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 On
Sunday night the Sharks travelled up to Murrayfield Ice Rink, to
face the Edinburgh Capitals in SPHL action eager to continue
their good form from the night before. Solway got off to a
tremendous start when Tim McKay found himself in space on the
left-hand boards just inside Capitals territory with less than
two minutes on the clock. He built-up speed before he cut inside
late and lifted his shot into the top left corner of the home
net. As the period developed it was obvious that the Sharks had
the bit between their teeth and were well on top of their
opponents but the young Edinburgh team always looked fast and
dangerous on the break and Ross Hay emphasised this when he
broke clear and hit a shot that Scott McMeeken did well to cover
high to his left.
But it was to be the Sharks dominant play that was to bring
further reward when Mark Gallagher finished neatly after good
build-up play from Struan Tonnar and Alan Crane. In the twelfth
minute the Capitals were penalised for holding and on the
resultant powerplay Shaun Kippen broke clear of the defence and
fired a shot in low to Russell’s right but the netminder got
down well to save and he was in the right place moments later to
cover a Ballentyne pile-driver from the blueline. As the period
drew towards its conclusion the Sharks had another concerted
spell of pressure and Russell made another two excellent saves
from Churchill and Gallagher.
If the start of the match was good for Solway then the start of
the second period was a dream. From the opening face-off the
puck went out to the left-hand boards where it was picked up by
Kevin Conway who cut inside a defender before unleashing a drive
that Russell parried out to the left. Mark Gallagher was onto
the loose puck in a flash and he skated around behind the
Edinburgh net before threading a pass through to McKay who gave
the netminder no chance with his shot. Immediately after the
restart Edinburgh went on the attack again when Neil Hay escaped
his marker and found himself through one-on-one with McMeeken
but the Sharks netminder covered his angles well and Hay shot
wide of the right-hand post before collecting the rebound
himself and shooting wide to the other side. But the Sharks were
soon on the attack again as Kevin Conway fed Mark Gallagher on
the left-hand boards and he found Tim McKay unmarked eight yards
from goal and the forward unleashed an unstoppable drive into
the top left of the goal to complete his hat-trick.
 Unbeknown
to the Sharks team this was to be the high point of the night
and with thirteen-thirty on the clock came the moment which
changed the entire course of this match. Edinburgh were
attacking down the right-hand side of the rink when David
Beatson cut inside and appeared to trip over the back of Matt
Seddon’s skate and as he fell his right wrist and shoulder took
his entire weight of his body at a bad angle. As the unfortunate
player received medical attention on the ice play was stopped
for about forty-five minutes before an ambulance eventually took
him to hospital.
When the match restarted the Sharks had lost all
their momentum and intensity and the young Edinburgh team
gradually clawed their way back into the game. Firstly Bowie
scored after good work from Neil and Ross Hay and then with just
thirteen seconds left in the period Donaldson pounced on a loose
puck to half the deficit at the second intermission.
In the final session
the Capitals came out flying and scored three unanswered goals.
Firstly a neat pass from Bowie sent Ross Hay through on goal to
bring the deficit back to one before individual efforts from
Bowie and Neil Hay gave the home side the lead in a devastating
two and a half minute spell. The Sharks refused to lie down and
gradually began to force themselves back into the game and Garry
Russell in the home goal was forced into a string of superb
saves to keep the Capitals lead intact. In an effort to force a
tie the Sharks played most of the last two minutes with no
netminder, but, try as they might, the equalising goal just
wouldn’t come and the Capitals ran out five–four victors.
The scoring statistics
for the Sharks were as follows: Tim McKay three goals and no
assists, Mark Gallagher 1+2, Kevin Conway 0+2, Struan Tonnar and
Alan Crane 0+1. Scott McMeeken saved twenty-six of the
thirty-one shots that he faced for a save percentage of 83.87%.
Man of the match for the Sharks was Tim McKay while netminder
Garry Russell took the award for the home side.
The views and statistics in
this report are individual and do not necessarily reflect
the opinions of the Solway Sharks.
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