ICE HOCKEY
| Published date | 29 April 2022 |
| Publication title | Dumfries & Galloway Standard |
Sharks took an early lead, a perfectly placed Stuart Kerr pass from the Sharks D zone sent via Lewis Houston to the tape of Kieran Hair who skated in from the red and beat Stars netty Thomas Brown catcher side to put Sharks on the scoreboard in the fifth minute.
Two minutes later Stars responded with a goal of their own, Callum Wilkinson shooting over Callum Hepburn to equalise.
Spurred back into action, Sharks Captain Struan Tonnar moved them ahead in the 13th minute with a stunning solo effort, collecting the puck at his own end before carving a path through Stars' defence for the strike to retake the lead.
A minute later Sharks stretched their lead, Ewan Anderson collecting the puck from Scott Henderson at the centre line, a lovely piece of passing play between Anderson and Peter Gapa seeing the former hit the net in the 16th minute, Billingham netminder Brown having kicked out Gapa's shot into his path.
The first ended with Sharks 3 goals to 1 ahead.
A cautious second period followed with the Stars more successful in containing Sharks' attacks.
It didn't last though, in the 30th minute Gapa in the corner picking out Anderson in space in front of the net, his backhand pass to an unmarked Henderson fired into the roof of Brown's net.
It would have been easy for Billingham to give up, but they kept coming at Sharks and were rewarded in the 36th minute when Chris Sykes scored to bring the gap back to two at the end of the period - Sharks 4 Stars 2.
Sharks were determined not to let their advantage slip, and just 35 seconds into the final stanza they drew away from battling Billingham when Henderson and Anderson combined to steady a bobbling puck and knock it to Gapa who shot past Brown for the team's fifth.
The 44th minute saw Sharks put more distance between them and Stars, Tonnar passing to Gapa who broke down the left before squaring to Anderson, his shot coming almost from mid-air as he was checked but beating Brown nonetheless for the sixth.
Stars didn't give it up and piled the on pressure as the end of the game approached, but their chances were limited as Solway dictated the closing stages comfortably and claimed a 6-2 victory to book their place in the final.
Man of the match for Sharks was captain Struan...
To continue reading
Request your trial