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 On Sunday afternoon the Solway Sharks, sponsored by Border
Utilities, travelled to the Braehead Arena to meet the Paisley
Pirates in the first leg of their Scottish Cup quarter final
tie.
In the opening minutes it was obvious that the Sharks were up
for this encounter and there was far more fore-checking and
on-ice dialogue between the players than has been in evidence in
recent weeks. Head coach Kevin Doherty began the match with a
first line of Conway, new signing Anthony Payne and Gallagher in
attack and followed it up with Churchill, Telfer and Tonnar.
However, it was to be the third line that threatened to break
the deadlock first when Shaun Kippin took the puck around the
net and tried to cut in close to the post and sweep in a shot
but Russell was alert to the danger. He was able to block the
shot before the defence eventually cleared the danger after a
scramble around the blue paint. A minute later from defence saw
Kippin win possession on the boards before feeding the puck back
to John Downes. His shot was wide of the mark but Kippin, coming
back from behind the goal, very nearly managed to deflect the
puck into the yawning net. The Sharks pressure deserved a goal
and it wasn’t to be too long in coming. On the six minute mark
Cowan was penalised for charging and from the resultant face-off
the puck was played around the Pirates defensive zone before it
fell to Kevin Conway and he fed John Churchill who fired it into
the bottom right-hand corner of the net.
Unfortunately for Solway their lead was to last less than thirty
seconds as, from the restart, Drummond and McMillan combined to
slice open the visitors defence and Wallace converted to put the
sides level. Immediately the Sharks were back on the attack as
Struan Tonnar, like Kippin before him, tried to round the net
and dink in a shot at the back post but again Russell managed to
smother the danger. On the eight minute mark Payne and Hassan
were both penalised to leave the sides four on four but as the
penalties ended Hassan picked up a pass out of defence and
charged through one on one towards the Sharks goal. Payne, also
returning to the ice, was forced to hook the Paisley player who
still managed to get a shot away on goal which Dewar Anderson
saved well. As referee Bob Cowan called the penalty on Payne the
Sharks forward complained vehemently that Hassan had been let
out of the penalty box before he had. Considering that the
Sharks ‘sin bin’ was nearer to their goal than Paisleys’ and
that the Pirate was in clear ice he may well have had a point.
Short-handed, the Sharks broke out of defence on the penalty
kill and Mark Gallagher looked set to score but Russell made a
brave point-blank save which broke his stick. There was a two
minute delay as a replacement was found for the on loan
Edinburgh player but from the restart the stick wasn’t required
as the netminder made a fine save from Kevin Conway with his
glove hand. As the game approached the first interval the Sharks
came close to taking the lead once more as Corrie Telfer came in
from the right-hand boards and fired in a shot that deflected
wide from Russell's’ face mask. Thankfully the keeper was
unharmed.
 Within fifteen seconds of the re-start a penalty call on Cowan
for interference gave a powerplay to Solway and Ian Defty, back
in a Sharks shirt after a short break for personal reasons, was
first to try his luck when he hit Russell's’ left-hand pipe from
the blueline. A minute later the Sharks were back in the lead as
Crane brought the puck up the right before firing a pass around
the boards to Gallagher. The forward bided his time before
laying off a pass to Conway who made his way in from the
left-hand boards before firing a shot home from an acute angle
low to the home keepers left. Two minutes later, with sides back
at full strength, a loose puck fell nicely for Euan Edgar who
spun and fired a low shot at goal which Russell had to be alert
to push wide. But it was not all ‘one way traffic’ by any means.
With as six minutes gone in the period a looping pass out of
defence fell between Wilson and Crane and the Sharks defenceman,
realising he couldn’t get there first, had to back-peddle which
allowed the Paisley player to fire in a sharp shot from twelve
yards which Anderson did well to save high to his right. Within
seconds he was called into action again to smother a goal-bound
shot from Miller low to his left and almost immediately the same
player hit a shot from the blueline which the keeper again saved
well high to his left. Conaboy then fired in a shot that
deflected off Andersons’ pads back to Wilson who for an instant
had an open goal but the keeper somehow got back across his goal
to block the shot.
Both sides traded penalties through the middle of the session as
they tried to gain the upper hand and a minor altercation
brought a harsh ten minute misconduct penalty on Miller. But it
was the Sharks who were to eventually suffer the greatest effect
of these penalties. In the thirty-fifth minute the Sharks were
on a powerplay when a long Paisley clearance was controlled on
the back boards by John Downes who was then checked from behind
by a Paisley forward. As both players got back to their feet the
Solway defenceman was bewildered to discovered that he had been
penalised for interference. From the resulting face off the
Pirates gained possession and Cowan and Wilson combined to set
up Conaboy eight yards from goal and he thundered a tremendous
shot high into the Sharks net. Solway tried to fight back
immediately and Crane hit a hard slapshot from the blueline on
the right-hand boards which Russell saved well. But within two
minutes another powerplay to the visitors saw Conway gain
possession in Pirate territory and he fed a pass through traffic
to John Downes at the blueline and he fired his shot high into
the top right-hand corner of the net. Seconds later the goal
scorer lost possession to Cowan on the Sharks own blueline and
the Pirates forward moved in on goal before firing in a shot
that forced Anderson into making a fine save with his pads at
his right-hand pipe.
 Paisley began the final period looking for another equaliser but
the Solway defence was looking generally sound and the Pirates
lacked a player who could produce that extra special piece of
magic to turn the game. Although a Sharks mistake almost cost
them dear as Gallagher lost possession bringing the puck out of
defence, but he redeemed himself seconds later as he somehow
managed to get his stick in at the last minute to deny Orr as he
looked to pull the trigger. Indiscipline was to cost Paisley
dear once more when Miller was penalised for using his elbows.
Almost immediately Alan Crane picked up possession on the
left-hand boards and skated behind the Pirates goal before
feeding a pass out to Conway. He held possession until Crane
came back out in front of the net and when the defenceman
received the return pass he made no mistake as he finished low
to the netnminders’ right. By now the Sharks were well on top of
their opponents and they almost extended their lead when
Churchill broke out of defence with the referee indicating a
delayed penalty call on Paisley. Immediately Solway pulled
netminder Anderson in favour of a sixth skater but instead of
keeping possession and stretching Paisley defence the Sharks
forward opted to shoot at goal and Russell smothered the puck to
negate the visitors advantage. With less than five minutes to go
Churchill hit a shot from the blueline which cannoned off the
outside of the Paisley goal-frame and Crane, Conway and
Gallagher all went close for the Sharks as the clock ticked down
to the final hooter.
Overall this was a solid performance from the Sharks who looked
much more like a team again and the addition of Payne up front
combined with the return of Downes and Defty in defence
certainly makes them more formidable opponents. Neither side
will believe that they have won or lost this cup tie after the
first leg so all is still to play for on Sunday night at the Ice
Bowl when the teams meet again. Statistics on the night for the
Sharks were as follows: Kevin Conway one goal and three assists,
Alan Crane 1+1, John Churchill and John Downes 1+0, Mark
Gallagher 0+1. Dewar Anderson saved thirty-one of the
thirty-three shots that he faced for a save percentage of
93.94%. Man of the match for the Sharks was awarded to John
Downes while Mark Hassan received that accolade for the Pirates.
The views and statistics in
this report are individual and do not necessarily reflect
the opinions of the Solway Sharks.
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