PAISLEY PIRATES 8 N AYR WILD 0

Pirates took a while to find their form and finally build up a substantial lead to take with them to Auchenharvie Leisure Centre next Saturday for the second leg of their Scottish Cup Quarter final.

In the first session the home side were finding it difficult to link their play as passes went astray and the normal fluency displayed in earlier home games was clearly missing. Indeed, their only goal of the period came through one of the rare times when their link up play came together, as Dobson rounded off a movement with team mates McGlaughlin and Sarginson to open the scoring.

Pirates continued to misplace passes in the middle session and were unable to convert a substantial period of 5 on 3 from the 27th minute into goals, but at the halfway point the tension was eased as Bain tipped in a shot from Hamilton to double the lead. It was Pirates’ turn to defend a 2 player disadvantage shortly thereafter and they did so with some fine saves from Meechan, outstanding defence coupled with no little luck, and an upright which saved the day with Meechan beaten They did, however, get another powerplay opportunity with three minutes of the session remaining and this time Dobson was on hand to poke home his second, and his side’s third, to give the scoreline a slightly more respectable look on the second buzzer.

The home side came out with a vengeance in the final session and within two minutes had added a fourth as Crute took a rebound to fire into an empty net. In spite of having most of the play, however, it wasn’t until the middle of the session that Bain netted number five, with McLaughlin then firing past an unsighted McGonigle within 30 seconds for the sixth goal. Pirates sensed blood now and got a shorthanded seventh as Thorp was first to a rebound to push home, and with under five minutes to go Dobson rounded off the scoring with a hat trick goal against his former side to make it 8-0 on the night, a scoreline that looked unlikely after the first, and maybe even the second, interval.

The two teams meet again in the second leg next Saturday, with Pirates looking to ease themselves into the Cup semifinal for the third successive season.