Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Tigers have no answer to title-chasing Comets
DUNDEE Tigers were blown away by a rampant Comets side on Sunday as they slumped to a 9-2 defeat.
The visiting Comets got their SNL title-chasing ambitions off to a great start when ex-Elite League marksman John Dolan scored a short-handed goal to beat Robbie Balfour in the Tigers net in the sixth minute and put his side 2-0 up four minutes later.
Tigers quickly pulled a goal back through Grant Reekie, who sniped high past netminder Matthew Michie.
Comets restored their two-goal cushion when John Gordon found time and space to fire home and a cruel deflection off a Tigers defenceman from a wayward Kris Phillips point shot before the break saw them go 4-1 up.
After the restart, Comets captain Lewis Gold found the net three minutes in. A 2+2 penalty for high sticking assessed to Tigers’ Richy Fox provided the visitors an extended advantage and they made full use with goals by Billy Baxter and Andrew Pankhurst to take the scoreline to 7-1 before the midway point in the game.
Kris Inglis added Comets’ eighth on 37 minutes to conclude the period’s scoring.
In the final session, Comets finally forced home their ninth when Jamie Whitelaw slotted home with two minutes remaining.
Marc Leggatt, who was making his home debut for the Tigers, grabbed a consolation goal with just 15 seconds left to play, firing high into back-up keeper Brian Morris’s net to close the scoring on one of the most one-sided Dundee derbies in recent memory.
A Tigers spokesman said: “We quite simply weren’t good enough. We were second to every puck and let the Comets control the play.
“We’ve got a couple of guys carrying injuries and a couple playing through illness but it always looked like the Comets had an extra gear.
“We also made too many mistakes. Comets have enough quality and punished us almost every time.
“We face the Comets again in the Scottish Cup next month and, if we’re going to progress, we’ll need to be much smarter and cut out the lapses we’re prone to.”