Metros come close, but fail to topple the Warriors
Whitley Warriors 3 - 2 Trafford Metros
After Whitley had been forced to cancel their trip to Coventry the day before this game, there was an uneasy feeling that weather could upset the plans again. To our relief the journey was weather and accident free.
The win by the Metros, at Hillheads, three weeks ago would mean that the Warriors could not take their opposition lightly. Additionally, the Metros were making the trip six regular players light, albeit with the addition of U-18 Jordan Bannon for his ENL initiation. Hillheads is never a place for the faint of heart, let alone an U-18 making his debut. Bannon did not disappoint and seemed to thoroughly enjoy the experience. There was some trepidation approaching the match, but it was largely unfounded: the team came very close to another upset and left for home reflecting on what might have been.
On the Metros' last visit to Whitley, not a single penalty was called during the whole game. The first period looked to be going the same way as the game flowed from end to end, the scorer troubled just once on a Slashing minor to Metros' Man of the Match, Jamie Rogerson.
All the scoring and all but one more of the penalties happened in the second period. At 24.53 the Metros opened the scoring, Robyn Crebbin shot the puck on net and the rebound was converted by Jamie Rogerson. A minute later the Warriors restored parity through Mark Good (assists to Ryan Sample and Daniel Harris). Just short of the half-hour mark, Crebbin restored the Metros' lead on a Cross-Checking delayed penalty (assists to Sean Day and Jake Nurse). The Warriors punished a Too Many Men bench minor three minutes later to equalise through Richie Thornton from Tindale and Kippin (32.15). A further three minutes elapsed and Whitley completed the scoring by going ahead for the first time and run out the winners by 3-2 (Dowd from Culley and Tindale).
The third period continued to be end to end, but the scorers weren't troubled until Trafford withdrew netminder Declan Ryan from the net at 58.48 in an attempt to force the equaliser. Despite some close rushes the Warriors held firm and collected the two points.
A Metros' official said, "The depleted squad played their hearts out again. They keep doing this against the top teams, but rarely get their reward. Another cracking game at a great venue with partisan supporters who are generous with their appreciation after the game ends. Both teams can be proud of a producing a game where the result was in doubt until the final hooter. The Metros should take confidence from these results against the Warriors. We have been saying that, on the day, despite our lowly league position we can be as good as any team in the league. What we need is a four point weekend next week!"
Game Stats:
Metros Man of the Match: Jamie Rogerson
Shots on Goal (shots on Metros first): 36 - 25
Penalty minutes: Metros 10 - Warriors 16.
Metros' stats: Robyn Crebbin 1+1, Jamie Rogerson 1+0, Sean Day 0+1, Jake Nurse 0+1.
Nets: Declan Ryan (58.48) 36/3 : 91.66%
