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 The
Solway Sharks entertained the Billingham Bombers at Dumfries Ice
Bowl on Saturday night in a Northern League four-pointer. From
the opening face-off play flowed from end to end as both sides
demonstrated their intent to play fast entertaining hockey. It
was to be Billingham who were the first to have an attempt on
goal as Thornton tested Dewar Anderson's reactions but he was
down quickly to smother the danger at his left-hand post. But
the Sharks were looking sharp too as Euan Edgar, Tim McKay and
Kevin Conway all tested Flavell in the visitors goal in quick
succession. As the game approached the mid point of the first
period Solway were gradually edging on top although both side
looked capable of counter-attacking at speed when their
opponents lost control of the puck. In the eighth minute
Thornton tested Anderson for a second time and on the Sharks
breakaway John Ballentyne hit a thunderous slapshot from the
blueline which Flavell saved well with his pads. Seconds later
the puck was back in the Solway defensive zone where a loose
pass left Billingham momentarily with a two on one advantage but
a massive fore-check by Alan Crane on the Bombers forward as he
prepared to shoot saved the day.
With twelve and a half minutes gone Corrie Telfer won a face-off
to the left of the Billingham goal and the puck rolled towards
the centre of the goal area where Shaun Kippin tried to force it
through a crowd of players. The deflection broke to the right of
the goal where Euan Edgar tried his luck before skating around
behind the goal. Meanwhile Flavell had parried his shot and in
the ensuing goal-mouth scramble the puck fell to Edgar, now to
the left of the goal, and he lifted his shot over the netminders
right hand to give the Sharks the lead. A minute later the
Sharks gave Billingham a powerplay when Mark Gallagher was
penalised for interference but it was the home side who
threatened first as Alan Crane won possession in defence and fed
Struan Tonnar who found Tim McKay with a long diagonal pass but
the visiting netminder smothered his shot well and saved well
again from McKay from the resulting face-off. Then it was the
turn of the Bombers to test Anderson again as he saved high to
his right from Hehir and then low to his left from Box. Another
Bombers powerplay in the sixteenth minute saw Gibbon latch onto
a long pass out of defence but his shot was easily dealt with by
Anderson. Seconds later Gibbon again picked up the puck on the
left and he cut sharply inside Churchill leaving him one on one
with Anderson but the Sharks netminder had his angles well
covered and the first interval found the home side ahead by one.
 The
second period began with an early chance for the Sharks as Shaun
Kippin robbed a Billingham defender at centre-ice and went
through one on one but Flavell saved well low to his left.
Another Billingham powerplay became a five on three advantage in
the twenty-seventh minute when Crane joined Gallagher in the
penalty box which led to a minute of backs-to-the-wall defending
for the home side. But as time ran out on the first penalty and
the Bombers returned to a single man advantage they got a huge
break as the referee missed a clear trip on Mark Gallagher as he
raced clear of the last defender. However, the second
breakthrough was not to be long in coming. In the thirty-second
minute Fraser Goldie and Shaun Kippin combine to feed Corrie
Telfer deep on the left-hand boards. Telfer then skated up
centre-ice beating two Bombers for speed and a third for good
measure as he cut inside before flicking a wrist shot high over
the keepers right hand and into the roof of the net.
Throughout the match there had been a suggestion that trouble
could break out and in the thirty-fourth minute that was nearly
the case. Tim McKay was penalised for tripping on the boards
behind the Solway net and in the ensuing rumpus Alan Crane was
also given a two plus two minute penalty for roughing and delay
of game while Billingham’s Ricky Box was also penalised for
delay of game. The situation, where a less experienced or
approachable referee may have lost control, was well handled by
Bob Cowan and the game returned the gripping encounter that the
crowd had been enjoying previously. On the resultant powerplay
Billingham, who appeared to be motivated by the altercation,
poured forward and Anderson was forced to make a fine double
save from Price, but he then blotted his copybook when he was
penalised for high sticks to return the teams to even strength.
This time, however, the momentum was to bring the Bombers back
into the game as Hehir and McCabe combines to set up Windridge
to reduce the deficit to one at the second intermission.
The third period began with two early penalties in Billingham’s
favour as firstly Fraser Goldie was called for high sticks and
then John Churchill joined him briefly in the penalty box for
interference. Billingham still had a man advantage as the game
entered its forty-fifth minute when a loose pass in the Sharks
defence was intercepted by Pritchard who found Box in the centre
eight yards from goal and he gave Anderson no chance as he
levelled the scores. Solway immediately went on the offensive in
an effort to regain control of the match and Flavell had to be
in top form as he was called into action by Edgar, Gallagher and
Conway in quick succession. By now it was almost constant Sharks
pressure and Ballentyne and Tonnar were next to test the
Billingham netminder with long-range efforts from the blueline.
 With
just over eight minute remaining Solway got the breakthrough
that their attacking play deserved. From a face-off to the left
of the Billingham goal the puck broke back to the blueline where
it was stopped by Crane. The Sharks defenceman then fed McKay
along the left-hand boards and he slipped a pass square to Mark
Gallagher who joyfully lifted his shot over Flavell’s right hand
from six yards out. Billingham were in no mood to roll over and
within minutes Crane came to Solway’s rescue with a goal-line
clearance and then Anderson had to make another fine save with
his stick hand from a long-range effort. A penalty for roughing
by Ballentyne gave Billingham another powerplay but the Sharks
almost scored a short-handed goal as Tonnar picked up possession
behind his own net before skating up the ice beating several
defenders before cutting a pass back to Telfer but Flavell again
smothered his shot. In the last two minutes of the match
Billingham twice pulled their netminder in favour of an extra
skater but it was to no avail and when the Sharks did gain
possession of the puck they couldn’t quite get a clear shot at
the empty net.
Overall this was a hard-fought and well-earned victory for the
Sharks although we do still need to tighten up on loose passes
in defence and to score from a greater percentage of our shots
on goal. Fraser Goldie, who signed as an Under 20’s player from
the Paisley Pirates recently, looks to be a good addition to the
Solway squad and certainly impressed on his debut. Statistics
for the Sharks were as follows: Corrie Telfer one goal and one
assist, Mark Gallagher and Euan Edgar both 1+0, Shaun Kippin
0+2, Fraser Goldie, Alan Crane and Tim McKay all 0+1. Dewar
Anderson saved twenty-three of the twenty-five shots that he
faced for a save percentage of 92.00%.
The views and statistics in
this report are individual and do not necessarily reflect
the opinions of the Solway Sharks.
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