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The Solway Sharks travelled up to Tayside on Sunday night for a
Scottish Premier Hockey League match against the Dundee Texol
Stars and came away stunned as the home side ran out ten-one
winners on the night. They now face an important weekend ahead
when they entertain the Billingham Bombers in Northern League
action at Dumfries Ice Bowl on Saturday night, face off 7:30pm,
before travelling to Edinburgh to take on the Capitals the
following night in the SPHL. Both these matches will be played
for double points so victories this weekend could supply the
springboard required to kick-start the Sharks season and with
this in mind it is hoped that a large turnout will be on hand to
roar the lads to victory.
 The first period on Sunday night began quite slowly as each team
seemed to be content to size each other up and it was obvious
that neither side wanted to give away an early advantage to the
opposition. As the game entered the third minute the Sharks had
two half-chances, firstly Shaun Kippin deflected a shot onto
Michies’ pads and then seconds later Gordon Horne shot narrowly
wide of the netminders left-hand post. This was to signal a
period of extended pressure for Solway but too often the final
pass was not quite there and the loose puck wouldn’t quite go to
stick. At this point the Stars were very much on the back foot
and relying on the break-away to relieve pressure and on one
such occasion Haig looked to have broken free but the defence
did well to get back and cover the danger. The only other
threats to the Sharks goal at this point came from long range
efforts from Nicholson and Greig which Dewar Anderson did well
to cover. Just after the ten minute mark Corrie Telfer collected
a loose puck deep and took it neatly up the ice and in behind
the Stars goal before cutting it back to Alan Crane but the big
defenceman's shot was well covered by Michie. From the resulting
face-off John Downs fired in a powerful shot that forced the
home keeper into action once again as he deflected the puck over
the crossbar and away to safety.
With six minutes remaining in the period the Sharks were
attacking once again but on this occasion the forwards were slow
to get back on-side and as John Ballentyne desperately tried to
hold play at the blueline he was robbed by Petrie. The puck fell
to Latto who set off at speed up the left-hand boards before
slipping a square pass to an un-marked John Haig and this time
the prolific forward made no mistake in finding the net. Solway
immediately set about levelling the scores and were given a
chance to do so when Hogg, under pressure, was called for high
sticks. On the Sharks powerplay Corrie Telfer broke up the
right-hand side and found himself in the clear, one-on-one with
the keeper, and, even though he had McKay free beside him, he
took the responsibility of shooting himself. Unfortunately for
the Dumfries side the Dundee netminder managed to smother the
shot. The Sharks man advantage lasted less than a minute before
Tim McKay was penalised for high sticks reducing the sides to
four men on four. The Stars returned to full strength first and
on their own powerplay they set about extending their advantage.
Dolan found himself in acres of space wide on the left-hand
boards, he steadied himself, took aim and fired in a low, hard,
speculative shot which beat Dewar Anderson at his right-hand
post. Any hopes that the Sharks had of reducing the two goal
deficit before the first interval evaporated when penalties
against Alan Crane and Ross Edgar gave the Taysiders a numerical
advantage as the clock ticked down to the twenty minute mark.
 Solway began the second period with a successful penalty kill
before receiving a numerical advantage of their own when Haig
was called for cross-checking, but, try as they might, nothing
would fall kindly for them in front of the Stars net. As so
often is the case when nothing is going right for you at one end
of the ice disaster then strikes at the other. Five minutes into
the period Dolan collected a pass from Robertson and unleashed a
powerful drive at the Solway goal which Anderson appeared to
have covered but, as happened last week, the puck squirmed from
his grasp and found the back of the net. With a three goal
advantage and all the pressure off Dundee began to spray the
puck around the ice and, while they never stopped trying, the
Sharks were always on the back foot from this point on. On the
half hour mark Dundee increased their advantage once again when
Haig converted after good work from Latto and Robertson and he
added his hat-trick goal when he was set up by Philips.
The final session opened with the match as good as over as a
contest and, on reflection, the Sharks may have been better
served to have changed tactics to a more defensive game plan.
Damage limitation. However, the team showed that they still had
spirit as they attacked throughout and matched their Tayside
opponents seventeen shots apiece in the final session.
Unfortunately that also played into Dundee’s game plan and they
added five further goals through Dolan (2), Robertson (2) and
Haig, four of those being in a devastating four minute spell
from the mid-way point in the period. With four minutes left in
the game Alan Crane found John Ballentyne on the left-hand
boards, close to the goal-line. The big defenceman searched for
the free man but, seeing everyone covered, he unleashed a
powerful drive that cannoned off Michies' shoulder and into the
Dundee goal to finally give the Sharks supporters something to
shout about.
To lose ten-one to your opponents is a devastating experience
but the players can at least take heart that they never once
stopped trying and over the course of the match were only out
shot by forty-three to thirty-eight.
The Sharks statistics on the day were as follows; John
Ballentyne one goal and no assists, Alan Crane 0+1. Dewar
Anderson saved twenty-one of the twenty-six shots that he faced
(80.77%) before he was replaced by Scott McMeeken at the second
interval and he saved twelve of the seventeen shots that he
faced (70.59%). Gordon Horne picked up the man-of-the match
award for the Sharks while that honour fell to Ian Robertson for
the Taysiders.
The views and statistics in
this report are individual and do not necessarily reflect
the opinions of the Solway Sharks.
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