Last Saturday saw the Junior Solway Sharks head to Edinburgh, where the Under 12 and Under 20 teams were facing their rivals at Murrayfield.
The SK Joinery sponsored under 12s played first, facing a strong and well-organised Murrayfield team. Despite their best efforts the wee Sharks could do little to slow the onslaught from the bigger team, and found themselves on the wrong end of a 17-2 scoreline as the game finished.
There were some valiant individual performances, with goals from Tomas Vyrostek and Ewan Duignan, and an assist for Bailey Thomson to add to the tally. Man of the match went to Braiden Howat, who put in a solid performance between the pipes. After the game coach Craig Jackson said, “Saturday saw us travel to Murrayfield for our second league game of the season. With Murrayfield having such a strong start to the season we knew from the start this would be a difficult game. It took us too long to settle into playing our game and by the time this point came the game was out of sight. It’s still early in the season and as the weeks continue I hope we will start to build on what we are learning at training and be able to progress this into games.”
The Jardine Motors sponsored under 20s were next onto the ice, facing a Murrayfield U20 team who had also had a strong start to the season. The game got off to a fast start, Liam Stenton opening the scoring for Solway after 11 seconds via Charles Leuvennink, straight from Lewis Houston at the face off. Murrayfield attacked relentlessly, putting the Solway defence under constant pressure, and Kyle Johnston was required to pull off a series of acrobatic saves to keep them at bay. Young Houston was next to break through the Murrayfield lines on 11:15, a fine shorthanded goal after passes from big brother Luke and Stenton, and after more end-to-end play the period finished with Solway 2 goals ahead.
The second period saw Solway continue to dictate the play, mounting numerous attacks while continuing to hold Murrayfield at bay, the defence and Johnston working hard throughout. Lewis Houston scored again after 4 minutes with the only goal of the period, from a Kieran Hair pass, and there followed some hard, physical play; but the Sharks dug deep and their persistence was rewarded when the period ended with them 3 goals to nil ahead.
The scoring continued apace in the third, Conor Caven winning the puck in defence and finding Stenton, who passed to Struan Duff, who found the net for Solways’s fourth after 25 seconds of play. The Sharks maintained the pressure, and were rewarded when the Houston brothers combined with Stenton, who scored to put the team five goals ahead at 42:52. Murrayfield managed to squeeze one past Johnston, who was in cracking form, on 44:29, and capitalised on their advantage to make it two with another on 46:40. Solway were not to be cowed, and continued battling hard, rewarded on 53:56 when Stenton scored his third and the team’s sixth from Struan Duff. In the end Solway were very deserved 6-2 victors, with a fine exhibition of teamwork – everyone on the ice putting in a great performance. Kyle Johnston was man of the match with a save percentage of 95% after facing 40 shots.
Solway Juniors are in action at Dumfries Ice bowl this weekend when Kilmarnock come to play, Under 20s on Saturday at 3.45pm, while the Under 12s and Under 16s play on Sunday morning, first face off at 10am. If you are interested in playing ice hockey please contact Dumfries Ice Bowl on 01387 251300 for details of Learn to Play sessions.
