Warriors¹ beat the Knights at The Castle
On Saturday 7th March 2026 our Warriors¹ team welcomed the Hull Knights back to Planet Ice for this IHSC Cup fixture.
This was the Knights’ second game in the IHSC Cup, having beaten Grimsby Stormers in Grimsby previously. This served as a warning to the Warriors, as that is no mean feat.
The Warriors were without many key players again - Mitch White, Sam Cromack, Will Gibbons, Joe Quinn, Lewis Pickering, Callum Greenhalgh, Adam Gibbons, Corbyn Grace and Matthew Gatenby were all unavailable. But thankfully the Warriors could ice 3 lines of forwards and defenders.
These two teams had met in the previous season’s IHSC Cup with the Warriors winning on both occasions. But, the Warriors took nothing for granted as they looked to maintain their 100% record in the competition.
This game also marked the official debut of Adam Tomlinson as a Warriors 1 player, having been called up from Warriors 2. Adam had played for Warriors 1 as a guest previously, but this was his first outing as a permanent team member.
Dressed players
Andrew Hughes (NM), Chris Giles (C), Andy Giles (A), Tom Mallon, Chris Norman, Ellen Gallimore, Niks Kamaldins, Adam Tomlinson, Jordan Batty, Simon Morrow, Tyler Heming, Dylan Noonan, Chris Scampton, Harvey Galloway, Chris Blaschko and Jake Wagner.
1st period
As always, the Warriors were keen to get off to a strong start and avoid chasing the game. But, they appeared to lack cohesion and rhythm during the opening exchanges, as they were unable to make much of an impression on the game.
On the other hand, the Knights looked comfortable and confident as they conducted wave after wave of attack and were able to maintain zone possession.
The Warriors needed to get organised and quickly. Netminder Andrew Hughes was left exposed on multiple occasions but came to the team’s rescue - blocking and catching everything that came at him.
So it came as a huge relief when the Warriors settled into their game and opened the scoring at 10:08 - Harvey Galloway finishing a play set-up by Chris Scampton and Simon Morrow.
Just 22 seconds later, the Warriors doubled their lead. Adam Tomlinson found the net at 10:30 (scoring his debut goal for Warriors 1) assisted by Dylan Noonan and Andy Giles.
The momentum continued as Noonan made it 3–0 at 10:46, converting a pass from A.Giles.
The Hull Knights struggled to slow the Warriors’ attack, and at 12:44 Morrow added a 4th goal, assisted by Tyler Heming and Jake Wagner.
Hull responded with a goal at 14:05, but the Warriors restored their four-goal cushion when A. Giles scored at 15:01, assisted by Noonan.
The Warriors had now scored 5 goals in 5 minutes to take control of the game.
The period ended with the Warriors leading 5–1.
Warriors 5-1 Knights
2nd period
During the interval, the coaches’ reminded the team that this game was far from done and the offensive threat from the Knights was still substantial.
The Knights had the ability to snatch some early goals and cause a shift in momentum ; and the Warriors needed to be mentally prepared to avoid this. But despite the warning, this is exactly what happened.
The Knights pushed hard from the first puck-drop and scored at 20:26 and then again at 25:00 to narrow the score to 5–3. This was a worry for the team - were they being reeled in? That comfortable 5-1 lead was now history and the team needed to respond.
The Warriors did respond - midway through the period, at 29:03, Chris Norman extended the lead - with his first Warriors goal. The assist coming from Niks Kamaldins.
Moments later at 29:38, Scampton added another, finishing a play from Galloway and Heming.
At 7-3, the Warriors had now restored the 4 goal advantage that they had going into the second period.
The Knights took a two-minute tripping penalty at 30:23 but unfortunately the Warriors could not capitalise on the numerical advantage. The final 10 minutes of the period were scoreless, but just as exciting, with both teams throwing everything they had into the game.
Warriors 7-3 Knights
3rd period
Much like the previous game against the Stormers, the coaches’ message during the second interval was to maintain focus, stay disciplined, and close the game out professionally. The Warriors didn’t need to chase the game now - they needed to prioritise defence.
The third period featured several penalties, beginning with a Warriors tripping call at 42:03.
The Knights ensured they put out their top-line for this power-play and these were tough periods for the Warriors but they managed to stand firm and kill it.
But the Warriors were determined to make things more difficult for themselves, taking a hooking penalty At 50:06. The team would have been happy to just kill this penalty off without conceding a goal, but they managed to extend their lead with a short-handed goal - Noonan scoring his second of the night at 51:52 - having managed to lift the puck over the goalies shoulder at the near post. A great goal. Assisted by A. Giles.
The Knights replied quickly at 52:23 to make it 8–4, which kept them in the contest with over 7 minutes remaining.
The Warriors were assessed another penalty at 53:13. This time for interference. The Knights needed to make the most of this if they had any chance of a comeback. If they could reduce the deficit to 3 at 8-5 this would make for a nervy final 5 minutes for the Warriors.
But again, they managed to keep the Knights out. And with that, 2 more minutes had just wound down on the clock towards victory.
Now back to 5 v 5, the Warriors were now finally feeling like they had the win.
The Warriors’ final goal came at 57:22, with Heming smashing a slap-shot from the point - assisted by Scampton. 9-4 Warriors.
But the Knights weren’t finished and credit to them, they were still hunting for goals in those last 2 minutes - adding a late goal at 59:43 - but the Warriors were able to close out the game from there.
Final score:
Warriors 9-5 Knights
Points scorers :
Dylan Noonan 2+2
Andy Giles 1+3
Chris Scampton 1+2
Tyler Heming 1+2
Harvey Galloway 1+1
Simon Morrow 1+1
Adam Tomlinson 1+0
Chris Norman 1+0
Jake Wagner 0+1
Niks Kamaldins 0+1
Andrew Hughes
Player of the game
Tyler Heming
Captain’s POTG
The post-game awards were an all-Canadian affair eh? The Warriors’ player of the game, as selected by the Knights Captain, went to our goalie, Andrew Hughes - he kept us in the game early on. And the Captain’s helmet went to Tyler Heming who had a commanding performance in D.
The Warriors are 4 for 4 in the IHSC Cup but 3 of those games were on home ice so there’s still plenty of tough road trips ahead.
The teams perfect record felt in jeopardy for the opening 10 minutes of this game. The Knights’ top line were causing so many problems and it took some goalie heroics to keep the Warriors from trailing.
The glut of goals which came soon after really steadied the team down and ultimately made the difference to the end result.
Goals change the momentum of games and the Warriors could have been chasing this one had it not been for that turnaround in the first period.
The Knights never gave up and when the deficit was reduced to two at the start of the second period it looked like an amazing comeback might happen.
Thanks to the Knights for making the trip down the M62. We’ll see you in Hull on 19th July!
Shout outs to Chris Norman and Adam Tomlinson for registering their first Warriors¹ goals. Hopefully it’s the first of many.
Thanks to those who came down to support the team and help with the scoresheet / admin - Tim Lyndon-Belt, Corey Clough-Howard, Dexter Clough-Howard and Petr Dostal. It’s much appreciated!
Also, it’s always nice to see Harvey’s Dad and Sister in the stands shouting on their lad.
The next game for Warriors 1 is this weekend. See the details below:
IHSC Cup
Saturday 14th March 2026
Ice Tigers A v Warriors¹
@ Ice Sheffield
Face-off : 10:00pm
All Warriors 1 fixtures can be found here : Fixtures and Results
