BANNON HAT-TRICK SINKS SLOPPY SHARKS
Last Saturday evening the Magnox Ltd. sponsored Solway Sharks concluded their Northern Cup campaign with a home fixture against the Blackburn Hawks with the knowledge that a victory over the visitors would guarantee them the trophy. After the previous weekends tremendous win over the Billingham Stars confidence was high, perhaps a little too high, and the Lancashire side failed to follow the script as they departed at the end of the night with a hard-fought three-two victory over the Dumfries based side.

The Hawks started off this Northern Cup fixture on the offensive and from the opening face-off showed a far more competitive outlook than they had in the away leg back in September and from the puck-drop every Sharks player found themselves with a Hawk in their face as soon as they gained possession. But Blackburn had no intention of simply playing a spoiling game and their attacking nature was evident within the first thirty seconds as Jarred Owen raced down the left wing before firing just wide of target. Gradually Solway began to find their passing game and a gradual increase of pressure led to Blackburn conceding the first penalty of the game when King was called for hooking but as the home side looked to build on this Frazer Goldie was spotted committing a soft and needless trip deep in Hawks territory to bring the numbers back to four-on-four. Fifty seconds later the Hawks had a man advantage when Aaron Greger was called for interference and when King returned to the ice after having served his punishment the Hawks had a two man advantage. However, both teams penalty killing units did their job and each set of forwards found it difficult to penetrate and were reduced to shooting from long distance which was unlikely to bother either netminder.

Just as Greger’s penalty was ending Adam Reynolds gained possession at his own blueline and seeing Brittle out of his goal tried an ambitious shot at goal but the Blackburn netminder had time to readjust his position and make a fairly comfortable save. The visitors immediately went back on the offensive and Gary Russell had to be alert to make good stick save from Ravey and again seconds later with his pads from Arnone. With eleven minutes on the clock an altercation in the Hawks goal saw Brittle, who obviously felt he had been impeded, draw a ten minute misconduct for his trouble from the referee Mr Wardell. The game restarted from the right-hand face of circle and possession fell to Adam Reynolds who shot low to the near post, Brittle saw the shot all the way and was able to block. Mark Gallagher quickly picked up the rebound and swooped around behind the visitors net from where he spotted Nathan Salem free in front of goal and he duly gave the Sharks the lead. Within thirty seconds saint became sinner as Salem was penalised for cross-checking but once again the Sharks penalty killing unit did their job leaving Russell with little more than long range shots on goal to deal with. With five minutes remaining the Sharks had their second powerplay of the evening and this time looked more dangerous than they had previously with Reynolds, Greger and Chalmers all forcing Brittle into action but he proved that he was up to the challenge each time.

Blackburn began the second period back on the offensive and an early break up the left wing by Bannon saw him pass across the face of the Sharks goal to Arnone whose redirection from the low slot forced an excellent reaction save from Russell. Immediately Solway countered and a low shot from Struan Tonnar found its way between Brittles pads and slid dangerously towards the goal line before it was hooked clear as far as Bob Chalmers in the high slot and Glover proved his bravery when he blocked the goal-bound effort with his body at the post. The visitors went straight back onto the attack and their pressure forced an error from the home side when an Adams hook gave away a powerplay. After some initial pressure from the visitors a long Solway clearance was collected by Brittle in his defensive zone. His pass sent Owen away up the left wing and as he neared the goal line he astutely passed inside to the supporting Bannon who duly fired home to level the scores.

Within a minute the situation might have got worse for Solway as more indiscipline saw Salem penalised for charging and the Blackburn powerplay unit went back to work. However, it was the home side who came closest to breaking the deadlock when Struan Tonnar charged down a shot and broke through centre ice. As he closed in on goal he pulled to his left and tried to slot the puck home only to find that Brittle had read him all the way. With both sides back to full strength the home side tried to impose their passing game on the visitors but never fully succeeded as the Hawks, to a man, fought tooth and nail for every loose puck and the Sharks play became more and more disjointed as the period progressed. On the thirty-four minute mark Adam Reynolds picked up a loose puck deep in his defensive zone and looked to set Solway onto the offensive with a long pass out of defence. Unfortunately for him his miss-hit effort was picked off by Jordan Bannon at the blueline and he neatly weaved his way around two Sharks defenders before firing an excellent wrist shot into the roof of the Solway goal. Now down by a goal the Sharks tried to find a lifeline but they had Gary Russell to thank for keeping them in the game with an excellent double save from Worrall. Every time the Dumfries side did manage to unlock the visitors defence they found netminder Daniel Brittle in excellent form and the buzzer eventually sounded for the second intermission with the Hawks leading two-one.

Solway began the final session on the back foot with Salem in the sin bin having been penalised for cross-checking at the very end of the second period and while the Sharks penalty kill did its job disaster was soon to strike. As the forty-third minute approached Owen won a face-off to the left of the Sharks goal. The puck fell to Bannon ten yards from goal and his shot found the net for his hat trick via Russell’s shoulder. Solway regrouped and four minutes later they were back in the contest albeit on the back of a contentious decision from the referee. A face-off to the right of the Sharks goal was re-dropped twice for infractions with the Hawks claiming that the linesman was taking an inordinately long time to drop the puck. On the third infraction the referee called a miscellaneous face-off penalty against the visitors and despite Blackburn’s protests the Sharks found themselves on a powerplay. This time from the restart Solway won the puck. Salem collected possession and found his way around the back of the Hawks net before passing back out to Reynolds in the low slot who quickly forced his shot below Brittle’s body and the netminder could only watch on in despair as the puck slid slowly over the goal line.

With the game drawing towards its conclusion the crowd could little have anticipated the drama that was about to unfold. A break through the centre saw Adam Reynolds close in on goal and though he was under pressure he appeared to get his shot away which Brittle blocked once more. The Blackburn defence could scarcely believe their eyes when they saw the referee indicate a penalty shot. Reynolds took the responsibility on himself and took the puck straight up the centre, as he approached the goal he again swung left but Brittle yet again read the play and made a superb block. With two and a half minutes left pandemonium broke out in the Blackburn goal mouth when the visitors believed that Struan Tonnar ran the netminder although, on this occasion, it looked like he may have been pushed into the keeper. Brittle dropped his gloves looking to fight and was given a match penalty for his trouble while Tonnar was given two minute for interference, a penalty that the Sharks could little afford as they chased the game. Stuey Ashton took over between the pipes for the Hawks and in his short time there made several good saves most notably from Gallagher and twice from Reynolds. Solway pulled netminder Gary Russell in favour of an extra skater for most of the last minute as they went in search of an equaliser but it was to be in vain. With just sixteen seconds remaining tempers boiled over once more as Frazer Goldie and Tom King went toe to toe on the boards with the Sharks man eventually putting the Hawk on the ice after a good pugilistic contest. While Solway may have suffered their first home defeat of the season the home support were certainly treated to the most entertaining match of the season so far. A match that was filled with a generous helping of effort, skill and controversy and one which will certainly have whetted their appetite for first division action on a weekly basis next season.

This result virtually ensures that the destination of the trophy will be Dumfries as Solway have a better head to head record and goal difference over both Billingham and Blackburn who could both only end up level on points with the Sharks if they won their remaining games. Scoring Statistics for the Sharks were as follows: Adam Reynolds and Nathan Salem both one goal and one assist, Mark Gallagher 0+1. Gary Russell in the Sharks goal saved twenty-four of the twenty-seven shots that he faced (save percentage 88.89%) and was named the HI Engineering Ltd. (Eastriggs) man of the match for the home side while hat-trick hero Jordan Bannon received that accolade for the visitors.