Whitley Warriors 4-5 Dundee Rockets: battling Warriors defeated despite fightback

Whitley Warriors suffered an agonising 5-4 defeat to Dundee Rockets, despite fighting back to take the game to extra time.

Warriors suffered a difficult start – conceding three goals in the first 37 minutes. However, their fightback wasn’t enough as they conceded in extra time to lose.

It was a very physical opening to the match, with Dundee Rockets using all of their force to remain in control of the game.

Despite struggling to gain possession of the puck when they were in control of the game, the Warriors saw early opportunities in the game, with Ollie Jardine and Ethan Reid both making shots on target, that were unfortunately blocked by Dundee Rockets’ net-minder.

The first point of the match was scored by Dundee Rockets in the 16th minute of play, before scoring again, with only 38 seconds left in the first period, leaving the Warriors two-nil down.

In the second period, the Rockets looked strong again and scored in the first three minutes of the period.

Over the next 15 minutes, the Warriors made five shots on target that the Rockets net-minder managed to save.

Three minutes away from the second period, Cameron Ware gave the Warriors their first point of the game, assisted by Ollie Jardine and Jamie Ord.

The Warriors continued to look a threat, with Harry Harley scoring less than 10 seconds after Ware’s goal, unassisted.

This was the start of the Warriors’ resurgence and filled them with confidence for the final period.

Phil Edgar tied the scores, scoring for Warriors in the first 10 seconds of the period, assisted by Anthony Wetherell and Harley.

Ware makes his second goal of the match in the fifth minute of the period, unassisted, making the Warriors the leading team in the game for the first time.

In the last 15 minutes of the match, the Rockets tied the score again with a slick shot past Thomas Brown.

Callum Queenham was on a break away in an attempt to score Warriors fifth point, but a Rocket uses his stick to block Queenham’s path, leading to the loss of the puck.

At full time, the score was four-all, so there was a sudden-death situation, where each team can only have three players and the net minder on, and first to score wins the game.

In only the second minute of sudden death, Dundee Rockets scored – signifying the end of the game and making them the winners.

Second-placed Whitley Warriors’ next game will be away against Kirkcaldy Kestrels, with the Warriors next being at home on November 16th, when they are playing North Ayrshire Wild.

Whitley Warriors MoTM: Cameron Ware