PAISLEY PIRATES 9 EDINBURGH CAPITALS 0
Pirates won the Scottish Cup for only the third time since they were re-formed in 1992, crushing the Edinburgh Capitals 9-0 in Fife to record a famous victory.
They opened in fine style, and quickly wiped away the disappointment of playoff defeat the previous weekend, as they went at their opponents with a display of grit and determination which showed their intent, and they were ahead as early as the fifth minute. While shorthanded, they attacked the Capitals, and with Mallinson out of his goal at the Edinburgh end a defensive error gave Blair an open goal and he made no mistake to put the Paisley side ahead. Edinburgh were still very much in the game in the first session, with Mark Paterson having no fewer than three good chances to square the match, but he failed to hit the target with any of them, and with Pirates continuing to apply their own pressure a scoreless remainder to the period sent them in at the first break 1-0 ahead.
They quickly played off the remainder of their fourth penalty of the night and proceeded to put the Capitals to the sword. Skipper McCamley picked his spot for the second goal within a minute, before Thorp added a third with a shot from behind the defensive line, before Orr netted the first of his treble to make it four before the halfway point. The Capitals knew it wasn’t going to be their night when a Mallinson save rebounded to strike Riddell and trickle over the line for five, and before the break Orr took a pass from Miller to skate beyong the halfway line and fire an unstoppable shot past the netminder for a slightly surreal 6-0 advantage at the second interval.
Pirates continued to go forward at speed in the final session and soon made it seven on the powerplay as Orr duly flicked home to complete his hat trick. Caps replaced the shell shocked Mallinson with Rodger at this juncture, but they couldn’t stop the flow of goals and Miller took the score to eight in the final half of the session with a trademark shot from the left side of the zone. With Pirates’ youngsters also getting the chance to enjoy the moment, Haydn Bain duly completed the scoring with under five minutes remaining to round off a memorable evening for the Paisley side, to the delight of a large, not to say vociferous, travelling support, who started their celebrations long before the final whistle was sounded.