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 The
Black Bull of Moffat sponsored Solway Sharks entertained the
Dundee Texol Stars at Dumfries Ice Bowl on Sunday night in the
2nd leg of their Scottish Cup semi-final. The tie was evenly
balanced from the previous nights away leg with the Dumfries
side holding a slender three goals to two advantage. While both
sides were eager to progress to meet the Fife Flyers in the
final, the Sharks had the added incentive of hosting the final
at the end of April.
The match began with the Stars attacking the Sharks goal from
the outset but with barely thirty seconds on the clock the puck
broke to Bari McKenzie and both sets of fans must have had a
sense of deja-vu as he raced up the centre of the rink. The
previous night Bari thundered the puck into the Stars net at the
very same stage of that game, this time, unfortunately, he
thundered it past Mathew Michie’s right hand post. For the next
few minutes the Stars attacked hard and fast while the Sharks
put up stalwart, and at times frantic defence. Then a rebound
from a Dundee shot fell to Gordon Horne and he beat a defender
to the puck at centre-ice on the right hand- boards. Dundee
pressure forced him to stay wide when he may have cut inside and
his shot from close to the boards flashed across the goal and
wide of the post.
For the next ten minutes both sides dominated play at times and
both sides defended with determination and broke whenever the
opportunity arose. A face-off in the Sharks defensive zone broke
to Dundee which allowed John Churchill and Kyle Doig to exchange
long passes along the boards behind the Solway net the puck
ending up with Kris Petrie. He looked to be heading harmlessly
behind the net but a superb change of direction brought him out
near side of the net and as Scott McMeeken went down to cover
Petrie neatly lifted the puck up and over the Sharks netminders
right hand and into the net to give the Stars the lead on the
night and to level the tie on aggregate.
The match continued to flow backwards and forwards with no team
dominating at this point until it neared the fifteen minute
mark. Some excellent foraging work from Bari McKenzie behind the
Dundee goal allowed him to set up a totally unmarked Mark
Gallagher but the forward scuffed his shot and Michie was quick
to smother the puck. The Stars relief was to short-lived
however, as from the resultant face-off they failed to properly
clear their lines and a loose pass found McKenzie just outside
the blueline. Ever the predator, he skated hard at the Dundee
defence and buried the puck low to Michie’s right to level the
scores. The game looked to be heading into the first
intermission with the scores level until with just thirty
seconds left in the period John Churchill and Sam McCluskey
combined to set up Liam Greig. Scott McMeeken in the Solway net
did well to block Greig’s first effort but the rebound fell
nicely for the same player to send the large and vocal
travelling support into raptures and the Tayside team into the
lead.
 The
second period began with the same intensity that was seen
throughout the first as both teams matched each other in both
technical skills, effort and determination. Numerous postings
have been made on forums in recent days saying that the first
two periods in tonight’s game has been some of the best hockey
they’ve seen this year and I would echo those sentiments. Both
Dundee goals in the first leg were scored on power-plays and
midway through the second period they were about to return to
haunt us once again. With Chris Grace in the penalty box,
serving two minutes for interference, Mark Gallagher dived full
length in an effort to intercept the puck on the visitors
blueline, had accomplished that feat who knows what might have
happened next. Unfortunately for us he didn’t and Jeff Marshall
gratefully raced up the ice, making full use of the vacant space
he squared the puck to Liam Greig who made no mistake with his
shot to give the visitors a three-one lead (5-4 on aggregate).
Sometimes you get the breaks, sometimes you don’t.
Just before the final period began a wise and knowledgeable
gentleman informed me that the Sharks would have to play out of their
skins for the final twenty minutes if they were to pull this
game out of the fire - how right that man was. It was also
imperative that Solway should score first, sadly this was
not to be. With 6:49 gone in the period Craig Philips and Liam Greig combined well and John Dolan shattered the Sharks fans
hearts and the teams confidence. After this body-blow a result
just didn’t seem likely although the players themselves never
stopped trying and Mathew Michie was forced into several good
saves. With just under nine minutes left Kevin Conway and Tim
McKay exchanged passes and John Downs, Sharks man-of-the-match
thundered a shot from close to the blueline past the Stars
man-of-the-match, Mathew Michie. The rekindled hopes lasted less
than a hundred and fifty seconds before John Dolan once more
slammed the door shut with a fine solo effort to end the match
with the scores at Dundee Stars five, Solway Sharks two (seven -
five on aggregate).
Overall it has to be said that Dundee were well worth their
victory overall and both teams provided a great spectacle of
attacking, exciting ice hockey, especially in the first two
periods. We wish the Stars well in the final and if they play
like that it should be a cracking game between themselves and
Fife Flyers here at Dumfries Ice Bowl on April the 28th.
Sharks statistics were as follows: Bari McKenzie and John Downes
both one goal and no assists, Kevin Conway and Tim McKay both
0-1. Sharks netminder Scott McMeeken saved thirty-nine out of
the forty-four shots that he faced, a save percentage of 88.64.
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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