Ice Hockey: No joy for Sharks in Dundalk

Nov 6 2009 by Our Correspondent, Dumfries Standard Friday

SOLWAY SHARKS were on the road at the weekend for two Celtic League matches in the Republic of Ireland with back to back fixtures against the Charlestown Chiefs (ex-Latvian Hawks) in Dundalk.

Unfortunately Solway seemed to be slow to find their rhythm after their long bus and ferry journey and soon found themselves two goals down to the fast-moving and crisp-passing Irish side.

First on the score sheet was Patrik Buda when he converted a second minute chance after being set up by Olegs Stalutonis and the home side doubled their advantage three minutes later when Sergejs Selenkovs found the back of the net.

The Sharks had just begun to steady the ship mid-way through the opening period when a defensive lapse allowed Alex Fjodorous to send Viktor Serdukovs through on goal and he duly finished with style.

For much of the remainder of the period, the visitors were on the back foot and only some desperate defence and excellent goal-tending from Gary Russell prevented their hosts from inflicting further damage.

If the first session had started badly for Solway then it didn’t take long for it to get worse after the re-start as Buda quickly latched onto a loose pass in the Sharks’ D and fired a sharp back-handed shot into the roof of the net.

Solway gradually began to pick up the pieces and exert some pressure on the home defence as Pavol Melichercik and Bari McKenzie both tested Deniss Kurelles in the Charlestown goal.

At the same time the Graeme McCamley, David Orr and Chris Wilson line were causing their own brand of high octane havoc when they were on the ice. However, despite an improved performance, the second interval arrived with the Sharks yet to open their account.

The second break seemed to revive the Chiefs more than the Doonhamers and two goals within 30 seconds from Josef Hruska and Janis Kipars effectively killed off the tie by the 47-minute mark. But if the fans thought that was the end of the action they were way off the mark, as 90 seconds later pandemonium broke out on the ice. A Chiefs forward went in late on netminder Russell and the puck broke to the right-hand boards where David Orr was hit late and hard by Vladimir Zak leaving him mildly concussed.

Frazer Goldie entered the scene in defence of his team mate. Meanwhile Russell cross-checked the Charlestown forward who had hit him late which led to a separate scuffle in the goalmouth.

After all the parties were separated the referee, ex-Dumfries Viking Jamie Branigan, assisted by one of his linesmen, attempted to sort out the penalties.

After an extraordinary discussion which saw the game stopped for fully 10 minutes and the officials trotting back and forth between the two benches, both Zak and Goldie correctly received five plus game penalties for their fisticuffs.

However, Solway’s John Ballentyne was also given a five plus game, presumably for the goalmouth fracas. This was incredible as the player was not on the ice when the incident occurred.

Eventually the game restarted and the break seemed to unsettle the home side more than the visitors. Solway went on the attack and a spell of pressure on the Chiefs defence yielded two Sharks goals from Juraj Senko courtesy of assists from Melichercik and McKenzie respectively.

Not long after this Senko became the third Shark to be sent to the dressing room, presumably for a comment made to the referee and the game progressed to its conclusion with relatively little incident.

All in all Solway were beaten by a better team on the night and while two of the three officials fell well below the standard required they in no way influenced the six-two score line that Charlestown fully deserved.

Mention should be made of the hospitality shown by the hosts when the Sharks were invited to join in the Hallowe’en celebrations in Dundalk Ice Dome and were constantly encouraged to join in the party games.

On their return to the Park Hotel the Sharks discovered further entertainment in the form of the Irish National Thai Boxing Championships and several of the party took in the spectacle.

The paying spectators themselves were treated to the unexpected sight of Corrie Telfer and Roby Brown dressed in Leprechaun costumes.

Sunday game

The Sharks were back on the ice at Sunday lunch-time, for the second instalment of their double-header and the first session showed a marked improvement for the Sharks over the previous evening’s disappointing showing.

Despite the best efforts from the two sets of forwards, it was the respective netminders, Gary Russell for the Sharks and Deniss Kurelles for the Chiefs, who were at the top of their games and the scoreboard remained blank at the first interval.

The home side began the second session with more purpose and got the reward their endeavours deserved when Josef Hruska delivered the pass for Janis Kipars to convert on the 25-minute mark.

But Solway were in determined mood and, after surviving a further spell of Charlestown pressure, they began to string together a few moves of their own with Graeme McCamley, Bari McKenzie and Mark Gallagher all going close.

In the end, the equaliser came from a less expected source. Frazer Goldie received a pass on the left-hand boards and with no-one in support he flashed a slapshot from point past Kurelles and into the top right-hand corner of the net.

The Sharks forwards began to skate at the home defence and, while they had a good spell of possession, they found the Chiefs well organised and unyielding.

Despite their best efforts they couldn’t force themselves through again and it was the home side that were to break the deadlock. With the clock running down the home side made one more rush up the rink and as play swept across the face of the Solway goal a Charlestown stick was on hand to convert. Unfortunately, as the Irish official left without leaving the Sharks a game sheet, and with no rink announcer it is unclear who the scorer was.

It was important for Solway to score first in the final period if they were to share the spoils for the weekend and with this in mind they set to their task.

In a closely-fought session, play swung from end to end and both sides could easily have added goals to the scoreboard but for excellent performances from the two goalies.

Around the 50-minute mark, the home side were enjoying a period of pressure on the Sharks’ goal. A good series of passes ripped the visitors’ defence apart at the seams allowing the Chiefs to notch their third goal of the day at the back post.

The Sharks never stopped trying to narrow the deficit but every attack foundered on the resolute Irish defence and no-one could find the key to unlock it.

Solway pulled their netminder for an extra skater for most of the final minute of the game but the Charlestown goal remained intact and the final hooter sounded with the home side three-one victors and the Sharks were left to travel home empty-handed.