Coventry match live on SITV

2012-01-14 13:51:36
  SITV will put the old motto, if at first you don't succeed try try again in to practice tomorrow. The links have been tested, the service provider checked and as far as the team can tell it is all systems go for a live broadcast of the big game between the ENL Coventry Blaze and Whitley Warriors. SITV Commentator Chris Beal has said the link up with Clean Cut Sports should help them avoid the gremlins of the past."The way webcasts have gone for us have left us with a bitter taste and because it has always been events beyond our control we have looked for ways to bounce back and the good people at clean cut have given us the chance to take another swing at this.""To access the stream you will need to go to www.cleancutsports.com after 5pm and purchase the access to the game, it is completely free to watch but we need to get everyone logged on to the system for viewing. "Click here to visit Clean Cut Sports.Coverage will go live at 4:55  

Warriors sign Gibbon

2012-01-14 13:49:43
Whitley Warriors coach Garry Dowd was hoping to have former Billingham forward Stuart Gibbon in his side when they English National League champions travelled to Coventry at lunchtime today and then for the home game with Solihull Barons tomorrow, but all will depend on whether his registration has been completed in time.“Stu has been training with us since the turn of the year,” said Dowd, “and his arrival will add some depth to our squad, especially at a time when he have so many players out injured.“I’m certainly surprised the Stars were prepared to let him go,” he added, “but we are delighted to have him at Whitley and look forward to him bringing all his experience to our bench.”And Gibbon may not be the only ‘new’ face on the ice for Whitley this weekend, with Dowd looking to play himself to add some depth to the defence.“I quite excited about the prospect of playing again,” he admitted, “but itreally is a case of needs must, as he have experienced the kind of injury run every coach dreads.”However, despite all those injury problems, the champions still sit second in the table and Dowd is very pleased with what his side have achieved so far this season.“After losing so many players in the summer, I’m sure there were plenty prepared to right us off,” he said, “but the whole squad has responded magnificently and I think we can all proud of what we have managed so far.“But there is still a long way to go and its imperative we pick up points this weekend after a disappointing defeat away to Trafford Metros last Sunday.”The coach is hopeful that Dean Holland will be fit to return after missingthat game with a groin strain, while youngsters Harry Harley and Christian Johnson will be back in action after being on Under 18 duty.“Even without Stu or myself we are set to have a bigger bench,” he said, “and we are looking to bring home the points against a very up-and-down Coventry outfit.“They certainly haven’t shown the form this time round that took them to the play-off final last season, but they can still be a handful on their day and we must be prepared for whichever Blaze side turns up.”Solihull Barons make their first competitive visit to Hillheads in 15 years tomorrow night and after sweeping all before them in Division Two last season, they have certainly found points harder to come since promotion.“They struggled a bit at first, but their form has been much better of late,” warned the Warriors coach, “and I’m sure they will want to come to Whitley and show what they can do against the champions.“Again we have to make sure we are up for the challenge and with the right attitude from the whole side there is no reason why we can’t take four points from the weekend to maintain our quest for a play-off slot at the very least.”Tickets for the game tomorrow are available on the night, priced at Adults £7.50, Under 16’s & Concessions £5.50, while a Family Ticket is available for £22. The action gets underway at 5.00pm and doors open 30 minutes before face-off.

Chasing the game

2012-01-09 14:34:01
Whitley Warriors began the new year with defeat when they went down 6-2 away to Trafford Metros last night and after the home side opened the scoring in just 20 seconds, coach Garry Dowd felt his side were chasing the game all night."Trafford came at us right from the off and when they scored so quickly that put us on the back foot," he said."It took us some time to get going after that, especially as we hadn't had a game for a couple of weeks over Christmas, and you could tell the difference in the Metros play because they had been in action at Coventry the night before."However, despite conceding a couple more before the end of the first period, he made a bright start to the second and quickly got a goal back through DJ (Good)," Dowd added, "and if we could have got another one then it might have been so much different."But once again we were guilty of a lack of discipline and that disrupted our play, so that we couldn't get any kind of grip on the game."With his side trailing by two going into the final session, Dowd felt they could still get something from the night, but it just didn't happen for his side."To be honest, the side that wanted it more won, "he admitted, "and because we were committed to pushing up to try and get back into the match, they were able to pick us off at the back and three more goals sealed our fate."Although Ally Brummitt was able to return to action after six weeks out with injury, Dowd has lost two more players with Dean Holland (groin) and Jordan Barnes (dislocated shoulder) out of action for the foreseeable future, leaving them on the side-lines along with Steve Pritchard (knee), Phil Pritchard (groin) and Bryan Dunn (groin)."It could be that I will have to suit up for the next few weeks to help out," said the coach, "we have had a terrible run of injuries this season and there's no doubt it has been an influence on some of our results."

