Paisley Pirates go into the second leg of their Autumn Cup quarter final looking to clinch a place in the last 4 by overcoming the challenge of Kilmarnock Storm, and carrying a 3 goal lead into the tie, having defeated the home side 5-2, also in the Ayrshire rink, last weekend.
“Yes, I’m happy that we’re carrying an advantage into the second leg,” said coach Ian Turley, “although no one in our camp is thinking the tie is anything like over. Kilmarnock played very well last weekend, and will be thinking, particularly if they get the first goal, that they’ve still got a chance of making the semi final. It was a pretty tight affair then, and I don’t suppose this Saturday (face off 7.00pm) will be any different. We’ll need to be on our toes, and we should be a wee bit sharper too, now that we’ve got a competitive match under our belts.”
“The new boys coming into the team for the first time integrated well, and we also had a number of players returning after a spell elsewhere, or who’d had a time out for various reasons, such as personal circumstances or long term injury, so it was good to get everyone back on the ice and making a contribution in front of a large travelling support who had been waiting all summer to see the team in action again.”
“We managed to try out a few things in a match situation, as you can never be quite sure who will play better with whom, but I’ve got a better idea now that I’ve actually seen the lines play in an actual match. The Kilmarnock rink is a lot tighter than the wide open spaces we have at Braehead Arena, which is unavailable to us for another month yet, so there’s a lot of elements to be factored into our preparation and, like I say, we’ll need to watch our step if we’re to progress to the semifinals against the cup holders, the Edinburgh Capitals, another tough prospect, but first we’ve got to blow out the Storm!”