors 2.
Also, Matt Jubb, a Warriors 2 forward who has recently been training with Warriors 1, also made the tournament roster.
Roster:
Joe Quinn (NM)
Ben Briggs (NM)
Defence:
Luke Cadman
Sam Cadman
Jake Warner
Ellen Gallimore
Simon Morrow
Forwards:
Andy Giles (A)
Dylan Noonan
Mitch White
Tyler Heming
Niks Kamaldins
Jordan Batty
Harvey Galloway
Chris Scampton
Matt Jubb
The Warriors changing room
The Ladies = multiple cubicles, plenty of hand dryers, basins and mirrors. Possibly the best changing room in the building.
DAY 1 - Game 1
v Grimsby Stormers @ 1pm
Summary
The game started evenly with both teams attacking with purpose. No clear-cut chances were created for either team in the opening 5 minutes of the game - and it became clear this could a close contest.
With 6 minutes having elapsed, the first line forwards attacked the Stormers goal and after the play broke down, the Stormers D lost control of the puck as he skated through the middle of his own zone - this presented the puck to Andy Giles, who turned his back on the D to protect the puck, whilst swivelling around and passing to Mitch White who had the freedom to approach the goal and pick his spot (07:29 on the video). 1-0 Warriors!
With the Stormers serving a penalty around the 10 minute mark, the Warriors first line smelt blood. The trio of Giles, White and Noonan were able to sustain pressure in the Stormers zone, creating multiple chances.
When the Stormers made a hash of the zone clearance, Dylan Noonan picked up the pick and was able to sauce a back-handed pass to Mitch White who was positioned just in front of the goal. With his back to goal, White was able to back-hand the puck into the net to make it 2-0 Warriors. (10:24 on the video).
There followed a long stalemate between the two teams, as whilst the Stormers probed, they were snuffed out by the Warriors D.
The next goal was crucial - a 3rd goal for the Warriors would surely wrap things up, but a Stormers goal would really put the pressure on.
Almost 14 minutes after the previous goal and with only around 5 minutes remaining, the Warriors picked up that elusive third goal.
With Tyler Heming only just having jumped on the ice for his next shift, the puck was angled off the boards and down the ice by Simon Morrow whereby Heming gave chase and found himself picking up the puck behind the Stormers D - he was through on a breakaway. Under pressure from the looming D behind him, he managed a deke on the goalie who made a pad save, but the puck spilt in front of the net - where line-mate Chris Scampton was on hand to slot the puck home. 3-0 Warriors. (24:03 on the video).
With only a few minutes of the game remaining, the Warriors were able to see out the game for a 3-0 victory.
FINAL SCORE
Stormers 0-3 Warriors
Points:
Mitch White 2+0
Chris Scampton 1+0
Andy Giles 0+1
Dylan Noonan 0+1
Tyler Heming 0+1
Simon Morrow 0+1
DAY 1 - Game 2
v Don Valley Vikings @ 4:24pm
Summary
The Warriors faced a stern test in their second game of the tournament as they took on the ever-impressive Don Valley Vikings.
The Warriors took on the Vikings at the Kingston Cobras Tournament earlier in the month and were defeated - and they didn’t have Smith and Schofield in their team on that occasion. But this time they did!
As usual, they boasted a strong roster and were expected to be one of the toughest opponents in the competition. The Warriors have come close-ish to beating Vikings on a few occasions over the years but have never quite managed it. However, every meeting brings a fresh opportunity to rewrite history.
On the first shift our top line looked dominant and took the game to the Vikings but despite good possession in their zone, they couldn’t convert.
Unfortunately, the Warriors took a hooking penalty after 5 mins. But thankfully, they were able to kill this off even with Smith and Schofield on the ice for Vikings.
But, with approximately 11 minutes elapsed, the Warriors forwards had over-committed in the Vikings offensive zone, so when possession was lost on the boards the Vikings had the whole neutral zone to pass into and skate through. Vikings’ Smith received the pass out of his own zone and travelled over the Warriors blue line and released a hard shot that netminder Quinn saved but in came Vikings’ forward, #27 Larcombe to slot home the rebound (see the video from 12:53).
With 15 minutes having now elapsed, the Warriors had a player positioned behind the Vikings goal line looking for the slot pass - as the Vikings forwards back-checked one of them took a Warriors player out - resulting in a minor penalty.
The Warriors now had a power-play and a face-off in the Vikings zone. After the Warriors won the face-off and got a quick shot off, the Vikings cleared the puck down the ice.
With the Warriors unable to keep the puck inside the blue, there was a foot-race into the Warriors end, with the Vikings player getting there first to wave off the icing call.
