|
 The
Solway Sharks, sponsored by the Black Bull of Moffat, completed
a perfect weekend in Lancashire on Sunday night when the downed
the Blackburn Hawks by a score of five to one. The Northern
League action came less than twenty-fours after extending their
lead at the top of the Scottish National League with a seven to
four victory over the Moray Tornadoes.
Sharks travelled south for an important contest
after two narrow road defeats at the hands of Fife Flyers in the
sophomore season of the Northern competition and did not
disappoint the small but loud Scottish support as Solway jumped
out to a two - nil first period lead. Sharks Hull residents Tim
McKay and Kevin Conway connected for both markers. With the
young Hawks skating and working hard it was not evident at that
point that the Sharks had already done enough offensively to
secure the points.
The second period went mostly the same way as the
first when Man of the Match Chris Gracie found the net twice to
put the Sharks four - nil ahead. The first goal was scored as
the former Hawks defenseman left the penalty box and headed
towards the back post of the Blackburn net. Kevin Conway was
once again the provider as the Canadian fakes a shot to the
right of the Hawks netminder and slid a cross to the left where
Gracie could make no mistake. Minutes later Gracie found the net
again as he converted a pass from Ross Edgar and blasted home
from the blue line while the Sharks enjoyed a man advantage.
Hawks did manage to claw one back to the delight
of the boisterous home support after some sloppy play in the
Sharks defensive zone but they could not take further advantage
of their surge of energy as the Sharks secured the back and the
period wound down.
The opening minutes of the final period were
crucial for the Solway Sharks as a few weeks previously
Blackburn came back from four - nil to Nottingham Lions at the
same stage. However, the Dumfries side played some solid hockey
to keep the advantage and Cammy Currie ended all home hopes of a
comeback midway through the final period with possibly the goal
of the night. The play started inside the Hawks zone with a
'tic-tac-toe' play from Bob Chalmers to Bari McKenzie then on to
Currie who could have walked the puck into the back of the net
where the Hawks goalie was nowhere to be found.
Scott McMeeken (pictured above) had a good night
in the Sharks net as he stopped all but one of the twenty-seven
shots he faced (Save percentage 96.30%), Sharks had thirty-eight at the other end.
The views and statistics in
this report are individual and do not necessarily reflect
the opinions of the Solway Sharks.
Report courtesy of the Dumfries &
Galloway Standard |
