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The
Black Bull of Moffat sponsored Solway Sharks entertained the
Fife Flyers on Saturday night at Dumfries Ice Bowl in the
first leg of the Scottish National League play-off final.
After last Sunday nights performance against the Dundee
Texol Stars hope were high that the Sharks could finally put
a victory on the board against the best team in the league.
Cammy Currie, unfortunately, had to sit out this tie injured
with a broken rib after a clash in last weeks semi-final,
second leg, but he was there to support his team mates on
the night.
 The
tie started at a blistering pace as the Sharks strove to
open the scoring early and show their intent. Blair Daly was
called into the action several time in the opening minutes
but the shots he faced were 'meat and drink' to a netminder
of his calibre. With just over three minutes gone Fife
collected the puck deep in their own territory and counter
attacked at speed with Steven King and Todd Dutiame
exchanging well before a pin-point pass found John Haig.
Haig was drifting diagonally across the ice mid-way inside
the Sharks defensive zone and he gladly accepted the pass
and fired the puck high into the net giving Scott McMeeken
in the home goal no chance whatsoever. Undeterred the Sharks
continued to press the visitors at every opportunity. Solway
have been implementing an intricate short-passing game much
more of late in an effort to unlock the solid defences that
we have been facing and while this can look good in attack
it has, at times, left us looking vulnerable to the
counter-attack when play breaks down. Fife are past masters
at soaking up pressure and breaking with lightning speed,
striking with deadly accuracy. So while the Sharks were
pressing hard for an equaliser and always looking dangerous
the Flyers were a constant threat themselves. The home side
got their first powerplay of the game on the ten minute mark
when Steven King was given a two minute penalty for hooking
and things looked even more hopeful when Chris Wands joined
him forty seconds later for interference. With a five on
three advantage the Sharks pressed even harder for and
equaliser and Blair Daly was forced into making several fine
saves but the Flyers defence did an excellent job at keeping
their shape thus making if difficult for Solway to break
them down and the penalty was killed. For the remainder of
the half play was fairly even and only the fine form of both
netminders kept the remainder of the period scoreless and
the Flyers headed to the dressing room with a one-nil lead.
 In
the opening minutes of the second period play was pretty
tight as both sides realised the importance of the next goal
and the only points of any real note were the exchanging of
penalties, one to each side. Neal Haworth got two minutes
for hooking for the home side and Chris Wands quickly
negated the powerplay when he received two minutes for
slashing forty seconds later. A sustained period of pressure
from the Sharks was broken in the twenty-fourth minute when
a John Haig pass out of defence found Chris Wands and he put
the visitors ahead by two. The Sharks renewed their pressure
and when Tim McKay was found unmarked in front of the Flyers
goal the entire home crowd arose as one to celebrate. Tim
fired the puck goalward but Blair Daly in the Fife goal
dived full length and somehow, goodness only knows how,
managed to deflect the puck with his stick onto the crossbar
in what was a truly outstanding piece of netminding
(pictured right). In the photo, which is not as sharp as I
would have liked I'm afraid, you can see the blur of Blair's
stick and the puck, mid-way up the far post which has
clearly been deflected upwards from its original course.
Championship sides take advantages of whatever opportunities
they are given and Fife are no exception. This break seemed
to spur them on and within a few minutes they added to their
lead and Steven King and Lewis Christie combined well to set
up Gavin Holmes to score the Flyers third goal. For the
remaining eight minutes of the second session both sides had
periods of pressure and defended well when required.
Likewise both netminders made good saves when called upon to
do so and the period ended with the score at Fife Flyers
three, Solway Sharks nil.
 If
the Sharks were to get any type of foothold in this tie it
appeared vital the they score first in the third period and
keep things tight at the back. Not to be alas. With just
under four minutes played in the period a nice passing
exchange between Steven King and Lewis Christie found an
unmarked John Haig and as usual he finished to send the
Flyers four goals clear with a fine strike high to the near
post. However, if the Flyers thought that the Sharks would
just lie down from here on in they were in for a shock.
Forty-five seconds later Kevin Conway and Bari McKenzie
combined to set up Shaun Kippin (pictured left), who flashed
a fierce wrist-shot past Blair Daly into the Fife net. This
reply stung the Flyers into a period of sustained pressure
with the Sharks trying to counter-attack when the chance was
there. But with the clock showing 48:18 Todd Dutiaume found
Chris Wands lurking just inside the Sharks blueline and his
speculative shot found the net with Scott McMeeken unsighted
by a combination of Sharks and Flyers players. Still the
Sharks would not lie down and again they took the game to
the Fife side with wave after wave of attack and forced
Blair Daly into several excellent saves. Fife were on the
back foot by now but they defended resolutely and in
frustration Bari McKenzie received two minutes for slashing.
Even with a powerplay against them the Sharks continued to
look far any opportunity to threaten the Flyers on the
break-away. With one minute twenty remaining in the game
coach Kevin Doherty called for a time out and his
instructions made it clear that he felt that the Sharks were
still very much alive in this tie. The message was to press
right up until the end of the match looking for a second
goal but to make sure we kept the back door tightly shut and
not allow the Flyers to score a sixth goal. Now some teams
leave it late, some teams leave it even later and
occasionally you find a team on Sharks time. With the clock
running down and the puck flashing across the Fife defensive
zone, John Ballentyne found Tim McKay and his shot come pass
found Bari McKenzie who deflected it into the Flyers net.
The clock showed 59:59 - now that's Sharks late. How
important was that goal to be, well we'll just have to wait
until tomorrow to find out.
Statistics for the Solway Sharks were as follows Bari
McKenzie one goal and one assist, Shaun Kippin 1+0, Tim
McKay, Kevin Conway and John Ballentyne all 0+1. Sharks
netminder Scott McMeeken saved nineteen of the twenty-four
shots that he faced for a save percentage of 79.17. Fife
Flyers netminder Blair Daly picked up the man-of-the-match
award for the visitors while Scott McMeeken received the
award for the home side.
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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