Despite there being 5 Warriors players in the zone compared to the Vikings 2, the puck handler still managed to find his team mate in the slot who released a quick snap-shot to make it 2-0. This was a short-handed goal for the Vikings and another easily avoidable goal - all the Warriors players were puck watching rather than cutting out passing lanes or occupying the man in the slot.
This was a major blow to the Warriors chances of getting something from this game and they were now struggling to create clear-cut chances.
The Vikings looked more likely to score another, but, the Warriors never ever gave up battling in this game.
2-0 is not an unsurmountable lead and our first line did have some good moments in the closing stages.
Unfortunately, the Facebook live stream froze at 26:30 on the video below, so we don’t get to see all of this game. But, in the closing stages, the Vikings wrap things up with a 3rd and final goal.
Overall, it was a brave and gutsy display from the Warriors. A couple of positional mishaps contributed to those first two goals - and from then on they were chasing the game against a very good team.
FINAL SCORE
Vikings 3-0 Warriors
DAY 1 - Game 3
v Connah Quay Cobras @ 6:35pm
Summary
Next up were the Connah Quay Cobras of Deeside. This would be the first meeting between the two teams and with the Cobras carrying a reputation for being a very good recreational team, the Warriors knew they would need to perform at a high level to take the W.
Having lost their second game, it was imperative that the team take something from this game if they were to have any ambitions of progressing in the tournament the next day.
Psychologically, it also makes a difference to win the final game of day one and the team wanted to sign off on a victory.
At the start of this one, the Cobras looked fired up and determined to make an early impression. The first 5 minutes saw the Cobras on the ascendency as the Warriors were on the back foot, trying to find their rhythm in the game.
At this point, it looked inevitable that the Cobras would take the lead as they offered more of an offensive threat.
Whilst the Warriors made some sporadic forays into the Cobras zone, for the most part, they just needed to weather the storm.
As the game progressed to the half-way point, the Warriors had finally settled and were starting to look more threatening going forward.
With approximately 15 of the 28 minutes having elapsed, Chris Scampton picked up the loose puck inside his own zone. Powering up the ice, he faced 2 defence-men and took the puck wide. From the acute angle he threw the puck on net and fortunately, the goalie made a mess of handling the puck, with it somehow finding it’s way behind him and over the line to make it 1-0 Warriors (17:08 on the video).
This goal bred confidence in the Warriors ranks and they looked far more likely to grab a second than the Cobras getting an equaliser. And thankfully that’s what happened.
The next goal was a thing of beauty from Dylan Noonan - and if you check out the video from around 19:07 you’ll see how Noonan battled hard in the offensive zone corner, emerging with the puck and sending a precise back-handed pass to White who was positioned to the side of the goal. In the meantime Noonan had looped into the slot ready to take the return pass from White. With White picking out Noonan’s stick, he duly made no mistake with his precise shot. A great example of pass-and-move hockey. 2-0 Warriors with approximately 10 minutes left to play.
Dylan Noonan
Scored the Warriors second to make it 2-0.
The next 5 minutes was end-to-end with both teams trading chances. The Warriors first line had a gilt edged chance to put this game to bed during this 5 minute period and were unlucky not to convert, but this left the door open to a Cobras comeback.
And the Cobras never gave up. Their danger man, #10, was always a major threat and it was no surprise that it was him that got the Cobras back into it. See the video from 24:50 as the Cobras get into the Warriors zone and can smell blood. The Warriors fail to clear the zone and get punished by a great individual effort.
It was now 2-1 to the Warriors with approximately 4.5 minutes remaining. It was now sure to be nerve-wracking stuff. Would the Warriors seek the insurance goal or try to defend this slender lead?
Just 2 minutes later, with Jordan Batty chasing down the dumped puck to avoid the icing, the Cobras D tried to make a cross-ice pass across the zone, but it was intercepted by Warriors’ Heming who now had no obstruction between him and the goal. He took his time and slotted the puck home. Great puck control and composure. 3-1 Warriors with only a few minutes left. That was a huge goal. See the full play on the video from 26:48.
With just over 2 minutes left to play the Cobras D hit a superb stretch pas straight through the neutral zone and onto the stick on the advancing forward who was now through on Warriors netminder Joe Quinn. The forward did a sharp deke but couldn’t wrap the puck into the net and Quinn was able to throw himself on the puck to freeze it. Great goal tending!
Joe Quinn
Pulled off some great saves
But the Cobras never gave up. With very little time remaining a Cobras forward powered through the neutral zone and into the offensive zone, evading challenges and able to release a hard, low shot that initially looked to be saved by Quinn - but it had leaked behind his legs and into the path of another Cobras forward who was able to score easily (see the full play on the video from 29:48).
