Match Report & Game Record Sheet

Flintshire Freeze 1-11 Solway Sharks

Competition - ENL North 2

Game Date - 22/01/12

Face Off Time 18:40

SHARKS CHILL OUT THE FREEZE
On Sunday evening the Sharks were on the road with a trip down to North Wales to play the Flintshire Freeze. With their opponents desperate to pick up points to challenge Sutton for the play-off place this league fixture threatened to be a little more tricky than normal but after a competent and effective performance the Sharks returned up the M6 with a creditable eleven-one victory.

From the opening face-off the Sharks took command of the puck and in the first minute a Mark Gallagher pass sent Adam Reynolds around the Flintshire goal from where he spotted Calum Henderson unmarked in front of goal and the youngster duly opened the scoring from close range to give Solway a perfect start. The Freeze quickly showed that their recent run of good form had confidence high and Gary Russell twice had to be alert to save from Furnival and Austin as the home side looked to counter. However, in the eighth minute Gallagher and Reynolds again combined to set up Henderson to score Sharks second goal which was a carbon copy of the first. Solway looked to press home their advantage and for a time Freeze were forced into a rearguard action with occasional breakaways which were always a serious threat to the Sharks defence. In the twelfth minute the Dumfries side were rewarded for their endeavours when Reynolds scored from close range after Compton could only parry a Frazer Goldie slapshot from left point. Within seconds of the restart the Sharks penalty kill unit was called into action for the first time after Charters was penalised for hooking but as Flintshire pressed a Gallagher pass sent Reynolds free and he duly made it four-nil short-handed with a precision finish. With three minutes remaining in the period Nathan Salem harshly received a ten minute misconduct penalty for illegal equipment when the referee perceived that he his visor raised although the visor does not raise on that type of helmet. As the first break approached Flintshire were enjoying their best passage of play and their pressure forced a goalmouth scramble in which netminder Gary Russell made several fine blocks before the puck eventually found the net from the stick of Peter Norgate. In the melee that followed the goal scorer and Alan Crane both received two minute penalties for roughing while Bob Chalmers received a two plus ten for his part in the affray. The crowd were left confused and no-one was quite sure if the goal had been awarded or not as the referee, Mr Evens, restarted the game from the left-hand face-off circle. During the interval Mr Evans explained that the penalties had been awarded for incidents after the goal was scored and for that reason the game was restarted from the location nearest to where the infringements occurred.

After the break Solway returned to the ice determined to stamp their authority on the game and within two minutes they duly increased their advantage. Aaron Greger picked up a loose puck in his own defensive zone and passed square to Alan Crane who immediately set Adam Reynolds free up the left wing. There seemed little danger as he crossed the Flintshire blueline but the Sharks marksman fired in a speculative slapshot from the boards that somehow eluded the home netminder and found the net. Further pressure brought Solway their first powerplay of the evening when Fellows was called for hooking and after extended pressure Struan Tonnar found the net after Compton had made a fine block from Reynolds in another goal mouth scramble. Just before the midway point in the match Flintshire were quite rightly awarded a penalty shot when James Parsons was brought down when through on goal. The Freeze forward opted to go straight up the middle, as he entered the slot he fired but pulled his shot high and wide left. Perhaps this missed opportunity rattled some of the home players as within minute a fracas broke out in the Flintshire crease when Compton took exception to a challenge from and continued presence of Tonnar in his crease and the Sharks forward was given a minor penalty for roughing. However, in a moment of madness the home goalie slashed the Solway forward in the midriff right in front of the referee after the play had been called dead and was quite rightly given a five plus match penalty for his troubles. The game restarted four-on-four and Salem quickly chased down a Crane dump into the left-hand corner before firing hard and low across the face of goal where Reynolds was arriving at speed to redirect into the Flintshire goal. For the remainder of the session Solway pressed but found back-up netminder Phil Crosby in inspired form and he made a series of fine saves while his teammates always looked dangerous when the opportunity arose to attack. But Sharks rearguard remained alert to the danger and their was to be no further scoring before the second break.

As has become their trade mark this season Solway began the period in full flight and a minute into the final session they had added to their tally when pressure on the home goal gave Mark Gallagher the opportunity to slot home a shot from close range after good work from Reynolds and Henderson. A minute later a strong surge from Salem brought him up the left and gave him the opportunity to unleash a powerful shot on goal from the face-off circle. Crosby again produced a fine save but couldn’t hold onto the puck and unfortunately for him it dropped behind him where Stevie Adams was on hand to slide it home from a yard out with the keeper still unaware of where the puck was. In the ninth minute Mr Evans was again forced to take action in the form of a five plus match when he spotted a check to the head by Kenny Williams on Mark Gallagher that left the Solway captain with a bloody nose. With the result already a foregone conclusion the Sharks wrapped up this match with two goals in the fifty-third minute. Firstly Adams and Chalmers combined well to create the opportunity for Salem to score from the slot. Then twenty-five seconds later a Reynolds pass gave Adams the room he needed to make it eleven-one. Flintshire never stopped trying and attacked at every opportunity as they tried to provide their vocal support with a consolation goal but they found the Solway defence solid and the game ended with no further scoring.

Scoring statistics for Solway were as follows: Man of the Match Adam Reynolds four goals and five assists, Calum Henderson and Stevie Adams both 2+1, Mark Gallagher 1+3, Nathan Salem 1+2, Struan Tonnar 1+0, Alan Crane 0+2, Aaron Greger, Bob Chalmers and Anthony Charters all 0+1. Netminder Gary Russell saved twenty-three of the twenty-four shots that he faced (95.88%) before being replaced for the last ten minutes by Chris Rae who saved all four shots that he faced.

The views and statistics in this report are individual and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Solway Sharks.