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 The Solway Sharks, sponsored by Border Utilities,
return to SPHL action at Dumfries Ice Bowl this weekend with a
tremendous double-header on the cards. On Saturday evening they
face the Dundee Texol Stars in a match that has a 7:30pm
face-off and the following evening they once more take on the
might of the Fife Flyers, face-off on Sunday evening is at
6:00pm. Last weekend the Sharks went a long way towards securing
a place in this years Scottish Cup Final when they recorded a
hard-fought six-three victory over the Dundee Tigers in the
first leg of their semi-final tie.
The match began as it was to continue for most of the night
with the Sharks firmly entrenched in the Dundee half of the rink
and the Tigers netminder was called into action on several
occasions. However, it was to be the Tigers who had the first
serious chance of the night when a loose pass in the home
defence found Reekie alone in front of goal, thankfully Dewar
Anderson made a fine stick save to deny the Dundee man. Play
immediately swung to the opposite end where Corrie Telfer closed
in on goal but Jackson was alert to knock his shot away to
safety. With six and a half minutes played Struan Tonnar played
the puck out to Tim McKay in front of the Tigers goal, his shot
was blocked by the keeper but Matt Seddon was on hand to score
his third goal in five games.
Shortly after the opening goal an overheating bulb caused the
match to be stopped for twenty minutes to clear broken glass
from the ice and on the restart good stick-work from Robbie
Brown took him past two defenders but his shot couldn’t beat
Jackson. In the eleventh minute the goal scorer turned villain
when he tripped a Tiger forward in full flight to give the
visitors a man advantage. During the powerplay Crozier levelled
the scores when he picked up a loose puck in front of the Sharks
goal and lifted his shot into the net over the diving Anderson.
Solway went straight back onto the attack and an extended period
of pressure as the clock approached the sixteen minute mark saw
Gordon Horne collect possession at centre-ice and head towards
the Dundee goal. The Sharks forward beat two Tigers defenders
before firing at goal, Jackson was able to block the shot but
the puck fell to Bari McKenzie who shot into the empty net. As
the Sharks looked to add to their advantage Jackson was forced
into making good saves from both Tim McKay and Struan Tonnar but
it looked like there would be no further scoring until the
Tigers received their second powerplay of the evening. For the
first time Dundee managed to exert a period of sustained
pressure on the Solway goal and eventually Hannah fed Reekie in
front of goal and the sides were level once more. With their
tails up the Tigers continued to press and two more penalties
against the home side gave the Dundee men a two man advantage as
the clock ticked down to the first interval.
 The break gave the Sharks time to regroup and on the restart
they were able to run down the penalty kill with little real
difficulty and on their return to full strength they once more
went on the offensive. Tim McKay set up Corrie Telfer but under
pressure from the Tigers defence he couldn’t find the power to
beat Jackson and a good skate up the centre of the rink by
Tonnar came to nothing when he failed to lift his shot over the
diving keeper from close range. As the match approached the
midway mark Tim McKay cut inside two defenders before firing in
a shot that deflected to safety from the Dundee goal frame.
Shortly after this there was a minor flashpoint in the Tigers
goalmouth when Gavin Hart and Bari McKenzie dropped their gloves
in an altercation that saw them both receive
two-plus-two-plus-ten for roughing. On the thirty-two minute it
was Struan Tonnar’s turn to strike the pipes with a fierce drive
but the next breakthrough wasn’t to be long in coming for the
Sharks. The puck was behind the Dundee goal when it was sent
around the boards, a Dundee stick then deflected it towards Mark
Gallagher who picked his spot and found the net from a tight
angle.
With such a slender lead to show for the possession which they
had enjoyed up to this point the home side were eager to press
home their advantage as the final period began and an early
powerplay gave them the perfect opportunity to do so. The Tigers
managed to clear the initial pressure deep into Sharks territory
where John Downes collected possession, he then proceeded at
speed along the left wing. Everyone in the crowd waited for the
lay-off pass but John had other ideas as he took the puck around
the goal and shot home from a tight angle. Shortly after Downes
fed Tim McKay on the wing and his pass was deflected just wide
by Struan Tonnar, but as the Sharks continued to waste chances
Dundee began to grow in confidence. As the game approached the
fifty minute mark Scott McMeeken, who had replaced Dewar
Anderson in the Sharks goal during the second period, was forced
into making a fine blocking save from Guilcher at close range.
Unfortunately for Solway the rebound fell to Reekie who stoked
home his second goal of the evening to once more bring the
Tigers to within one.
 Four minutes later many Sharks fans were wondering where a
goal was going to come from when Bari McKenzie picked up
possession deep in Sharks territory. An enthusiastic Solway fan
yelled out “Come On Bari, move it!!!” He did. In an excellent
display of skating he wound his way past three Tigers defecemen
before crashing an unstoppable shot into the net from the
blueline. A minute later Corrie Telfer brought possession along
the left-hand boards before cutting inside and passing square to Gordon
Horne and the Sharks had a three goal lead. Some resolute
defending from the visitors over the final minutes of the tie
saw the scores remain six-three to the Sharks but the shots
tally of seventy-four to twenty-one in the home sides favour
gives a clearer picture of their dominance. That being said
credit must be given to a determined Tigers side who never gave
up and were supported by a superb display of goaltending by
David Jackson. Solway certainly have the upper hand heading into
the second leg of this semi-final tie but Dundee are by no means
beaten and the Sharks still have a job to do.
Scoring statistics for the Sharks were as follows; Bari
McKenzie two goals and no assists, Gordon Horne 1+1, Matt
Seddon, Mark Gallagher and John Downes all 1+0, Tim McKay,
Struan Tonnar and Corrie Telfer all 0+1. Dewar Anderson saved
eleven of the thirteen shots that he faced (save percentage
84.62%) before he was replaced in the second period by Scott
McMeeken who saved seven of the eight shots that he faced (save
percentage 87.5%). The Gates man of the match award went to John
Ballentyne for the Sharks and unsurprisingly went to netminder
David Jackson 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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