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On Sunday night the Black Bull
of Moffat sponsored Solway Sharks
travelled to Dundee Ice Arena
to take on the Dundee Stars in what turned out to be a closely
fought encounter. Missing regulars Bobby Chalmers Cammy Currie,
Euan Edgar and Raymond Haslam (out for the year with knee
ligament damage) the Sharks chalked up another inspiring
performance but again fell short in the final period.
In what is fast becoming one of the biggest
rivalries in Scottish hockey the Stars started fast and jumped
into a 2-0 first period lead after a breakaway finish by John
Dolan and a power play goal from Kris Petrie. In the only
previous visit to Dundee Ice Arena this season the Sharks were
also behind after the first period only to battle back and tie
the contest in the second. This time the Sharks peppered
twenty-one shots on the Stars' net and went one better to take
the lead with the clock showing 34:54, shocking close to a
thousand Stars' fans in the process.
 John
Ballentyne started the comeback
with a goal assisted by Tin McKay.
The screamer of a shot from the blue line actually deflected off
a stunned Struan Tonnar to find its way high into the net but
justly was awarded to the shooter. Scott
McMeeken gave way to Dewar Anderson in the Sharks' cage at this
point after McMeeken kept the Sharks close with a strong
performance. Kevin Conway added the second with Mark Gallagher
picking up the helper. Bari McKenzie then hit the back of
the net with a powerplay effort that was aided by Neal Haworth
and recent signing John Downes (pictured right).
Sharks were now in front three to two and seemed
to be in control with another powerplay opportunity in the final
minutes. But unfortunately a lapse in concentration allowed
Stars' youngster Willie Nicholson to send John Dolan off on a
breakaway and the talisman tied the score to set up another
exciting finale. On to
the third and final period which has been the 'Achilles Heel'
for Solway recently and once again the Sharks faltered but at
least they managed to push the Stars right to the bitter end.
Canadian Jeff Marshall started the proceedings at 45:14 to give
the Stars the lead again . At this point a few minds in the
Sharks camp may have been thinking that this was the end of the
visitors challenge but the Sharks continued to believe and Mark
Gallagher scored with the man advantage to once again tie the
scores. Assisting on the play were Tim McKay and Chris Gracie.
The game now entered a tense final ten minutes
and on the 52:17 minute mark John Dolan gave the Stars the lead
once again. With neither team prepared to blink the next passage
of play was hard and fast and with 58:18 Liam Gregg gave Dundee
what appeared to be un unassailable lead with an unassisted
effort. However, the Sharks were not yet willing to give up and
Kevin Conway, assisted by Bari McKenzie, scored with six seconds
left to give the Sharks the faintest glimmer of hope. But it was
not to be and the Stars played out the final seconds to record a
hard fought six to five victory.
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 |
