THE Solway Sharks suffered bitter back-to-back 6-5 defeats away from home last Saturday and Sunday.
On Saturday they finished on the wrong end of a narrow score line against the Swindon Wildcats.
Connor Henderson put the Sharks ahead. And Liam Stenton fired top corner at 8:55 to double the lead.
However, Swindon’s Vanya Antonov slotted the rebound of Jake Bricknell’s strike past Calum Hepburn.
And the Wildcats equalised early in the second period through Glenn Billing at 22:44.
The Sharks regained the lead thanks to a wraparound from Kyle Carruth at 28:37. And, just ten seconds later, John Dunbar fired top shelf, deking through the Wildcats’ defence, to restore the two goal edge for Solway.
However, Aaron Nell responded quickly with a wrist shot before Malasinski tied the game at 4-4.
Swindon’s top-points scorer Bricknell then added to his tally at 51:51 to give his side the lead. Ryan Wells added another at 53:43.
Solway fired their fifth goal of the evening with just not enough time remaining to salvage anything from the game after Kell Beattie fired a rocket of a shot past Marr at 59:41.
The Sharks wrapped up their five-game road trip Sunday evening in Bristol.
They struck first as Connor Henderson displayed great composure entering the offensive zone before threading a perfect pass to Callum Boyd, who beat Bristol netminder Tommy Nappier. However, the lead was short-lived as Bari McKenzie capitalised on space in the Sharks’ zone, placing his shot past Jordan Marr.
With under five minutes remaining, the Sharks reclaimed the lead when Kyle Carruth set up Joey Coulter who made no mistake finishing the play.
Midway through the second period, Bristol equalised through a brilliant individual effort from Bayley Harewood.
The momentum then shifted as the Pitbulls took the lead on a power-play goal from import forward Mitch Walinski.
And in the dying moments of the period, Rhys Smetham extended the home side’s lead to 4-2.
The final frame saw both teams exchanging opportunities, but it was Bristol who struck first, as Walinski netted his second of the night to make it 5-2.
With just over ten minutes remaining, the Sharks’ persistence paid off. Lewis Young found the back of the net after a slick passing play.
Energised by the goal, the Sharks closed the gap further when Alderson converted on a power play.
The same man continued his standout performance and scored another hard-working goal to tie the game at 5-5, forcing overtime.
It ended up going to a shootout after both teams failed to score in overtime.
Both goaltenders put on a stellar display. Dunbar struck first for the Sharks, but Harewood quickly answered for Bristol. Mason Lipsey then gave the Pitbulls the advantage, only for Dunbar to respond again. Walinski edged Bristol ahead with a precise low glove-side shot, leaving Gardiner in a must-score situation. However, Nappier made the decisive save, securing a thrilling 6-5 victory for the Pitbulls.
