Paisley Pirates – preview

Paisley Pirates take the roads and miles to Dundee this Saturday as they look forward to a difficult match against the local Comets, and fresh from a 10-0 win against Kilmarnock Storm at Braehead Arena last Sunday which got their season off to a flying start.

“It was a comfortable win against our near neighbours and I was pleased to see the newcomers integrate well into our style of play and make a positive contribution,” said coach Ian Turley. “There’s still a bit of work to be done in that respect but seeing as we were missing a couple of players for various reasons, who have still to be added to the squad which won on Sunday, I’ve got to be pleased with the way things have gone to date in our opening two matches.”

“Everyone got plenty of ice time and it was good to see guys like Haydn Bain get on the scoresheet, which will do their confidence no harm at all, and will give me the very pleasant headache of fitting all of these guys into the lineup when everyone is available.   That’s the kind of headache every coach wants to have and there will certainly be plenty of competition for a starting place this year, so everyone wanting to play will have to put in a real shift every time they’re out on the ice.”

He went on, “It was our poor away form which cost us the league title last year, so we have to be looking for a big improvement in that respect if we want to be serious challengers-it’s no use doing the business every time we play at home, if we then drop our standards when we’re on the road. Dundee Comets are always a tough nut to crack at home, and especially away, and I don’t remember a match against them where there was much more than a goal or two in it over the 60 minutes, so it will take another good performance at their place on Saturday if we’re looking to come away from there with something to show for our efforts.  Like us, they will have aspirations towards challenging for honours, and these are the kind of games you have to go and win in spite of the difficulties the opposition will present, so we’ll work hard in training this week and prepare well for what lies ahead of us at the weekend.”