Kestrels Fly High Against Timid Tigers

The Dundee Tigers paid the price for a lack lustre start in Fife on Sunday night as they were humbled by 8 goals to 1 in the Kingdom.

The Tigers found themselves 4 goals down within just 12 minutes as they were caught napping in the first game of 2016. Conor Duncan opened the scoring with less than 3 minutes played before Liam Cassidy doubled the home team’s lead with 6 minutes on the clock to finish off a well worked play. Cassidy was on target again with 9 minutes played as he converted a powerplay opportunity and increased the advantage to 3. In the 12th minute Duncan notched his second of the night and the Kestrels 4th to leave the Tigers bench exasperated and set the hosts in to cruise control. Tigers lost starting netminder shortly after the 4th goal through a sudden bout of sickness and backup Robbie Balfour took his place between the pipes for the remainder of the game. The Tigers clawed back a goal in the 16th minute as Paul Guilcher converted a fine marker on the PP to finish the period scoring a give the visitors a glimmer of hope.

The Tigers appeared to have a new lease of life as the second session got underway. Chances were created and shots taken, but each was thwarted by Andrew Little in the home goal. Against the run of play The Kestrels increased their advantage as a speculative shot from the neutral zone by Matthew Farmer somehow found its way past Balfour in the Tigers net. Conor Duncan finished the period with a controversial goal for the hosts as he bundled the puck home from within the crease after bumping Balfour which was allowed to stand and give the Tigers a mountain to climb in the final 20 minutes.

The last period got underway with the Tigers down a man as Dan Topping sat a penalty picked up at the end of the second session. It took just 40 seconds for the Kestrels to find a hole in the visitors defence as Robin Floyd got his name on the scoresheet. Another powerplay conversion with 8 minutes remaining saw Cassidy take his tally to 3 for the night and conclude the scoring for the game.

Tigers will rue their slow start and inability to convert chances in this game but can have no arguments over the result of the fixture. The team must now re-focus their attention as they prepare to visit last season’s League Champions, the Edinburgh Capitals next Sunday.

Final Score : Kestrels 8 - Tigers 1

Tigers MOM: Robbie Balfour