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 The
Solway Sharks were back on the road again on Sunday evening when they
visited Whitley Bay to face the Warriors and the game began in
somewhat unusual fashion with two linesmen in charge after
referee, David Emerson, broke a blade on his skate during the
warm up. The Sharks had most of the early pressure but a third
minute powerplay produced no shots on goal as the Warrior
penalty-kill showed how hard it would be to break down
throughout the match. Just after Whitley returned to full
strength Karl Culley fired in a slapshot from the left hand
boards that Anderson blocked low at his near post but the
rebound caused a scramble around the Solway net before it was
finally marshalled to safety. Two minutes later Sam Zajac
produced a mazy skate up centre-ice beating several Sharks
before John Churchill was forced give away a penalty to stop
him. On the following powerplay the Warriors laid siege to the
Solway goal and Ian Defty twice produced good blocks to help
keep the scores level. On the eight minute mark a poor line
change left the Sharks with too many men on the ice and on the
powerplay Daniel Good broke free up centre-ice finding himself
one-on-one with Anderson in the Sharks goal but just as he was
about to pull the trigger John Downes made a diving challenge
which somehow managed to knock puck to safety. Good found
himself facing Anderson again in the fifteenth minute when he
collected a pass eight yards from goal but the Sharks netminder
stood his ground and saved superbly to his left.
The Sharks felt rather hard done
by at the sixteen minute mark when Shaun Kippin found himself in
front of the Warriors goal in total control of the puck and
looking to score a short-handed goal when he was taken out of
the game from behind by David Barrett. Solway felt that they
should have received a penalty shot but the linesmen only
awarded a penalty to Barrett for holding. A minute later the
visitors had their own powerplay as Ross Edgar’s penalty ended
and he joined his team mates on the ice. Almost immediately he
fired in a shot from close to the centre line that Murdy, in the
Warriors goal, seemed to lose sight of. When he found it again
the puck was in the back of his net and Solway were celebrating.
Two minutes later it was the home fans turn to celebrate as
Culley and Tindale combined to feed Carter on the right wing, he
then skated diagonally across centre-ice before firing low past
Anderson to level the match.
 Three and a half minutes into the second period Carter fed
Culley wide on the right-hand boards and he drifted inside
before unleashing a powerful shot the beat Anderson at his near
post to give Whitley a lead that they would never lose. As the
Warriors gradually took control of the match they were unlucky
not to extend their lead at the midway point as Culley
redirected a shot towards the Sharks net that Anderson did well
to block at point-blank range. At the second intermission Solway
knew that, while Whitley were deservedly ahead, the match was
far from beyond them, especially if they could score the next
goal and they started the final period in determined mood. Five
minutes into the final session Dewar Anderson blocked a Whitley
shot out to the right wing where it was collected by Gunn. He
wasted no time in finding Mark Good unmarked nine yards from
goal and the Whitley man fired his wrist-shot into the top,
right corner of the Solway goal.
The
Sharks immediately set about reducing the deficit and had what
was to prove to be their best spell of the final session which
culminated on the forty-nine minute mark when they forced
themselves back into the game. Tim McKay passed to Gordon Horne
and his powerful shot was beaten out to Kevin Conway who wasted
no time in finding the back of the net. Unfortunately Whitley
were two in front again within two minutes. Dunn fed Mark Good
behind the Solway goal and he took his time before threading a
pass through to the unmarked Daniel Good six yards from goal and
he completed the scoring with a shot high into the left of the
Sharks goal. For the remainder of the period the visitors tried
to get back into the match but the Warriors defence was well
organised and they closed out the game with few problems for a
well deserved victory.
Scoring statistics for the Sharks were Ross Edgar and Kevin
Conway one goal and no assists, Tim McKay and Gordon Horne both
0+1. Dewar Anderson saved twenty-four of the twenty-eight shots
that he faced (save percentage 85.71%) and he picked up the
man-of-the-match award for the Sharks while Bryan Dunn picked up
the award for the Warriors.
The views and statistics in
this report are individual and do not necessarily reflect
the opinions of the Solway Sharks.
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