Sharks SNL continued their mammoth run of away games on Saturday night as they visited Auchenharvie to take on the North Ayr Wild. The hosts came into the match on a hot streak having notched eighteen goals in their previous two outings, having comfortably disposed of Elgin and reigning league champions Kirkcaldy respectively.
The Sharks started the game on the front foot and knew an aggressive forecheck was needed to nullify the Wild’s obvious attacking threat. This was executed fantastically with the Sharks having the Wild hemmed in their own defensive zone early. The Sharks broke the deadlock on 2:17 when Gordon Horne found Conor Smith, and this season’s most consistent performer made no mistake in finding the back of the net. Less than a minute later Jamie Kerr read a Wild offensive pass and intercepted to send Tom Watson up the ice on the quick turn over. The young gun out-paced and out-muscled his marker and slotted past the Wild netminder Mark Galloway to give the Sharks an ideal early start.
The Wild knuckled down and began to get to grips with the game and as the short benched Shark’s legs tired mid-period reduced the impact of the forecheck, the offensive threat of the Wild began to show. A poor piece of D-zone coverage by the Sharks invited Wild’s Ryan Sarginson to walk out of the corner with little pressure, and using a Sharks defender’s body as a shield to hamper Calum Hepburn in the Sharks net’s view, finding the near top corner on 11.29.
A spell of end to end open hockey then ensued, but the Wild tied the game before the break. A defensive clearance was blocked on the blue line and allowed a three on two rush for the Wild that saw Dylan Allan and Ryan Parkin set up Iain Crocket in the slot who one timed the puck home to end the period all square at two each.
The Shark SNL, after having their character questioned at the first interval, rallied to produce some fine hockey in the middle stanza. At 24:01 Jamie Kerr swept up a loose puck after an effective hit from Connor Speirs on the Wild’s advancing forward. He sent the puck across to Scott Henderson on the weak side and the youngster drifted in off the wing to snap the puck into the net to re-establish the Sharks lead.
The Sharks were now playing with more confidence and belief, which was so nearly undone when a Wild forward wriggled free to break away on Hepburn’s net. The forward showed composure to round the sprawling Hepburn who then produced a highlight reel recovery glove save to keep the Sharks noses ahead.
Continued positive play and restricting the Wild’s shots to distance and low risk angles saw the Sharks create the next goal when, after some offensive zone pressure, Tom Watson reacted first to a loose puck at the edge of the crease to squeeze home, giving the Sharks a two goal lead after two periods, four to two.
The third period was a very even affair and it took a piece of individual magic when Wild’s Daniel Abercrombie broke free from his D-zone to exploit a passive Sharks defence to rifle the puck across the face of goal into Hepburn’s top corner on 45:57. A minute or so of follow-up pressure saw Sharks player coach Jamie Kerr call a time out at 48:10 to refocus his troops which had the desired effect, any Wild chances thereafter were reduced to long distance and safe angle shots which Hepburn was saving with ease.
A five minute butt-ending call on Wild’s Euan McLaughlin drawn by the presence of Ross McMeeken allowed the Sharks to play out the last three minutes or so with the man advantage. The Wild pulled their goalie to allow a five on five final throw of the dice, however the Sharks managed to keep the puck out of the danger areas and the clock ticked down to see the Sharks skate to a four goals to three victory.
Man of the match awards went to Wild’s Colin Henning and Shark’s Connor Speirs, who both showed composed and solid defensive displays.
Coach Jamie Kerr was delighted with his team’s performance commenting, “We were short on numbers but the work rate of the guys tonight was immense, they showed so much heart and they applied the systems asked of them perfectly.”
Sharks now travel to Dundee Comets on Saturday 28th November to tackle their final away game of a demanding run of road games. They will then benefit from a quiet December which will finally see them return to home ice after an eleven week absence when they host Kilmarnock Storm at the Ice Bowl on Sunday 27th December.
Pic: Conor Smith delivered yet another solid performance.
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