PAISLEY PIRATES 6 ABERDEEN LYNX 2 (agg 9-4)
Pirates progressed comfortably to the semifinal of the Scottish Cup after dispatching Aberdeen 6-2 on the night, and will play Kilmarnock over two legs for the right to proceed to the Cup Final.
The home side opened brightly and were ahead after five minutes as Wilson took a pass from Orr to fire high into the net, and give his side the early boost they were looking for. Within two minutes their advantage had been doubled, as Riddell was put through by Campbell and he, too, wasted no time in blasting past Chalmers to put his team two ahead on the night, and three ahead on aggregate, with less than eight minutes on the clock. The balance of the flow of play continued to be towards Chalmers, and before the halfway point in the period Pirates were 3-0 ahead as Campbell this time took a pass from Wilson to go round the Lynx goalie and net in comfort. Aberdeen wasted little time in retaliating within a minute and pulled a goal back as Pirates gave the puck away in their own defensive zone and paid heavily for it as Laing fed Leyden who beat Meechan to put a better look on the scoreline. Pirates continued to look the more likely to add to their lead, and when Lynx broke forward they found the Pirates goalie in excellent form, leaving the score at 3-1 Pirates on the night, 6-3 ahead on aggregate, as the period ended.
Pirates came out flying in the second session and effectively killed the tie within three minutes as first Campbell, then Riddell, both completed their doubles to take the score to five. The home side did concede a second in the 25th minute through Hogan, but while they had to sustain periods of pressure from the visitors, especially when they were under penalty, they appeared to be doing so with some ease, and with chances going begging at the other end, it was something of a surprise that the period finished with no further scoring, leaving Pirates 5-2 in front on the night and a comfortable four goals ahead over the two legs.
In the final session, Pirates appeared happy to absorb pressure from the visitors, while continuing to look dangerous when they did break forward. Once again Meechan and the defence were equal to the task, although they did ride their luck a little as Lynx did hit the metalwork on two separate occasions. However, with the clock running down, Pirates still had time to record a 6th goal as Chris Wilson took a pass from Crute to score a wraparound goal and thus become the third Pirate on the night to net a double, finishing the scoring with a very comfortable 9-4 look to it over the two legs.
Coach Ian Turley will be very pleased with his team’s showing after a few wobbles at home in recent matches, and the side now makes the short journey to Kilmarnock on Saturday aiming to go for another two crucial league points.
Scorers: Campbell & Wilson (both 2+1), Riddell (2+0), Thorp (0+2), Orr, Jordan & Crute (all 0+1)
Penalties: Wilson (4), Ross, Turley & Riddell (all 2)
Man of the Match: Graeme Meechan