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 The Solway Sharks were back on
Northern League duty on Saturday night when they entertained the
Whitley Warriors at the Ice Bowl. The match started brightly
enough and in the third minute Ross Edgar fired in a shot from
the left point position that rattled into Murdys’ pads before
the keeper dived on the puck to smother any danger. But the
opening goal wasn’t too far away and it came from the third line
as Shaun Kippin took the puck behind the Whitley goal and
attempted a wrap-around shot that was blocked by the visiting
netminder. In the scramble that followed the puck fell
invitingly for Gordon Horne who needed no second invitation to
prod his shot home. Within thirty second Solway were two ahead.
John Downes won possession in his own defensive zone and fed
John Ballentyne who in turn found John Churchill free at
centre-ice. He moved forward before unleashing a thunderbolt
from five yards outside the blueline which beat Murdy high to
his right. With two goals in the opening six minutes the Sharks
were on a high while the Warriors looked unsettled with the home
side shooting on sight. Mark Gallagher was next to threaten the
Whitley goal when he broke in from the right-hand boards and
fired a shot against the keepers pads, then Fraser Goldie tried
his luck from close to the centre line but his shot sailed
harmlessly wide. John Downes was next to test Murdy from long
range before Shaun Kippin raced through on goal and rattled a
shot of the keepers right-hand pipe.
Whitley finally began to get a
grip on the game mid-way through the session when Corrie ‘Hit
Man’ Telfer was called for boarding (???) and Dewar Anderson in
the home goal was called to make a fine double save from Carter
and Culley. But Solways’ respite did not last long as Culley set
up Salem to fire a powerplay goal past Anderson. Solway began to
regroup and on the fifteen minute mark they replied with a
powerplay goal of their own. The Sharks patiently passed the
puck around the visitors defensive zone as they looked for a
clear sight of goal that was eventually to fall to Fraser
Goldie. He hit a low, hard shot from close to the blueline that
looked to be sneaking in at the keepers left-hand post but Mark
Gallagher got a stick to it and redirected Goldies’ shot into
the roof of the net. Whitley immediately went back on the attack
and within a minute they received a five on three powerplay when
Ross Edgar was penalised for holding and John Ballentyne was
called for hooking at the same time. With a full two minute two
man advantage the Warriors looked odds-on to score but the
Sharks penalty kill was superb and the only real danger came
just after the penalties ended when Whitley had three shots in a
row from Sam Zajac, Howey and Dunn. The referee, Mr Toby Craig,
managed to rile the home support further as the period drew to
its conclusion. Solway were already on a powerplay when Anthony
Payne broke free towards the Whitley goal and Wilson had little
option but to hook the Sharks forward. But as the home fans
looked forward to a two man advantage of their own they were
amazed to see the referee also penalise the Solway man for
diving so the advantage remained five on four.
 Whitley began the second period
in determined mood and they received another powerplay when
Ballentyne was given a soft penalty for roughing and Howey twice
managed to test Anderson in the home goal but on each occasion
he was up to the challenge. Loose play then halted their
momentum when it forced a Whitley defender to give away an
intentional offside and from the face-off in their own ‘D’ Kevin
Conway almost managed to steal a short-handed wrap-around goal.
As the game approached the mid-way point a nice reverse pass
from Carter gave Howey a shooting opportunity but Anderson was
alert to save high to his left. But the Warriors pressure told
seconds later when Sample picked up possession and saw Culley
making a move up the right wing. He fed Carter who gathered the
puck and skated behind the goal and cut back to score a fine
wrap-around goal. Then, with Whitley once more on the powerplay,
a low, hard shot from Wilson tested Andersons’ reactions and
proved to be the catalyst for a frenzied spell of pressure. The
home keeper had to save three further times in quick succession
from a variety of Warriors before Sample found himself one on
one but Anderson dived forward onto the puck to smother the
danger.
Solway were also in determined
mood and John Ballentyne brought possession swiftly out of
defence before a succession of shots bombarded the Warriors
goal. This barrage included one shot that hit the post before
finding its way back out to Kevin Conway who fired into the top
left-hand corner of the net from ten yards out. As the session
moved into its final thirty seconds some fans were already
heading for refreshments when the previous goal-scorer turned
provider and Mark Gallagher made no mistake as he shot low into
the net from twelve yards. Better was still to come as from the
face-off Corrie Telfer collected the puck at centre-ice with a
clear channel ahead, he charged on goal before finishing low to
the keepers’ right. A six-two score-line at the second break was
a little flattering to the Sharks in all truth and on the run of
play Whitley probably deserved to be a little closer to their
hosts.
 The Warriors needed a quick start
if they were going to make a fight of the match and they got one
immediately as Culley picked up possession from the face off and
skated at speed behind the Solway net before converting the
Warriors second wrap-around goal of the night. Murdy then
produced the kind of form that he is capable of as he kept his
team in contention with a fine save from Horne before smothering
a point-blank shot from Kippin on the rebound. The visiting
netminder was a hero once again when Telfer robbed possession on
a Whitley powerplay and raced through one-on-one on the Warriors
goal but the keeper had set himself well and blocked the Solway
forwards’ shot. With seven minutes remaining Anderson was called
on to make a fine pad save low to his right, the puck came out
to Gallagher who fed Conway. Seeing most of his options covered
the Sharks forward passed back to Ross Edgar on the blueline and
he fired a wicked shot into the top right-hand corner of the
net. All that was left now was for Whitley to score a late
consolation goal. Carter picked up a loose pass and skated at
speed up the right-hand boards before threading a pass to Culley
who was racing up the middle in support and he lifted his shot
over the diving Anderson.
Scoring statistics for the Sharks
were as follows: Mark Gallagher two goals and one assist, Kevin
Conway 1+2, Gordon Horne, John Churchill, Ross Edgar and Corrie
Telfer all 1+0, Fraser Goldie, John Downes, John Ballentyne and
Shaun Kippin all 0+1. Dewar Anderson saved forty-three of the
forty-seven shots that he faced (save percentage 91.49%). PET
Processors man of the match for the Sharks was Kevin Conway
while Karl Culley picked up the award 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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