Solway Sharks Junior Ice Hockey team took to the road last Saturday, with the Under 16s and Under 20s teams heading to nearest neighbours Kilmarnock. The Oakbank Services sponsored Under 16 team was first into the fray, facing a determined Kilmarnock team who came out at a furious pace from the first whistle. Solway were slow out of the blocks, and under a barrage of shots and relentless attacks, found themselves 5 goals down after the first 10 minutes, before Lewis Houston slotted home an Aidan Nicol pass to claw one back, swiftly followed by Liam Stenton from Houston, seeing the first period end with Kilmarnock 5 goals to 2 ahead.
The second period saw Kilmarnock continue to control the game, and they quickly drew ahead with 3 goals in sucession, before Houston again struck back for the Sharks, taking a Matthew Watters pass and sending it straight to the back of the net, ending the second period with Kilmarnock still ahead, by 8 goals to 3. After the period break Kilmarnock struck again, but Solway were now in more determined mood, and a bit of a come-back ensued. It was Megan Gourlay who combined with Lewis Houston first, quickly followed by Aidan Nicol finding the net. With 5 minutes to go and 4 goals behind, Solway found inspiration and energy from somewhere, and took charge. Houston and Stenton combined for the next two Solway goals, Houston scoring, followed by Stenton with the final goal of the game, which ended Solway 7 Kilmarnock 9. Aidan Nicol was awarded man of the match for his efforts.
The Jardine Motors sponsored Under 20s were up next, in what is the closest thing to a local derby for the Sharks. A hard fought and physical game, this encounter turned out to be fast paced, and thrilling to watch for the travelling support. Kilmarnock went ahead first, despite the best efforts of Solway defence and netminder Kyle Johnston, scoring after 5 and 11 minutes, to end the first period 2 goals ahead.
Solway’s first goal on the board came after 24 minutes when Luke Houston pulled one back with a fine solo powerplay goal. This spurred the team on, and Aidan Nicol was rewarded with his first Under 20s goal when he got on the end of a move from Lewis Houston and Kieran Hair to find the net 5 minutes later, drawing the score even at 2 all. In more furious end-to-end play, Kilmarnock were next to score, and put 2 in the Solway net in the next 2 minutes, before Scott Henderson sent an Arran Shankland pass into the Kilmarnock net to make the score 4-3 to Kilmarnock. Killie stretched their lead with another goal on 36 minutes, but Solway struck back in the final minute of the second period with Hair scoring from Nicol and Scott McCutcheon, finishing the period Kilmarnock 5-4 ahead.
The Sharks came out all guns blazing for the third period, and quickly drew even courtesy of Lewis Houston from big brother Luke and Scott Henderson, followed by an Arron Chambers scoring a short-handed goal from the Houston brothers on 45 minutes to finally put Solway a goal ahead. Unfortunately this lead didn’t last, with Kilmarnock drawing even on 48 minutes, before the final goal of the game, and the decider, was scored by Kilmarnock just shy of 53 minutes. Solway tried hard and didn’t stop attacking, but they couldn’t find a way past Lewis Dolan in the Kilmarnock goal and Kilmarnock were 7-6 victors. After the game Solway coach Jamie Thomson said, “Despite some huge individual performances when we were short benched our discipline let us down. We have players with some fantastic ability but we need to learn to stick to our plan and not get dragged down to other teams levels – that’s when frustration kicks in and we lose our discipline, and in the end it cost us. I can’t fault the effort put in but sometimes that’s not enough.” Kyle Johnston was Solway man of the match.
