Warriors 2 beat Swarm B in Altrincham
On Sunday 9th July, our Warriors 2 team travelled to Planet Ice, Altrincham to take on the Manchester Swarm in the M62 Cup.
This was the team’s second game in the M62 Cup, having lost 5-1 away to Kingston Fat Dads in May.
In team news, the Warriors welcomed back some players who were unavailable for the recent tournament in Bradford - Captain Niku Ghaemi, Simon Morrow and Tom Cokill,
The team were also without several players: Dale Sunderland, Den Bautris, Tyler Heming, Mo Lin, Josh Edwards, Jeff Hardy, Liam Symington, Louis Feather, Luke Cadman, Matt Bolan and Stu Shepherd.
But the team still had enough players to ice three strong lines.
1st period
The Warriors started brightly, getting multiple shots on the Swarm net and looking dominant. But, against the run of play, the Swarm took the lead on 7 minutes. 1-0 Swarm.
The team found their feet and were able to keep the Swarm at bay whilst pursuing the equaliser.
The teams played out a stalemate for the remainder of the period meaning the Warriors were 1-0 down going into the first interval.
Swarm 1 Warriors 0
1-0 to Swarm after the first period
2nd period
Going into the second period at 1-0 down, the Warriors had good reason to be optimistic. They were still very much in the game.
After only 2-3 minutes of the restart the Warriors were back on level terms. Howard Barwick tipped a Nathan Clegg shot from the point. Game on.
The middle part of the period was a stalemate as the Warriors frustrated the Swarm.
It took until the 35th minute for the deadlock to be broken. Again, Barwick popped up to score his second of the night, with the assist from Jamie Thurston. 1-2 Warriors.
With the team sensing they were on top, the Warriors wanted to capitalise. And with only one minute of the period left to play, they did.
Their third goal coming from Sean Clough, assisted by Ryan Marsh and Barwick.
The Warriors now had daylight between them and the Swarm as they saw out the period.
Swarm 1 Warriors 3
1-3 to Warriors at the end of the second period
3rd period
Winning the second period 0-3 meant the Warriors were now in the driving seat going into the final period.
But it was likely that the Swarm would come out determined in the third period and the Warriors would need to match that.
Unfortunately for the Warriors, the Swarm got themselves back into the game after six minutes of the restart, pegging the Warriors back to 2-3.
Momentum was now with the home team.
Only four minutes later, the Swarm equalised. This was a huge blow to the team. It was now 3-3. Could the boys pick themselves up from this in the remaining ten minutes of the game?
Yes they could. Less than two minutes later, Sean Clough scored his second of the night, putting the Warriors back in the lead. 3-4 Warriors.
This left the team with eight minutes to either hold onto the lead or add to their goal tally.
Unfortunately, disaster struck. A Swarm player was going through on goal at speed when the Warriors D held him in order to impede his progress. The referee called for a penalty shot!
If the Swarm score, they take it to 4-4 with only 5 minutes to play. But, they had to beat Ben Cohen first. Fortunately for the Warriors, Cohen came out on top and saved the shot, keeping the Warriors in the lead.
More drama was to follow. With only 2 minutes remaining in the game, Tom Cokill found himself on a breakaway, out-pacing the D man, but as he approached the goal he was tripped. The referee called a penalty shot.
See the video below for the outcome:
Cokill buried it. This was the killer goal which put the game to bed. It was now 3-5 Warriors and there was no coming back for the Swarm.
FINAL SCORE:
Swarm 3 Warriors 5
Points scorers:
Howard Barwick 2+1
Sean Clough 2+0
Tom Cokill 1+0
Nathan Clegg 0+1
Ryan Marsh 0+1
Jamie Thurston 0+1
Tom Cokill
Warriors’ player of the game
Sean Clough
Captain’s player of the game
Tom Cokill picked up the player of the game award and Sean Clough was awarded the Captain’s player of the game award. Well played guys!
The game was recorded, so if you would like to watch it, see the video below:
This was a great test of character for our Warriors 2 team. They were 1-0 down at the end of the first period and were also pegged back to 3-3 after being 1-3 up. The team kept fighting for the win and they got their reward.
The next M62 Cup game for Warriors 2 is at home to Kingston Fat Dads on Saturday 22nd July.
Game details below:
Leeds Warriors 2 v Kingston Fat Dads
Saturday 22nd July 2023
Face-off @ 21:45
Planet Ice, Leeds
