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 With
the Black Bull of Moffat sponsored Solway Sharks leading two-nil
after three minutes of the second period, there could not have many
amongst the contingent of visiting supporters who would have
anticipated how close this encounter would become and how lucky the
Sharks were to leave Braehead on even terms.
Throughout the
first period the Sharks were skating smoothly, defending competently
when required and always looking dangerous when on the attack. This
was confirmed on the scoreboard when Bari McKenzie scored the first
of his three goals with 8:49 on the clock. The goal, assisted by
Kevin Conway and Chris Gracie, came on a powerplay and indiscipline
was to hit the Pirates hard with three of the Sharks four goals
coming on powerplays.
The second
period started brightly for the Sharks and with 2:51 of the second
period gone Bari McKenzie (pictured below right) added his second,
this time assisted by Wayne Slater and Chris Gracie. The Pirates,
however, gradually inched their way further into the match as the
Sharks appeared to take their feet off the pedal and it was no real
surprise when Graham McCamley added the first of his brace of goals
for the night. Worse was to come for the visitors. With the clock
showing 36:20 Kevin Conway was given a two minute penalty for
interference and within fifty seconds McCamley had notched his
second to level the scores against the short-handed Sharks. Stung
into action, it took the Sharks just seventeen seconds to regain the
lead as Kevin Conway scored from a Chris Gracie pass. But there was
no way that the enthusiastic Pirates were willing to let the Sharks
settle on their lead and, with the clock showing 38:36, Alan McAteer
scored after crisp lead up play by McCamley and Chris Conaboy to
send the sides into the second intermission with the scores tied at
three.
 As
the final period got underway the Pirates started the stronger and
with 5:51 gone in the period McAteer, assisted by Myles Watson
Martin King, gave the home side their first lead of the night. This
time is was the Sharks who refused to lie down and within two
minutes Bari McKenzie latched onto Kevin Conways' pass to level the
scores at four. For the remaining twelve minutes of the match both
sides tried to break the deadlock without ever really looking like
doing so. So as the clock ticked down towards zero the tie remained
perfectly set up for the second leg and all that was left to do was
check that you still had your car keys and head for home. Finally we
should say what a fine arena Braehead is for viewing a match
although the refreshments were a little on the pricey side. We hope
that the Pirates have a long and happy stay in their new home and we
look forward to visiting you again next season.
The statistics
for the Sharks show that they out-shot the Pirates forty-six to
thirty three on the night. BariMcKenzie top scored with three goals
and no assists, Kevin Conway 1+2, Chris Gracie 0+2, Corrie Telfer
and Wayne Slater 0+1. Netminder Scott McMeeken saved twenty-nine of
the thirty-three shots that he faced (Save percentage 87.88%). Man of the match for the
Sharks was awarded to Mark Gallagher while Alan McAteer took the
honour for the Pirates and they were
presented by Lucy Walters and Thomas Logan from
Glenburn in Paisley who won a competition run by the Paisley Daily
Express this week.
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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