Here is a match report for Solway Sharks Vs Paisley Pirates. This match report came from the Paisley Daily Express

PIRATES TITLE HOPES SUNK Jan 13 2004 SOLWAY SHARKS ............ 9 PAISLEY PIRATES ........... 7 PIRATES wrecked their own title hopes as they slumped to their first defeat in six games at Dumfries on Saturday night. On top of the disappointment of losing, they were then rocked by the news that league leaders Camperdown had suffered a shock defeat at Kilmarnock. And that meant that had Paul Heavey's men won, they would have cut the difference between them and the Dundee side to just ONE point and their title hopes would have been very much back on track. It was a nightmare opening period that cost Pirates dearly. They almost gifted the opening goal inside five seconds when a Chris Conaboy slip let in Bobby Chalmers, but netminder Damien Orr kept the shot out. Both sides traded early powerplays, but it was at even strength that the chances were coming. Pirates twice struck the post in the sixth minute through Alan Campbell and Colin McMillan. The match exploded in the seventh minute when two heavyweights clashed Chris Conaboy and former Pirate Mark Steele. Unfortunately for Pirates, Conaboy was judged the main aggressor and received an extra two minutes penalty. Conaboy received 16 minutes and Steele received 14 minutes for the confrontation. Sharks scored with the extra man, but in bizarre fashion, it was Craig Johnstone mis-hitting a shot that broke the deadlock as the puck took a weird bounce past a bemused Orr. Pirates did mount a period of pressure after this, but without success before the roof fell in on them in the 13th minute. Sharks netted three times through Gary Carruth, Tim McKay and Terry Robertson. Pirates continued to self destruct with a poor clearance gifting Craig Jackson number five in the 16th minute. Heavey's side did pull a goal back in the 17th minute through Graham Park, but another Pirates penalty allowed the Sharks to complete the period scoring 32 seconds from the break through Carruth. The second period looked to be wide open with both sides trading chances, but still it was Sharks whose finishing was the more clinical. Robertson in the 24th and Chalmers in the 26th minutes, both caught Pirates on the break to extend the lead to seven goals. With both sides skating a man short in the 28th minute, Pirates pulled a goal back when Campbell broke clear and, when he looked for support, James Clark was on hand to score. An unlikely comeback looked to be on when Stuart Swiatek re-directed home a Park shot in the 32nd minute. Chalmers extended the lead again in the 34th minute, but the momentum was now very much with the visitors and Colin Nelson completed the period scoring in the 37th minute to pull Pirates back within five goals again. Pirates laid siege to the home goal in the final period and they got an early reward through Stuart McCaig in the 43rd minute. Try as they might, however, the pressure didn't tell quickly enough as it took until the 58th minute before Campbell pulled another goal back. Thirty seconds later McCaig made it a two-goal deficit, but despite Pirates pulling Orr for an extra skater, that was as close as they came to rescuing anything from the game. Pirates Man of the Match was Stuart McCaig.