It was now time for the Warriors to just focus on defending! But soon after the restart they picked up a minor penalty and the Warriors looked panicked that they might be about to throw the win away. Thankfully the clock was on their side as the buzzer sounded before the Cobras could mount a final meaningful attack.
Phew. That was tense. A huge win for the Warriors though and against a very talented team. The Warriors had now won 2 and lost 1 of their 3 games on day one. A good day’s work!
Mitch White
Laid on the assist for Noonan’s goal
Final score:
Warriors 3-2 Cobras (CQ)
Points:
Chris Scampton 1+0
Dylan Noonan 1+0
Tyler Heming 1+0
Mitch White 0+1
DAY 1 COMPLETE
The Warriors ended the first day of the tournament with a record of two wins and one loss meaning their hopes of progressing we’re very much alive.
But, they still had one more group game to play the following day before any knock-out games would happen.
That game would be against the Nottingham Knights. The Warriors had never taken on the Knights before but we’d heard they were very good - as you’d expect from a Nottingham team.
For now, though, thoughts could turn away from the ice. With day one complete, it was time for the team to relax, go home, rest - or…. meet up and watch the England game over a few cold beers! Just not too many!
Glorious weather
Players and supporters were able to enjoy the sun during rest periods between games.
DAY 2 - Game 4
v Nottingham Knights @ 1:44pm
Summary
The scheduling was kind to the Warriors, with the face-off scheduled for 1:44ppm, meaning they’d had a good rest since the previous day’s hockey.
As it was day 2, the netminder baton was now handed over from Joe Quinn to Ben Briggs.
Once the game was underway it was clear the ice was extremely wet, meaning the puck wasn’t travelling well - consequently, there was a 2 minute delay to let it freeze over some more.
Delay of game
With the ice having improved sufficiently, the game was underway again.
Over the first 10 minutes both teams looked evenly matched and it was an end-to-end contest.
See the video from 17:55 where the Warriors top line had a golden opportunity to score. Noonan broke into the Knights zone down down the right wing and into the corner shifting his pass centrally towards the high slot where team-mate Andy Giles was positioned. Giles was able to stretch and take control of the puck and with his back to goal, he noticed the oncoming Mitch White and moved it into his path. White had a free shot at goal but the target was significantly reduced because a D had also fallen over in front of the goalie, meaning less goal was available to shoot at. So close!
On the same shift Noonan managed to release another shot on net with Giles looking for the rebound, but the goalie held the puck well. That was a good shift from the first line and very promising as we reached the half-way point in the game.
As we entered the final 10 minutes it was anyone’s game and it was starting to look like one goal could be enough to win it.
With 8 minutes remaining, the Warriors took a 2 minute slashing penalty, to put them under extreme defensive pressure. The team killed off the penalty brilliantly well and continued to match the Knights in all areas of the ice.
But, with just under 5 minutes remaining on the clock, the Knights came down the ice and into the corner of the Warriors zone. Despite two Warriors players surrounding him, the Knights player emerged from the corner with the puck and had an easy pass into the high slot for their centre to skate in, shoot and score, unopposed. 1-0 Knights (see the video from 28:13).
With only 4 minutes now remaining, this was a hammer blow for the Warriors. But now they had to put everything into getting an equaliser. With 3 minutes remaining the Knights picked up a minor penalty, giving the Warriors some hope. But, the Warriors were now having to take more risks and despite having a man advantage and their first line on the ice, they conceded a goal. It was now 2-0 with just over 2 minutes of running clock to go.
The first line came very close to getting on the board after the next two face-offs but it wasn’t to be. The score ended 2-0 to Knights. Such a shame for the Warriors who had played brilliantly overall and were worthy of a draw.
Having lost this game, it meant they finished 4th out of the 5 teams in Group B and would now compete in a play-off game against Kingston Cobras, who were the 5th placed team in Group A to see who progresses.
* The Warriors pushed the Knights all the way in this contest - and it’s worth noting that the Nottingham Knights made it to the final of this tournament too. Such a great effort by the team.
Final score:
Knights 2-0 Warriors
DAY 2 - Game 5
v Kingston Cobras
Final instructions from the Coach.
Summary
The opening few minutes of this game were uneventful as most of the play was in the corners or in neutral ice. But, all of a sudden, after what appeared to have started as a promising Warriors attack, the puck slid towards the edge of the Cobras blue line - and desperate to keep the puck in, the Warriors D sprinted forward and had kept it in but lost control/possession to a Cobras player who now had empty ice to skate into and was bearing down on the Warriors net on a 2 on 1.