Back in action

2012-01-07 11:19:17
After a two week festive break, Whitley Warriors will be looking to widen the gap between themselves and third placed Trafford Metros when the two sides clash in an English National League fixture in Manchester tomorrow night, when coach Garry Dowd will be looking to see his side kick on in the second half of the season."I said at the start of the campaign my aim was for us to ensure we weren't sucked into a relegation battle after so many changes to the squad," he noted, "but we have done much better than that and now we must see what we can do to close the gap between ourselves and Billingham at the top of the table."And that starts with this weekend's fixture with Trafford," the coach added, "after fighting off relegation last season, the Metros have been the surprise package in ENL North Division One so far and are the main challengers to ourselves and Billingham."However, they had shown some signs of slipping before Christmas, so the break may have come at the right time for them and allowed the whole squad to re-focus," Dowd continued, "so it's up to us to ensure we don't allow them an opportunity to get their season back on track."Metros coach Paul Bayliss has snapped up former Blackburn utility player Sean Day over the holiday period, which will strengthen their squad, but Dowd believes he has enough quality on his bench to get the job done."Although we still have some problems within the squad with the Pritchard brothers (Steve and Phil) both missing though injury and David Barrett unavailable for this game," he said, "we do welcome back Ally Brummitt and Mark Good back to the bench; and they will be good additions in defence and attack."Youngsters Harry Harley and Christian Johnson are on Under 18 duty this weekend and they will be a big miss also, but we still have a very good squad to take down to Altrincham; and I will be urging the players to go all out for the win."The Warriors next home game is on January 15th, when Solihull Barons make their first visit to Hillheads in more than 10 years.

Makings of a great game

2011-12-17 12:36:32
Whitley Warriors face a top-of-the-table clash with English National League leaders Billingham Stars tomorrow night, when the Teesside based outfit make their first appearance in more than two years at Hillheads.And to make the game more interesting, Whitley coach Garry Dowd is a former Billingham player, while five of the Stars squad were part of the double winning side at Hillheads last season.“It has all the makings of a great game between the two in-form sides in the league,” said Dowd, “and with the connections between the two sides, that can only add to the spice of the occasion.”However, the two sides have met once before this season when the Stars won 7-2 in Billingham and Dowd is keen to reverse that result.“I thought we were competitive with them for the first period and were unlucky to go into the break only drawing 2-2,” he added, “but for whatever reason we never reached that level of intensity for the rest of the night and conceded five goals without reply. “Whether that was down to me getting our tactics wrong, or that we were short on players and ran out of steam, I don’t know, but they were worthy winners by the end.“However, it will be different this time,” he promised, “we will be taking the game to them right from the start and with more bodies on the bench than last time, I’m confident we will last the pace.”“We are also coming into some form now,” the coach continued, “netminder Richie Lawson and forward Dean Holland had both just joined the side when we last played Billingham; and both are now integral parts of the team.”David Barrett returns to the Whitley squad after missing the 7-0 win over Nottingham last Sunday, while Harry Harley and Christian Johnson are both available after being on Under 18 duty last weekend.Mark Good returned to training this week after he took a puck to the face during the warm-up for the Blackburn game two weeks ago and has an outside chance of playing, but Martin Crammond is unavailable.And the atmosphere off the ice will be just as intense, with Dowd acknowledging that both sets of fans are very passionate about their team.“I would imagine there will be an atmosphere that Hillheads has not witnessed for an ice hockey match for a very long time,” he said.“And I sure both sets of players will respond to produce a game that befits the top two sides in the league.”Tickets for the game with Billingham tomorrow are available on the night, priced at Adults £7.50, Under 16’s & Concessions £5.50, while a Family Ticket is available for £22. The action gets underway at 5.00pm, with a big crowd expected the doors should open earlier than the normal 30 minutes before face-off.