Whitley Warriors 7, Peterborough Islanders 3

Apr 14 2008 The Journal

WHITLEY Warriors claimed ice hockey’s English National League Championship Trophy for the fourth time when they beat Peterborough in the final at Coventry yesterday.

Karl Culley set Whitley on their way with a powerplay goal at 9.27 and then raced clear for a short-handed marker seven minutes later to double the lead.

However, the Warriors then ran into penalty trouble as referee Blaine Evans deemed it necessary to give them 41 minutes worth of penalties in a three-minute spell.

Therefore it came as little surprise that the Islanders were able to grab themselves a lifeline with a Ross Mackintosh goal 16 seconds from the end of the period.

Once they were back at full strength, Whitley began to impose themselves on the Southern champions and three goals in a two-minute spell put them on the road to victory.

Skipper Adam Hendry, who also scored in the Northern League Final last season, grabbed a rare goal when he netted on the powerplay at 29.34 and just over a minute later the Warriors made the extra man count again when a hat-trick marker from Culley took the score to 4-1.

But Whitley weren’t finished and seconds later Michael Allinson robbed the last defender to race away and score.

Peterborough grabbed a much-needed score on 36.40 when Fraser Hendry scored their second, but it was the Warriors who would find the net next as Nathan Salem beat three Islanders before coolly slotting the puck home at 46.59 to make it 6-2.

Jamie Holland did score with the man advantage a couple of minutes later to keep Peterborough in touch, but any hopes of a comeback were short-lived as Mark Good put Whitley in seventh heaven as he rounded off the scoring with their second short-handed goal of the night at 49.07.

With neither side now able to keep five men on the ice as the referee continued to do his best to ruin the final, the Warriors contented themselves with what they had and at the final whistle they and their large contingent of fans were able to celebrate another success.

WHITLEY SCORERS: Culley 3+0, Salem and Hendry 1+1, Allinson and M Good 1+0, Dunn and Tindale 0+2, Howey, Barratt, D Murdy and Leach 0+1.