Dundee Comets 1 Paisley Pirates 3

Pirates continued their excellent start to the season with a hard fought 3-1 win in Dundee against a Comets side which has traditionally given them problems in the past.

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In a scoreless first period, play was nevertheless flowing towards each goal, and both netminders were required to pull off a series of good saves to keep the scoreboard blank The visitors were obliged to endure a series of penalties called by referee Fraser, but nevertheless showed the kind of defensive resolve which has served them so well so far this year, to ensure that the teams went into the first interval on level pegging.

In the 23rd minute, however, tempers boiled over, Chris Turley appearing to take a cross check to the head, and in the ensuing melee the Pirate was dismissed from the game, while Comets’ Hogg was permitted to continue, albeit after a lengthy stay in the penalty box. During the ensuing 5 minute powerplay thus gifted to the home side, Pirates defended stoutly, but their defence was breached with only seconds of the advantage remaining as Blake gave the home side the lead. Back came Pirates, however, and after 36 minutes they were level as Hassan got on the end of a Cowan pass to tie the scores after two sessions.

Into the final session, and with both teams pushing for the critical second goal, it was the visitors who snatched it after 47 minutes, Orr marking his return to the club with a shot following a pass from Riddell. Pirates doubled their advantage on a rare powerplay opportunity in the 54th minute as a shot from Cowan took a deflection off a defender’s skate to defeat McGill in the home goal, the marker being credited to Riddell. Referee Fraser once again intervened, ensuring for the last 6 minutes that the visitors played shorthanded, but with the home side pulling their netminder for a 6 on 4 skaters advantage, they were still unable to find a way past Langford, and the Pirates recorded a fine 3-1 in what might best be described as difficult circumstances.

Paisley Pirates 4 Edinburgh Capitals 4

Honours finished even in the Pirates’ second match of the weekend as they fought out an entertaining draw with the reigning league champions.

The game was barely two minutes old when a major dustup involving Chris Turley and David Beatson saw both pugilists receive 14 minutes in penalties, while big Pirates’ defender Robert Henderson was thrown out on a Game Misconduct call for being Third Man In. The fast flowing, end to end, opening session never let up, however, and the visitors got their noses in front in the 12th minute as ex Pirates Mark Paterson put his side ahead on the powerplay. Pirates responded immediately in fine style and were level within 30 seconds as Churchill levelled the scores at 1-1. The pattern was repeated two minutes later as Heeles again put the champions ahead, and this time it was Gary Warley, scoring his first ever goal for the Pirates, who equalised within half a minute, to send the side in at the end of a somewhat breathless first period with the score at 2-2.

Pirates jumped out the start at speed in the middle session and were ahead for the first time within two minutes, David Orr netting after good work by Cowan and Riddell. Pirates continued to have the upper hand during this period of play and should have added to their advantage, but it there was less than two minutes remaining in the session before Chris Wilson fired home to give his team a handy 4-2 advantage going into the final 20 minutes.

With Pirates going for the cushion of a 3 goal lead, they could, and should, have done so, passing up a succession of good chances at the start of the final session, the best being a shot by Orr which rebounded off a post barely two minutes into the period. They were made to pay severely for those missed chances as at the halfway point the Capitals scored twice within a minute, as first Donaldson, on the powerplay, and then Neil Hay, brought the game level, and the home side had to endure a final nine minutes where, while they continued to carve out openings, the visitors certainly had opportunities to win the game, only to find Langford putting in a Man of the Match performance to earn his side a point, in a match where they will feel they should have collected two.

 

Courtesy Paisley Pirates

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Founder of Paisley.org.uk in 1998 and constantly strives to change peoples attitudes to the town, Brian is a self described Paisley Digital Champion who promotes Paisley via any means necessary. You can also follow me on X