Tuesday, 12 November 2013

BLACKBURN HAWKS 1-2 SOLWAY SHARKS 20/10/13

The Hawks faced their toughest test of the season on Sunday evening, as they welcomed the reigning League Champions, the Solway Sharks. It promised to be a mouth-watering encounter, and a crowd in excess of 900 fans packed themselves into The Arena. An electrical fault with the scoreboard resulted in the 'off-ice' team having little option but to keep the crowd informed of times, penalties, etc, by announcing them at breaks in play - a job they performed admirably, throughout the match.

The first period began at an electrifying pace, with the home side straight onto the offensive. Dan Mackriel tested McGill, the Sharks keeper, within the opening 15 seconds, but his shot flew straight into the netminder's chest. This was quickly followed by wrist-shots from David Miekle and Chris Arnone, as the Hawks searched for an early breakthrough. Indeed, the opening 10 minutes saw the visitors struggle to contain the marauding Blackburn forwards, ably led by the industrious Adam Brittle, On 6 minutes, Solway lost a man to the penalty box, as Wallace was called for hooking, but even though they created several openings, the Hawks could not find a way past the over-worked McGill. Two penalties in quick succession (Arnone and Scott Robson) saw the Sharks with a 5-on-3 powerplay, and they took full-advantage. A shot from the blue-line deflected off the backboard, and Steven Moore was on-hand by the side of the net, to tuck the puck beyond the Blackburn goalminder, Danny Brittle. Slashing penalties against both teams saw a 4-on-3 powerplay for the visitors, but strong, disciplined, defensive work nullified the best efforts of the Scottish outfit. With the period entering it's final couple of minutes, Goldie threw a punch at Aaron Davies, which sparked a 'mini' grappling session - although the referee deemed the discretions to be worthy of mis-conduct penalties for both wrestlers. Arnone also received a 10 minute penalty, for speaking out-of-turn. However, it was the home side who benefited, as they drew level, thanks to Rick Hughes. He and Miekle broke out of defence, and after a scramble in the visitor's goalmouth, was able to force the puck over the line.

The second twenty minutes once again saw the Hawks start brightly, with Owen and Hughes combining well. Ollie Lomax lost possession in the offensive zone, and with the whole ice pad at his mercy, the Solway forward looked to have an easy route to goal. However, the tigerish defenceman was determined to atone for his error, and chased down the Shark player - hooking him as he was about to shoot. Tonnar pinged a shot off the pipes, but this was as close as the Scots came to regaining the lead during the powerplay. The game was becoming stretched, and flowed from end to end, although the 40 minute mark arrived, with the scores locked at 1-1.

With many fans still returning to their seats, the defining moment of the match came, with only 7 seconds of the third period elapsed. Solway won the opening face-off, and moved the puck out to the left, where it was controlled by Senko. He moved forward, and fired an innocuous wrist shot towards Brittle's goal. The netminder barely moved, as he lost sight of the puck, and it sailed agonisingly past his glove - just inside the far post. This stunned the home side, and it's followers, but not for long, as they came roaring back at their opponents. They increased the tempo 'markedly', and Jared Owen led the way, with a fierce 'one-timer'. Adam Brittle then re-directed a cross from Davies, which brought a magnificent reflex save from McGill, and the puck flew just wide of the post. Sam Dunford was unlucky to see his effort well saved, but the best chance of the game fell to Hughes, who, with only 8 minutes remaining, found himself with the entire net at his mercy. The crowd was on it's collective feet, ready to celebrate a deserved equaliser, but inexplicably, the reliable forward put the puck on the wrong side of the pipe. Davies took out his frustration by crunching Mitchell into the boards, and the Shark was visibly shaken, as he made his way back to the bench. A Craig Rogers slapshot crashed off the plexi-glass behind McGill's goal, but that was as close as Blackburn came to getting back on level terms. The final talking point of the match was a high stick from Goldie, which caught Robson 'flush' in the face. To his credit, Mackriel 'stepped-in' to defend his team-mate, as Robson hit the ice - and the Solway defenceman was quite rightly ejected from the game. A final throw of the dice saw the Blackburn keeper 'pulled', but the clock ran down before an opening could be engineered.

The MVP award was given to Sam Dunford, who's energetic 'two-way' performance was a real highlight.

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