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 The Border Utilities sponsored Solway Sharks are back in
Northern League action against the unbeaten Fife Flyers at
Dumfries Ice Bowl on Saturday night (face-off 7:30pm) and they
go into the match on the back of a run of five straight
victories. Last Saturday night the ice bowl once more hosted
international visitors when the Sharks met the Dundalk Bulls for
the St Andrews Cup in what turned out to be one of the most
closely contested matches in quite some time.
Both teams sounded each other out in the opening exchanges but
from the start it was obvious that the visitors were big,
strong, fast skaters who were skilful in possession and not
afraid to put their bodies on the line when required. The home
sides first real sight of goal came in the fifth minute when
John Churchill tried his luck from just outside the blueline on
the right-hand boards and his shot was quickly followed by an
Ian Defty effort but the netminder was quick to cover his angles
on both occasions. The visitors first serious assault on the
Sharks goal came in the seventh minute when Yrochowik skated at
speed up the right wing beating two Solway defensemen to bring
him one-on-one with Scott McMeeken but the home keeper managed
to smother the shot and seconds he later had to be alert to push
a long shot from Balmer wide. But there was nothing McMeeken
could do a minute later when Willie Morrison and McKeirnan
combined to find Hogberg in front of the Sharks net and the
forward finished low to the netminders left from close range to
give the Bulls a deserved lead. For the remainder of the period
play swung from end to end and their was enough heavy checks,
goalmouth incident and entertaining play to keep the crowd on
the edge of their seats but there was no further score.
The second session began where the first left off with both
sides playing an expansive game and looking to attack at every
available opportunity and, as the period developed, it was the
Sharks who gradually began to gain the upper hand. In the
seventh minute tempers flared briefly and Matt Seddon and
Wachowski were both sent to the penalty box for delaying the
game. A minute later John Churchill and M Ainesio joined them
when they were both penalised for roughing. As the clock
approached the twenty-nine minute mark the Sharks finally got
the goal their attacking play deserved. Mark Gallagher fed Kevin
Conway behind the Bulls goal and the big Canadian looked up to
see Anthony Payne drifting towards goal and a perfect lay-off
gave the Sharks forward a simple chance to lift the puck over
the keeper and level the scores. Dewar Anderson replaced Scott
McMeeken at the mid-way point in the match and immediately he
found himself under enormous pressure when Defty followed Payne
into the ‘sin bin’ to give the visitors a five on three man
advantage but the Sharks defence stood firm for over a minute of
constant Dundalk pressure. For the remainder of the period the
Sharks were generally in control of the match, although the
Bulls were always dangerous if given clear ice to skate into and
the match remained tied at one at the second intermission.
 Three minutes into the final period Solway took a deserved lead
for the first time in the match as Defty and Conway combined on
the left to find Mark Gallagher at the back post and he slotted
home past the helpless netminder. The Bulls, however, had not
travelled over from Ireland to simply lie down and accept defeat
and gradually they began to haul themselves back into the game.
With eight minutes gone Minarecy made a massive hit on Anthony
Payne to the left of the Bulls goal which spread-eagled the
Sharks forward against the boards and Ian Defty, in defence of
his team-mate, went in with fists flying. The referee had no
option but to give the Sharks defenceman a game misconduct
penalty for fighting while the Bulls player received a minor
penalty for boarding. These incidents often fire up one team
more than another and this time Dundalk gained the benefit as
within two minutes McKeirnan and Ainesio combined to set up
Hogberg for his second strike of the night.
Despite constant action and heroics from both netminders there
was to be no further score and the match headed into a penalty
shootout. First up was the Bulls goal scorer Erik Hogberg and
opted to come in close but Dewar Anderson watched it all the way
and made a glove save low to his left. First penalty taker for
the Sharks was John Churchill and he came up the centre and
lifted the puck over the netminders stick hand (right) to put
the Sharks ahead before Labbudd, in similar fashion, levelled
the scores for the visitors with their next shot. Next up for
the Sharks was Anthony Payne and seemed to skate up to the net
almost in slow motion before lifting his shot over the diving
keeper. Next up for the Bulls was Kenny Redmond and he opted to
test Anderson high to his left but once again the Sharks
netminder was up to the task, 2-1 Sharks. Kevin Conway was next
up for the Sharks and he made a late cut to the keepers left
before lifting his shot high into the net. Dundalk now needed to
score with their fourth penalty or the match was over and as
McKeirnan bore down on goal he cut sharp right. But Anderson
read the move and spread his body to force the forward wide from
where he could only shoot wide of the goal to give the Sharks
victory.
Scoring statistics for the Sharks were as follows Kevin Conway
and Mark Gallagher both one goal and one assist, Anthony Payne
and Ian Defty both 0+1. Scott McMeeken saved thirty-three of the
thirty-four shots that he faced (save percentage 97.06) while
Dewar Anderson saved eleven of the twelve shots that he faced
(save percentage 91.67%). Cavens Arms man of the match for the
Sharks was Mark Gallagher while Erik Hogberg picked up the award
for the visitors.
The views and statistics in
this report are individual and do not necessarily reflect
the opinions of the Solway Sharks.
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