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 Sunday
evening was always going to be hard for the Black Bull of Moffat
sponsored Solway Sharks at Whitley Bay Ice Rink. The contest was a
non-starter as both teams could not play with any fluency with the
puck bouncing around more like a football. This defect could have
put the crowd to sleep if it was not for the sub-zero temperature
inside the building.
The Sharks
opened the scoring after four minutes fifty-six seconds through
Kevin Conway after a goalmouth scramble and they looked the livelier
team in five on five situations. Unnecessary penalties given away by
the Dumfries outfit proved to be the difference for the remainder of
the period when the Warriors tallied two powerplay goals within
three minutes of one another. An Andrew Carter strike in the
eleventh minute was followed by a Karl Culley marker to send the
teams into the first intermission at two to one to Whitley.
The second
period was a closely fought contest as both teams registered eleven
shots on goal but no-one could beat the Sharks goalie Scott McMeeken
(pictured above right) nor his counterpart from the Warriors,
Anthony Markham.
The score
remained two-one until eight minutes were left in the match when
Culley scored again after a mistake by the Sharks down low in their
own defensive zone. Culley completed his hat-trick after the Sharks
gambled in the final minutes by playing four forwards in a bid to
get some offence flowing. Andrew Tindale finished the scoring with
eighteen seconds left to play to hand the Solway. only their fifth
loss of the season.
Sharks' coach
Kevin Doherty said after the Whitley game: "It was just one of those
nights when nothing was going our way. It was tough to pass the puck
on that ice pad at the best of times." Looking forward to next
weekend he added: "We have to make sure that we are ready and
focused for the Stars this time. The belief in the squad is there
but now we have to do the business on the ice. It is going to take
complete concentration and a hundred and ten percent effort
from every man to take the points."
The Sharks drop
to second place in the Northern League table after Fife Flyers
trounced Billingham Bombers ten-nil in Kirkcaldy.
Man-of-the-match
for the Sharks was Scott McMeeken who saved twenty-five of the
thirty shots that he faced (Save percentage 83.33%). Other Sharks statistics were: Kevin
Conway one goal and no assists, Bari McKenzie 0+1.
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
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