Warriors 1 get reeled in by the Trawlers
On Saturday 28th June 2025 our first team travelled to Grimsby to take on the Trawlers in their 8th game of the IHSC Cup.
In the corresponding home fixture, the Warriors went down 2-6 against an impressive, short-benched Trawlers team.
To make this game even more challenging, the Trawlers now had more players and home advantage.
For a lot of the Warriors this was the first time they had played on the smaller ice pad, so adapting to this was an additional challenge.
With all of this in mind, the Warriors went into this game under no illusions - they were major underdogs and weren’t expected to take the win.
But, this only served as motivation. The team saw this as an opportunity to make a name for themselves against a Trawlers team that is unbeaten and sitting comfortably at the top of the league.
Warriors joint-coach, Andy Giles and his brother, team captain Chris Giles, who both played for Grimsby IHC as juniors. looked forward to their first game in Grimsby for over 30 years. The fixture also carried significance for Lewis Pickering, who began his netminding journey at this very rink during his college years.
Dressed players:
Lewis Pickering (NM), Chris Giles (C), Dylan Noonan, Mitch White, Andy Giles (A), Tyler Heming, Callum Greenhalgh, Matthew Gatenby, Chris Blaschko, Niks Kamaldins, Jordan Batty, Adam Gibbons, Will Gibbons, Chris Scampton and Harvey Galloway.
1st period
The message from the coaches in the room was to keep things simple, forecheck and be aggressive.
This strategy worked well in the opening exchanges. It may have surprised the Trawlers that the Warriors were matching them for chances and time spent in their zone. But despite that, the Trawlers opened the scoring.
But the Warriors were undeterred and roared back into the the game when Chris Scampton slotted home, assisted by Andy Giles. 1-1. Game on.
With the Warriors growing in confidence and belief, they started testing the Trawlers goalie with some shots from the blue line. Dylan Noonan cranked a few to make sure the goalie was awake - and eventually, Noonan got his reward. With the puck laid off to him by Mitch White, he slotted a wrister to put the Warriors ahead in the game. 1-2.
The Warriors were able to hold on to this lead for the reminder of the period and were extremely happy with their performance in the opening frame. But at what cost? The team had burnt through a lot of energy in that period in what felt like the hottest day of the year - even inside an ice rink.
If the Warriors were to win this game they would probably need to sustain this effort level throughout the game, and in reality that was a tall order.
Trawlers 1-2 Warriors
2nd period
Unfortunately, the second period didn’t start well for the Warriors as the hosts equalised soon after the restart. The Warriors began to leak goals and went from a 1-2 lead to a 6-2 deficit.
This was a major blow for the Warriors who found it difficult to maintain their previous efforts from the opening period.
Not wanting to be on the receiving end of a humiliating result, the Warriors didn’t give up.
After a lot of hard work from the team, Will Gibbons got on the board with a poachers goal after a pass to the slot from Mitch White, making it 6-3.
The Trawlers re-asserted their dominance soon after, putting the scoreline at 7-3 and seemingly making the game seem out of reach for the Warriors.
But, as the clock wound down, that man Will Gibbons pounced on another opportunity - scoring his second of the game to end the period at 7-4. Assisted by Noonan.
Whilst the Warriors lost this period 6-2 - after such a bad start, that fourth goal late in the period felt crucial in order to stay in the game.
Trawlers 7-4 Warriors
3rd period
With only twenty minutes of rink hire remaining, the final period was played with a running clock.
The next goal was going to be crucial - if the Warriors could close the gap to 7–5, it might have made the Trawlers nervous. But if it went the other way, an 8–4 scoreline could prove too much to overcome.
Unfortunately, with energy levels seriously depleted, the Warriors found it hard to contain the Trawlers’ attacks, and the hosts did indeed extend their lead to 8–4.
Despite a slew of golden chances at the other end, the Warriors just couldn’t find a way past netminder Sleeth, who was in fine form.
The Trawlers then added two more goals to make it 10–4, and the Warriors suddenly found themselves in danger of a heavy defeat. But rather than fold, the team dug deep. Spurred on by the situation, they fought back and were rewarded with a fifth and final goal - with 49:02 on the clock, Will Gibbons secured a hat-trick, assisted by Dylan Noonan. 10–5.
In the closing minutes, the Warriors pushed hard for a sixth, but it wasn’t to be. Instead, it was the Trawlers who had the final say, scoring their eleventh goal to make it 11–5.
The game was brought to a premature end at 18:27 by the referee, following what can only be described as a fracas or melee. While we won’t go into the details in this report, we would like to apologise to the Trawlers for the unacceptable spectator involvement that contributed to this decision.
Ultimately, aside from a few flashpoints, this wasn’t a particularly nasty game overall. But it was a fast-paced and highly competitive game which felt like it had an edge to it -and the heat does make people irritable!
Final score :
Trawlers 11-5 Warriors
Points scorers:
Will Gibbons 3+0
Dylan Noonan 1+2
Mitch White 0+2
Chris Scampton 1+0
Andy Giles 0+1
Going into this game, the Warriors knew it would be a tough one - the Trawlers have already qualified for the August play-offs and look like they’ll be crowned champions of the IHSC Intermediate Group 2.
The Warriors hope to join the Trawlers in the play-offs - but it’s not a foregone conclusion. There’s plenty of work to do, as three other teams in the league are also hoping to take second spot.
Harvey Galloway
Player of the game
Will Gibbons
Captain’s player of the game
Player of the Game, as selected by the Trawlers, went to Harvey Galloway - and the Captain’s helmet went to hat-trick man Will Gibbons!
That was the Warriors eighth game in the IHSC Cup and they have two fixtures left. Both these game are huge, as the team has aspirations to grab the runners-up position and qualify for the play-offs.
Standing in their way are rivals Don Valley Vikings and Shropshire Huskies.
The next game is in Sheffield against the Vikings. This will be a big challenge for the Warriors as they take to the road against a Vikings team that took the W after a shoot-out in Leeds.
Details below:
IHSC Cup
Saturday 5th July 2025
Don Valley Vikings v Warriors
@ Ice Sheffield
Face-off : 20:00
Free entry
Watch this space for future Warriors 1 fixtures : Fixtures and Results.
