Warriors¹ in epic semi-final with the Falcons
On Saturday 22nd August our Warriors¹ travelled to Ice Sheffield to take on Blackburn Falcons in the semi-final of the IHSC Cup Intermediate Division.
Warriors¹ arrived at Ice Sheffield as overall Intermediate Division winners, having qualified for play-off weekend for the first time in the team’s history.
However, they entered the weekend without several key players due to injuries, holidays and other commitments.
Sam Cromack, Niks Kamaldins, Adam Tomlinson and Sam Cadman were all unavailable, while Callum Greenhalgh had not played the required number of games to be eligible. Netminder Lewis Pickering also remained sidelined through injury.
As a result, the Warriors were forced to rotate five defencemen, with Tyler Heming moving from defence to strengthen the forward lines. Dzintars Jonuss was placed on standby as the team’s first reserve.
The Warriors were therefore particularly grateful to have Andrew Hughes available and fit to take his place between the pipes for the weekend.
Dressed players
Andrew Hughes (NM), Chris Giles (C), Adam Gibbons, Tom Mallon, Ellen Gallimore, Tyler Heming, Jake Warner, Dylan Noonan, Andy Giles (A), Mitch White, Will Gibbons, Simon Morrow, Chris Scampton, Harvey Galloway, Jordan Batty.
1st period
The opening period was a tight affair, with both teams creating only the occasional genuine goal-scoring opportunities. With around 8 minutes having elapsed, the Warriors top line of Andy Giles, Mitch White and Dylan Noonan combined well with a great passing move in the Falcons zone to create an opening, but Noonan couldn’t convert. This was very encouraging for the Warriors and instilled great belief.
Late in the period (17:21) Warriors’ Adam Gibbons was assessed a minor penalty for body checking, placing the team under pressure, but thankfully the Warriors successfully killed it off to ensure the teams entered the first intermission at 0-0.
Overall, the Falcons probably edged this period in terms of territorial control and openings in front of goal, but there wasn’t much between the sides and the Warriors felt optimistic going into the middle period.
Warriors 0-0 Falcons
2nd period
The game burst into life during an action-packed second period.
At 21:38, Andy Giles collected the puck behind the Falcons net and fed it perfectly into the path of Mitch White, who stepped onto the pass and hammered a slap shot beyond the netminder to give the Warriors the lead.
White struck again at 25:20. Giles banked the puck forward off the boards and White brought it under control as he entered the right side of the Falcons zone. An injection of speed took him around the defender before he shifted the puck back onto his forehand and lifted an excellent close-range finish over the goaltender to make it 2–0.
Mitch White
Scored two goals in the opening five minutes of the second period.
Andy Giles
Assisted both of White’s goal in the same five minute period.
But, the Falcons were handed a route back into the game at 28:53 when a relatively soft wrist-shot, which Warriors netminder Hughes appeared to see late, found its way into the net. 2-1.
Just six seconds later, the scores were level - the Warriors were caught pinching inside the offensive blue line and a Falcons forward accelerated away to score an excellent individual goal.
The turnaround was completed at 30:06 - a Falcons player picked up the puck inside the Warriors zone and released an early shot from just above the hash marks, catching netminder Hughes out and putting the Falcons 3–2 ahead.
In little over 1 minute, the Warriors had gone from holding a two-goal advantage to trailing by one.
However, they responded superbly.
At 31:13, White received the puck on his forehand to the right of the Falcons net and spotted Noonan bursting towards goal. Noonan controlled White’s pass with his skates before lifting the puck into the top-right corner for a brilliantly worked equaliser. 3-3.
It capped an outstanding shift from the Warriors centre. Seconds earlier, Noonan had worked hard to create a slap-shot on goal, then supported the defence in keeping the puck inside the zone before immediately driving towards the net to score.
Dylan Noonan
Grabbed the equalising goal to make it 3-3.
The Warriors were presented with another opportunity when the Falcons took an interference penalty at 38:30, followed shortly afterwards by a roughing minor.
With a five-on-three advantage, the Warriors capitalised at 39:15 to retake the lead. Noonan bagged his second of the night with the assist coming from White, meaning the Warriors went into the second intermission 4–3 ahead.
What a rollercoaster of a period - 2-0 ahead, 2-3 down, then 4-3 ahead.
Warriors 4-3 Falcons
3rd period
Based on the first two periods, this was anyone’s game. Maybe fitness would play a part in this game as both teams had put so much energy into those first two periods.
With the game re-starting, it wasn’t long before the Falcons took another interference penalty at 42:44, but the Warriors were unable to extend their advantage.
A delay-of-game minor penalty against the Warriors at 44:47 then gave the Falcons a power-play of their own.
With the Falcons camped in the Warriors zone, our players were drawn towards the puck rather than maintaining their defensive box, leaving a Falcons player unmarked in front of goal to fire home from close range. The equalising goal coming at 45:30.
The Falcons moved ahead at 48:02 after the Warriors failed to cut out a pass from behind their own goal-line into the slot. With the Falcons forward unopposed, he was able to make it 5–4.
A Warriors holding penalty at 52:49 was followed by a Falcons slashing minor at 53:34, creating a spell of four-v-four hockey.
The additional space allowed Warriors’ White to produce another moment of individual quality, dangling his way past the Falcons defence to create a terrific chance, but he was unable to find the finishing touch.
At the other end, Falcons made their opportunity count. A near-post shot at 54:52 extended their advantage to 6–4 and left the Warriors with a mountain to climb.
The seventh goal arrived at 57:28 following a prolonged spell of Falcons pressure.
The Warriors were forced to ice the puck at the end of a tiring shift, meaning the same players had to remain on the ice for the resulting face-off. With tired legs making it increasingly difficult to clear the zone and track player movement, the Falcons took advantage to put the result beyond doubt.
The Falcons received one final tripping penalty with only three seconds remaining, before the final buzzer confirmed a painful 7–4 defeat for the Warriors.
Final score:
Falcons 7-4 Warriors
Points scorers :
Mitch White 2+2
Dylan Noonan 2+0
Andy Giles 0+2
Mitch White
Player of the game
Dylan Noonan
Captain’s POTG
For the post-game awards, Player of the Game went to Mitch White and the Captain’s helmet went to Dylan Noonan.
Mitch was involved in all 4 Warriors goals and Dylan converted 2 goals himself.
Shout-out to our other ‘first liner’ Andy Giles, who picked up 2 assists in this game, combining brilliantly with Mitch and Dylan throughout the game.
Having lost this semi-final game, the Warriors would now compete in the 3rd-4th place play-off the following day at 10:30am, against Newcastle Predators.
The team had watched their semi-final game earlier in the day against Sheffield Ice Tigers and felt optimistic about their chances.
Summary
This result was hugely disappointing for the team, but they produced some excellent attacking hockey and held a deserved 4–3 lead after two periods.
It was the defensive lapses and the Falcons sustained third-period pressure that ultimately proved decisive.
Also, the Falcons are an experienced team with many good players across all lines, so this was always going to be a huge test. It was just a shame the team couldn’t see out that final period but it’s always tough when only one goal ahead.
But for now, the team had to put this behind them - they needed to be up early the following morning for the 3rd-4th play-off game.
Thank you
Massive shout-out to those who came down to Sheffield to support the team - Simon Howe, Jonjo Marshall, Phil Pearce, Simon Davis, Phil Bradley, Tim Lyndon-Belt, Jodie Barker-White, Tracey Batty…. Probably quite a few more. Apologies if you have been missed from this list.
