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The Solway Sharks, sponsored by the Black Bull of
Moffat, hosted the Fife Flyers at Dumfries Ice Bowl on Saturday
night in the second leg of the Autumn Cup semi-final. Trailing
by just a single goal from the first leg hopes were high amongst
the home support that perhaps the Sharks could be the first team
to take a decision of the Fife side this season. Adding in the
factor that the Flyers were short-handed in defence on the night
with Derek King (work commitments) and Chad Reekie (suspended)
both missing, the possibility of an upset grew. To overcome
these setbacks the influential Gordon Latto was pressed into
service even though the Fife press had reported him doubtful as
he was still recovering from a chest infection.
 In
the opening minutes both sides sparred with each other to see
where they may have an advantage over their opponents and, while
both sides gave one hundred percent commitment, it became
obvious from early on the Fife were in determined mood and
Sharks found it hard to get a toe-hold in the game. With the
clock showing 04:44 the first real chance came the Flyers way.
The puck broke to Lenis Christie on the home sides blueline and
he thundered in a fierce slapshot that was heading into the top
left-hand corner of Scott McMeekens' net but the Sharks keeper
was alert to deflect the shot wide and over the net. The first
goal was not to be delayed for long however. Solway pressed hard
on the Fife goal but alert netminding from Blair Daly saw the
Flyers goalie feed Andy Samuels and in an instant turn defence
into attack and not for the last time in this match. Samuels
broke quickly out of defence and, with the Sharks scrambling
frantically back in chase, he fed Fife Captain John Haig who
made no mistake on a one-on-one situation with McMeeken. The
goal being timed at 06:01.
Sharks were eager to reply quickly and within a minute of the
re-start Cammy Curry picked up a rare loose pass out of the Fife
defence and fired the puck across the rink to Tim McKay who then
set up Kevin Conway but his shot was well dealt with by Daly. On
07:44 Sharks Matt Seddon received a two minute penalty for
holding an opponents stick and Fife stepped up a gear looking to
press home their man advantage but on this occasion the Sharks
'penalty-kill' held firm despite several shots on McMeekens'
net. Play continued in much the same vein, with Fife controlling
play and Sharks fighting hard for scraps, until a minor
altercation between Tim McKay and Thomas Muir resulted in a
loose puck being picked up by Steven Gunn and his pass set up
injury-doubt Gordon Latto to fire the Flyers into a two goal
lead on the 13:28 mark.
Solway needed to score before the first intermission if they
were going to make a fight of this contest and they set about
this task with renewed vigour. A chance appeared to present
itself when Flyers Gavin Fleming received two minutes for
slashing but as the penalty ticked away Sharks just couldn't
produce enough sustained pressure to trouble the Flyers defence.
Then as Fleming was making his way back onto the ice John Downes
and Cammy Curry combined to set up Tim McKay and his fierce
flick-shot flashed high into the top right-hand corner of Blair
Dalys' net. Sharks were back in the game now and when Lewis
Christie received two minutes for holding on the 19:11 mark the
Dumfries side had a great chance to head into the first break on
level terms. However, if you didn't know the sides you could
have sworn the Fife had the man advantage. With just twenty-four
seconds left in the period Blair Daly in the Fife net for the
second time on the night calmly laid off a pass that turned
defence into attack. This time the pass went to Steven King and
he in turn set up Todd Dutiamme and he made no mistake with his
shot and sent the visitors into a three-one first period lead.
Light relief was to be found for the Sharks faithful in the
first intermission as it turned out that India Conway had the
program with her fathers autograph and thus was to take part in
the Black Bull Challenge. The look on Kevins' face was a picture
as he skated up the ice to find his daughter waiting and India
wasted no time proving that she is as adept with the stick as
her dad. Her first attempt from centre-ice was just millimetres
away from earning the family a £100 bonus.
Sharks come out attacking in the second period and after
sixty-one seconds Gavin Holmes received a two plus two minute
penalty and joined Christie who was completing his penalty from
the first period in the ‘sin bin’. With a five on three
advantage for just ten seconds the Sharks failed to capitalise
but as Christie re-joined the action the Sharks struck. This
time Bari McKenzie and Kevin Conway combined to set up Neal
Haworth to score with 21:17 on the clock.
 One
mark of a championship team in any sport is the ability strike
back and re-take command of a match and Sharks remained
three-two down for just seventy seconds before Fife notched
their second short-handed goal of the evening. This time Todd
Dutiamme and Thomas Muir combined for Steven King to shoot the
Fife side back into a two goal lead. Four minutes later King
turned provider as he set up Jamie Wilson after the Sharks
failed to clear their lines. With a three goal lead the Flyers
controlled play for the remainder of the second period and while
the home side never gave up hope they never really looked like
troubling the visitors.
With the Sharks three goals down heading into the final session
it was crucial for the home side to score first and to score
early if they were to seriously trouble the Fifers and an early
goal did come but it was the visiting side who killed of and
lingering home hopes. With barely a minute gone Andy Samuels and
Thomas Muir combined to set free John Haig, who doesn't pass up
many opportunities, and he gladly sent the Flyers into a six-two
lead. As if in a repeat of the second period Fife controlled the
remainder of the match and, while the Dumfries tried hard, they
never really got going at all which in itself is a testament to
their opponents.
Sharks statistics on the night were: Tim McKay and Neal Haworth
both one goal and no assists, John Downes, Cammy Curry, Bari
McKenzie and Kevin Conway all 0+1. Sharks netminder, Scott
McMeeken, saved twenty-eight out of the thirty-four shots that
he faced (Save percentage 82.35%). Man-of-the-match for the Sharks was Tim McKay while
John Haig picked up the honour for the visitors.
Sharks Shaun Kippin was unfortunately taken to hospital on
Saturday night with a badly gashed knee which was injured when a
Fife skate accidentally came down on it close to the end of the
match. Doctors were unable to sew up the wound as so much skin
had been lost so Shaun will be feeling pretty sore today. Get
back soon Shaun.
View more
from Sunday nights on the
match photographs
page.
The views and statistics in
this report are individual and do not necessarily reflect
the opinions of the Solway Sharks.
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