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 On Sunday evening
the Sharks were back at Dumfries Ice Bowl to face the Fife
Flyers and, while everyone in the crowd expected a hard night,
no-one could foresee the devastating second period that awaited
the home side. The match started brightly for Solway and as the
match approached the six minute mark they gained possession on
the boards behind their own goal. John Ballentyne and Alan Crane
exchanged passes with each other before the former found Struan
Tonnar on his own blueline with a diagonal pass. The Sharks
youngster raced up the left wing before cutting inside and
firing a shot below the advancing Daly to open the scoring. Play
constantly flowed from end to end as both sides showed their
intention to attack at every given opportunity. In the twelfth
minute Wands broke through the Sharks defence and fired a fierce
shot towards the top left-hand corner of the net but McMeeken
made a tremendous reaction save to keep his goal intact.
A minute later
Solway found themselves with a man disadvantage when a sloppy
line change saw them penalised for having too many men on the
ice. The home side looked to be containing the Flyers well on
the penalty kill and even forced a long range effort that Daly
stopped for Mitchell to collect. He then passed to Dutiaume at
his own blueline and he weaved his way up the ice before lifting
a backhanded shot over the diving McMeeken to level the scores.
With three minutes to go in the period a spell of good Sharks
pressure saw Daly save well from Conway, McKenzie, Gallagher,
and Telfer in quick succession. At the other of the rink end
Gunn outstripped the home defence but his shot cannoned to
safety off the Solway goal frame and the period ended with the
sides level at one apiece.
 Fife opened the
second session on the attack and Glasgow found himself through
one on one with McMeeken but the home keeper had his angles
covered and the visiting forward was forced to shoot wide. As
the game approached the twenty-five minute mark Kevin Conway set
up Mark Gallagher for a shot from close range which was blocked
out to Fraser Goldie on the left wing and he thundered a low
shot into the net to score his first goal for the Sharks. But
the lead was to last for a little over thirty seconds as Fife
stepped up a gear and Dutiaume levelled the scores when he found
the net after a goalmouth scramble. After stepping up one gear
Fife then found another two as they proceeded to put on a show
of skilful, attacking hockey which many Elite League teams would
find hard to counter. They scored two more quick goals, both set
up by Beattie on the left and scored by Glasgow from close
range.
As the match
passed the midway point it looked like Solway were beginning to
weather the storm and fight their way back into contention when
Dutiaume and King combined to find Wands at right point and his
shot was deflected into the net past the stranded McMeeken off
Gallagher’s skate. Undaunted the Sharks pressed forward and a
tripping call on the Fife netminder gave the Sharks a powerplay.
But the Flyers forced play to the other end of the rink where
slack defending saw King knock the puck free to Dutiaume and he
took it in close before he sent the keeper one way and lifted it
back over his body into the net. A seventh goal was to follow
soon after when Lynch and Dutiaume set up Bell in front of goal
and the same two players set up Gunn shortly after to give Fife
an eight-two lead at the second break.
Dewar Anderson
replaced Scott McMeeken in the Sharks goal for the final period
but, with the game over as a contest, he found the opposition a
far less hungry opponent. Solway continued in an attacking vein
whenever the opportunity arose but Fife added a ninth goal in
the forty-eighth minute when Lynch set up Bell and three minutes
later they completed the scoring when McAlpine and Mitchell
combined to set up Bell for his hat-trick.
While the final
scoreline may not be what the home side wanted or expected they
can take some comfort from the fact that they pushed Fife for a
considerable time and forced them to step up to a level that
they are rarely forced to produce. On another occasion they may
well be able to take their opponents all the way and force a
victory. Hopefully that might be in the end of season play-offs.
Scoring statistics for the Sharks were as follows; Bari McKenzie
and Fraser Goldie both one goal and no assists, John Ballentyne,
Alan Crane, Mark Gallagher and Kevin Conway all 0+1. Scott
McMeeken saved twenty-seven of the thirty-five shots that he
faced for a save percentage of 77.14% and he was replaced in the
Sharks goal at the second interval by Dewar Anderson who saved
ten of the twelve shots that he faced for a save percentage of
83.33%. The Molplant man of the match award went to Bari
McKenzie for the Sharks while Ian Bell picked up the award for
the Flyers.
The views and statistics in this
report are individual and do not necessarily reflect the
opinions of the Solway Sharks.
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