KILMARNOCK THUNDER 4 – PAISLEY PIRATES 7

Pirates recovered from a shock opening period to stage a thrilling comeback and collect the two points in their first Stuart Robertson Cup fixture at the Galleon Centre.

The match had barely started when Pirates found themselves a goal behind after only 36 seconds when Anderson fired past Meechan, and it got worse as the home side extended their lead to three by the 9th minute as first Murdoch, then Gordon, found the net to give Thunder a handy advantage with the period less than half gone. The visitors did pull one back in the 12th minute as Guy top shelved an effort to get his team on the board, but their joy was short lived as within seconds Thunder were 4-1 in front, as a shot from Anderson was parried by Meechan, but it trickled over the line, leaving Pirates staring down the barrel as they headed for the dressing room after an uncomfortable 20 minutes.

The interval words of wisdom from the coaching team appeared to do the trick for the visitors as within four minutes they were back in the game, Thorp firing home to cut the deficit to two. Thunder’s discipline let them down thereafter for an extended period, and with Pirates having a numerical advantage they pulled the score level either side of the halfway point with powerplay goals from Sarginson and Henderson to ease the concerns pf the travelling support, and anticipate a final session with all to play for.

Pirates were ahead for the first time in the game within three minutes of the final session as Guy took a pass from Spiers to fire past Collins for the go ahead goal, and the big defender scored the goal of the game just after halfway as he beat several opponents in a mazy skate to give his team a two goal cushion, and complete his own hat trick in the process . Pirates were looking much more comfortable now and Andreucci provided the icing on the cake with the final marker in the last few minutes.   

Pirates are on the road again next Sunday as they travel to Dumfries to take on Solway Stingrays in a match which faces off at 5.30pm.