He relased his shot from the high slot and buried it past Warriors’ Briggs in the left corner. A huge early blow for the Warriors. See the video from 03:56 - note there’s is no sound for most of this video - it starts at 06:19 and disappears again at around 14:30.
With 5 minutes having been played, the Cobras picked up a minor penalty as Ellen Gallimore took what seemed to be a body check against the boards.
Within a couple more minutes of play elapsing, the Warriors now seemed like they were growing into the game - with the first line creating some opportunities.
With 10 of the 28 minutes gone, the puck was pushed out to the right wing of the neutral zone where Mitch White could get hold of the puck and enter the zone along that wing. As he entered the zone, two Cobras players tried to deal with him, meaning he could drop the puck into the path of the unmarked Dylan Noonan who was free to unleash a hard one-timer, which the goalie spilt - and with White and Giles looking for the rebound, eventually Giles was able to convert - 1-1.
The Warriors were back in the game and it felt deserved. The Warriors were now on top. They had two consecutive golden opportunities to score but just couldn’t convert.
But how quickly things can change - on the next shift the Cobras were camped in our zone, with the Warriors players thrashing at the puck, desperately trying to clear the zone - but to no avail.. and when the Cobras forward took the puck around the back of the Warriors net, the Warriors D chased them, leaving the slot wide open, where the waiting Cobras centre was on hand to receive the pass and easily score.
All that hard work was undone within 2 minutes of the Warriors equaliser.
But things were about to get worse - 2 minutes later, the Cobras D sent a cross-ice stretch pass from the corner of his own zone, which reached his winger who, with his first touch, managed to evade the poke check of the flat-footed Warriors D and found himself clean through on net. Despite the back-checking efforts of both D, he couldn’t be caught and finished it well, to make it 3-1 Cobras.
Overall, this felt undeserved for the Warriors. They’d matched the Cobras so far but with less than 13 minutes left to play and a 2 goal deficit, this game had really slipped away from them. It would take an almighty effort to get back into this one. But try they must.
With only 8 minutes remaining in the game, Warriors‘ Harvey Galloway entered the Cobras zone and was able to make a back-handed pass into the path of Niks Kamaldins who was through on net and unlucky not to score. A great play and and a great chance.
With 2 minutes remaining on the clock, the Warriors had a face-off in the Cobras zone. After the puck-dropped no-one could get any wood on it but Dylan Noonan could just about poke check it forward and it landed in the path of Mitch White who instinctively hit the shot into the net. 3-2!
But by the time the face-off happened there was only approximately 1 minute 30 seconds left to play, leaving very little time for the Warriors to get an equaliser.
But, with the puck in the Warriors zone, it landed to Noonan who threw the puck up ice towards White who was already anticipating the stretch pass. White managed to hold off the D and get control of the puck just as he approached the netminder. He deked and released a backhand shot - but this was dramatically saved!
And we now approached the final minute with the Warriors having pulled their goalie for the extra man. They were now laying siege to the Cobras net but despite the onslaught, the Warriors just could not make the breakthrough. It was a huge final effort and just a shame they couldn’t tie it up.
Overall, the Warriors played well and were more than worthy of a draw.
This was the end of the road for the Warriors after a tough second day where they lost both games but were equal to both opponents.
Final score:
Warriors 2-3 Cobras
Goals:
Andy Giles 1+1
Mitch White 1+1
Dylan Noonan 0+2
Tournament points scorers
Mitch White 3+2
Dylan Noonan 1+3
Andy Giles 1+2
Chris Scampton 2+0
Tyler Heming 1+1
Simon Morrow 0+1
What a weekend!
Thanks to Garry McKie and Leeds Lightning for hosting the tournament and extending the invite to us.
Thanks to all the players - you all worked so hard in every game and never gave up fighting.
We had players playing out of position, some who had stepped up a level and some who made themselves available at short notice when we were short - thank you all!
As usual, thanks to our incredible Manager Lisa Speed, who always gives up her free time to be by our sides.
The final was eventually contested between Black Bears and Nottingham Knights. The Knights had marched into a 3-0 lead, only for the Black Bears to claw themselves back into the game, eventually taking 3-4 lead into the final few minutes.
The Knights pulled their goalie late on in search of the equaliser but the Black Bears sealed the win with a 5th - an empty net goal.
Congratulations to the Black Bears!
Up next for Warriors 1 - their final game in the IHSC Cup Intermediate Division, having clinched a play-off spot for the finals weekend in Sheffield in August.
See the details below:
