Sunday (15th January 2017)morning saw the youngest Sharks, the SK Joinery sponsored Under 12s, welcomed Belfast Junior Giants to the Dumfries Ice Bowl.
Belfast were first to put a goal on the board, scoring within the first minute. Not disheartened, Cameron Stevenson set up Robert McLardy who passed to Owen Rae who scored into the top corner to even the score. Belfast pulled in front again after 6 minutes, only for a Lewis Gibson solo goal to draw Solway level 2 minutes later. Gibson put Solway ahead seconds later from Bailey Thomson and Samuel Wojcik, before Robert McLardy scored Solway’s third within a minute from Niall Duignan and Stevenson. The young Sharks were now 4 goals to 2 ahead, but this didn’t last long, with Belfast scoring again mere seconds after the face-off, making 4-3 to Solway. Tomas Vyrostek scored Solway’s fifth just before the buzzer, from Stevenson and Ewan Duignan, the first period ending with Solway ahead 5-3.
The second period saw Belfast revitalised, and they scored within a minute to cut Solway’s lead. Some frenetic end-to-end play followed, and there was another flurry of scoring on 23 minutes, first Belfast, scoring 2 quick goals to put them ahead, before Vyrostek, assisted by Stevenson and Niall Duignan, put Solway back on an even footing. With both teams playing hard the score remained even at 6 all till the end of the second. After a quick drink and a chat from coach Jamie Thomson, it was straight back into action, and more pressure from Solway on the Belfast netminder. Despite repeated attempts the team could not find a way past, and against the run of play Belfast sneaked one past Braiden Howat in the Solway goal to go ahead, and the score of 7-6 to Belfast remained to the end. Owen Rae was man of the match. After the game coach Thomson commented, “We were really unlucky to come up against a netminder having his game of the season. The team tried everything but that little bit of luck you need just wasn’t there. Just a little bump in the road for a very talented pool of young Sharks.”
The Under 16s were next up, and they started the game in resolute fashion, determined not to get caught napping. The Sharks were relentless in attack, keeping up constant pressure, and despite 16 shots on Sam Hamill in the Belfast net they could not find a way past. The team was strong defensively despite all the attacking, and the first period finished goalless.
The second period started with Solway again in control of the play, and after 5 minutes Solway pressure paid off when Liam Stenton scored a short-handed effort assisted by Aidan Nicol. More tough play ensued, and Solway stood strong and kept the upper hand for the remaining 10 minutes until the end of the second.
The third period continued in the same manner, with Solway far superior in shots on goal, until Lewis Houston took advantage of a Belfast penalty to score a fine unassisted goal on 39 minutes, to put Solway 2 goals ahead and into a more comfortable lead. Belfast’s fate was sealed when he repeated the feat 2 minutes from the end of the game, and man of the match Joshua Leuvennink in nets kept a clean sheet to see the game end 3-0 Solway.
Coach Jamie Kerr said, “The team put in a good shift over the weekend. Two tough tight games with such a small squad is a big ask. Apart from shooting ourselves in the foot by giving Kilmarnock a 5-0 lead inside 10 minutes on Saturday we played a mixture of good and very good hockey thereafter, and carried that into Sunday’s win. Kids will be inconsistent, and especially when we are relying on such young guys for our level, but they will have learned a big lesson about being prepared to play from the first face off from Saturday’s game, as if they had ground out that opening spell before getting a foot hold on things, a two goal loss could have ended in a win easily. They took onboard the feedback overnight, and with the boost of having Charles and Josh Leuvennink back in the lineup, played at a more consistently good tempo on Sunday and showed patience and endeavour to break down a stubborn and threatening Belfast squad.”
Want to try the fasted team sport in the world? Solway Sharks Junior Ice Hockey Club is currently recruiting new players of all ages. For details of Learn to Play sessions at Dumfries Ice Bowl please call 01387 251300 – once you have mastered skating you can quickly progress and learn the fundamentals of ice hockey. Becoming a junior Shark offers many benefits so come give it a go!
