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The
Solway Sharks, sponsored by the Black Bull of Moffat, travelled
up to Dundee Ice Arena on Saturday night to take on the Dundee
Texol Stars in the first leg of their Scottish National League
play-off semi-final. Previous matches between the two sides had
already proven to be tight contests and this tie was to be no
different.
 The
opening exchanges showed that neither side was prepared to give
away cheap opportunities to their opponents and both sides
fought hard for any scrap that could be used to their own
advantage. The penalty box has been one of the busiest places on
the rink in previous matches and it saw its first visitor with
2:09 on the clock when Sam McCluskey incurred the referees wrath
for holding an opponents stick. The Sharks failed to press home
their advantage on the powerplay and ninety seconds later the
sides were even-handed as a slack line change resulted in a two
minute bench penalty for too many players on the ice. Play
remained tight and when a player did get a sight on goal they
found Scott McMeeken and Matthew Michie in fine form in their
respective goals. Just after the half-way point in the first
period the game burst into life. Firstly Liam Greig received two
minutes for slashing then thirty seconds later it looked like
the Sharks would have a five on three advantage when Craig
Philips joined his team mate in the ‘sin bin’ having been
penalised for boarding. However Solway also received their
second bench penalty leaving the Dumfries side with a single man
advantage. As the Sharks pressed the Stars goal in search of an
advantage the un-thinkable happened. A loose puck was picked up
by Dundee and John Dolan and Willie Nicholson combined to
present Jeff Marshall a chance which he happily accepted. The
shot count in the session shows how much effort Solway were
putting in as they out-shot the Stars by fourteen shots to
seven, but there were few notable points in the remainder of the
period other than Scott Plews receiving a two minute penalty for
interference.
The intensity remained high throughout the second period as play
ebbed and flowed from end to end. Each team strove to take
control of the match and each side could claim dominance for
short periods of time but it was never long before the pendulum
swung towards their opponent. Throughout the period there was
plenty of goal-mouth action as the netminders faced a combined
total of twenty-seven shots on goal, with the Sharks getting in
the extra shot. However, with just under three minutes left in
the period it was the Stars who added to their lead when Scott
Plews and John Churchill combined to set up Kyle Doig for the
score that sent the Taysiders into the second interval with a
two-nil lead.
The atmosphere was heavy as both teams took to the ice for the
final period and if the Sharks were to make a match of this tie
it was imperative that they score first and score they did.
Gaining possession from the face-off Mark Gallagher and Chris
Gracie combined to set up Bari McKenzie (above right) who made
no mistake. The Stars, however, are nothing short of competitive
and Solway's’ joy was short lived as within thirty seconds John
Churchill and Kyle Doig combined to allow Kris Petrie to the
Taysiders two goal advantage. One minute and eight second had
elapsed in the period. Three minutes into the period Liam Greig
was given a two minute penalty for holding and he joined in the
penalty box thirty seconds later by John Dolan who had been
penalised for holding. With a five on three advantage Sharks
pressed hard but the man-advantage was reduced to one when John
Downes was penalised for holding his opponents stick. Sharks
continued to press on the powerplay and were rewarded John
Ballentyne and Bari McKenzie combined to allow Tim McKay to
score with the clock showing 44:56. Play continued to
hard-fought for the next ten minutes with no quarter asked or
given then came what may in hindsight be described as a pivotal
moment in the tie. Ex Dumfries stalwart John Churchill was given
a two minute penalty for interference with five and a half
minutes remaining in the match. However, his opinion of the
incident differed from the referees and he received a further
ten minute misconduct penalty. This not only ruled him out of
the remainder of this leg, the cumulative points accrued ruled
him out of the return leg too. The penalty sparked a period of
frantic effort from both sides as the clock ticked down. 55:46,
the Stars still short-handed break away and John Dolan fires in
from a Jeff Marshall pass to restore their two goal lead. 57:23,
Sharks pressure the Dundee net and Kevin Conway and Bari
McKenzie combine to set up Mark Gallagher, Stars four Sharks
three. 58:41, John Dolan and Liam Greig combine this time to
allow Jeff Marshall to give the Stars a two goal lead to take to
Dumfries for the second leg.
Sharks statistics were as follows Bari McKenzie one goal and two
assists, Mark Gallagher 1+1, Tim McKay 1+0, Kevin Conway, Chris
Gracie and John Ballentyne all 0+1. Sharks netminder, Scott
McMeeken, saved twenty-six of the thirty-one that he faced for a
save percentage of 83.87.
The views and statistics in
this report are individual and do not necessarily reflect
the opinions of the Solway Sharks.
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