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Warriors sign Thornton
Photograph of Richie Thornton in action for the Billingham Bombers.
Whitley Warriors last night complete the signing of Elite League defenceman Ritchie Thornton and although the blue-liner will be unavailable for the home game with Trafford Metros tomorrow evening, coach Simon Leach is delighted with his latest acquisition.
“I played with Ritchie when I was at Newcastle so know what a good player he is, and what an influence he can have on our team,” said Leach.
“He is obviously a very experienced player who has also represented his country at senior level and we are very pleased to have him with the Warriors for the rest of the season.”
Thornton - who is from Billingham and 27-years-old - stands at 6’ tall and weighs in at 190lb, and should make his Whitley debut away to Telford next weekend; while his first Hillheads appearance will be against Solway Sharks on December 27.
Meanwhile, after almost two months out of action with a knee injury, skipper Bryan Dunn is back in the Warriors line-up for the Trafford game and Leach will also have defender Garry Dowd available after he missed the last two games.
“Both of them give us a little more of the right kind of aggression,” said the coach, “while the influence of the captain has been seen since returning to training.
“Bryan has been back a couple of weeks and there has been a difference in the locker room, so we will hopefully take that onto the ice against the Metros.
“Now we need to carry on from where we left off last Sunday against Paisley, that was our best performance for some weeks and it’s important we start to win games on a regular basis again, especially in the English National League, so that we can maintain our title challenge,” he added.
However, Leach is certainly not dismissing the threat posed by a Trafford side that were promoted at the back end of last season.
“We beat them 7-2 in their own rink on the opening day of the season,” he said, “but they are now coming to terms with the division and are a much improved side since then.
“Just last weekend they came from behind at home to title chasing Sheffield Spartans to record their best win of the season, so we need to be wary.
“However, hopefully that Paisley win has given us the confidence to push on and providing we turn in the same sort of performance again this weekend, we should be more than capable of collecting two points to keep up our pursuit of the title.”
Shaun Kippin and Ryan Sample both miss the game because of suspension, so Leach will continue in the line-up for another week.
The action gets underway at 6.30pm, with ticket prices £7 for adults and £5 for children & concessions.
Good seats are still available!
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| 4th February 2012 19:30 | ||
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| 3rd February 2012 19:30 | ||
2-3 |
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| 1st February 2012 19:15 | ||
1-4 |
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| 29th January 2012 18:30 | ||
2-1 |
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1-6 |
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3-6 |
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| Club | GP | W | L | OL | GF | GA | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belfast Giants | 39 | 31 | 8 | 3 | 159 | 80 | 65 |
| 2 | Nottingham Panthers | 39 | 29 | 10 | 2 | 176 | 85 | 60 |
| 3 | Sheffield Steelers | 33 | 29 | 4 | 0 | 128 | 73 | 58 |
| 4 | Coventry Blaze | 39 | 24 | 15 | 1 | 147 | 112 | 49 |
| 5 | Cardiff Devils | 37 | 20 | 17 | 9 | 119 | 103 | 49 |
| 6 | Braehead Clan | 38 | 21 | 17 | 2 | 141 | 123 | 44 |
| 7 | Hull Stingrays | 40 | 11 | 29 | 4 | 107 | 162 | 26 |
| 8 | Edinburgh Capitals | 38 | 11 | 27 | 3 | 89 | 170 | 25 |
| 9 | Fife Flyers | 37 | 7 | 30 | 5 | 76 | 166 | 19 |
| 10 | Dundee Stars | 38 | 6 | 32 | 5 | 87 | 155 | 17 |
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| 5th February 2012 17:30 | ||
5-4 |
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| 29th January 2012 18:00 | ||
3-2 |
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| 29th January 2012 17:30 | ||
4-2 |
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| 29th January 2012 17:30 | ||
5-4 |
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| 29th January 2012 17:30 | ||
1-5 |
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| 28th January 2012 19:00 | ||
5-2 |
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| 28th January 2012 18:30 | ||
| Club | GP | W | L | OL | GF | GA | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guildford Flames | 36 | 24 | 12 | 3 | 163 | 105 | 51 |
| 2 | Slough Jets | 35 | 23 | 12 | 1 | 160 | 112 | 47 |
| 3 | Manchester Phoenix | 37 | 22 | 15 | 3 | 136 | 119 | 47 |
| 4 | Sheffield Steeldogs | 37 | 21 | 16 | 4 | 116 | 101 | 46 |
| 5 | Milton Keynes Lightning | 35 | 22 | 13 | 1 | 113 | 92 | 45 |
| 6 | Basingstoke Bison | 36 | 20 | 16 | 2 | 130 | 119 | 42 |
| 7 | Swindon Wildcats | 37 | 15 | 22 | 5 | 119 | 123 | 35 |
| 8 | Bracknell Bees | 36 | 12 | 24 | 8 | 106 | 142 | 32 |
| 9 | Peterborough Phantoms | 36 | 13 | 23 | 2 | 115 | 155 | 28 |
| 10 | Telford Tigers | 37 | 9 | 28 | 2 | 100 | 190 | 20 |
- Warriors stay strong at home
- Whitley sign former Newcastle Viper
- Whitley back to winning ways against ENL Blaze
- Warriors sign former EIHL netminder
- Warriors make first four signings
