Pirates Plunder Points in 11 Goal Thriller

The Dundee Tigers went down by the odd goal in 11 as they were defeated 6-5 in Paisley by the Pirates on Sunday night.

Travelling short benched, the visitors were quick off the mark as Kris Phillips scored the night’s first marker with just 1:18 played to silence the home fans. The Pirates had an almost immediate chance to draw level as Robbie Barnett was penalised for high sticks before Scott Marr was assessed a tripping penalty giving the home team a 2 man advantage. Tigers stood firm though and had a powerplay chance themselves at the 14 minute mark, but despite some solid possession they could not convert. With the play flowing end to end as the seconds ticked by the Tigers found themselves on the break. A neat drop pass from Scott Marr found the path of Paul Guilcher who rifled home the puck for 2-0 with just 12 seconds of the period remaining.

The middle stanza got off to an electric start and Richard Thorp cut the visitors lead in half with just 2 minutes on the clock. Tigers struck back quickly though as Stuart Barnett’s shot took a deflection past the stranded Pirates keeper to restore the 2 goal advantage. An all too familiar story soon began to unfold as the Tigers found themselves repeatedly on the wrong end of the referee’s whistle. Chris Turley took advantage of the powerplay in the 28th minute to bring Pirates back to within 1 goal with a shot from the point. It took some desperate defending and impressive goaltending by the visitors to ensure they took a slender lead in to the final session despite being outshot 25-7 and racking up no less than 73 minutes in penalties.

Tigers took to the ice in the 3rd with 2 players still sitting in the penalty box. Within a minute the Pirates had drawn level as Graham McCamley fired home on the powerplay. The hosts then took the lead in the 43rd minute as McCamley bagged his 2nd of the night and he added his hat-trick marker with yet another PP goal with 53 minutes played to put clear space between the teams. With the Tigers looking down and out an inspired shift saw them tie things up with 2 goals in 30 seconds. Scott Marr got on the scoresheet with a fine shorthanded effort before Paul Guilcher got his 2nd of the night with just 4 minutes remaining. Tigers had a rare powerplay when Chris Wilson was inexplicably allowed to carry the puck from his own end unchallenged before slotting home what would be the game winner with just over 2 minute remaining.

The result of this game confirms that the 2 teams will now face each other in the SNL Playoff quarter finals. Dates for both legs will be confirmed ASAP.

Final score: Pirates 6 – Tigers 5

Tigers MoM: Robbie Balfour