Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Share of spoils hands Comets league title
DUNDEE Comets won the Scottish National League title after drawing 6-6 against last season’s champions Paisley Pirates on Sunday night at Dundee Ice Arena.
With both teams locked at the top of the table on 33 points after Paisley’s 4-2 success against Kirkcaldy Kestrels the previous evening, Comets’ better goal difference meant the visitors would have to go all out for the two points.
The game started at a furious pace and, with only 39 seconds gone, Callum Hill connected on to a Michal Beca pass to give the home side the opener.
This was to be the only goal of the first stanza as the Taysiders took three twominute minor penalties, forcing them to play shorthanded and defend against a barrage of shots from Pirates, which forced Man-of-the-Match netminder Matthew Michie to play his best hockey. Those tactics frustrated the visitors but also tired the Dundee defence.
Period two got under way and again the hosts struck early as Adam McNicoll fired in a fantastic shot from inside the face-off circle that went high into the roof of the net to double the lead.
However, just after the mid point, Comets found themselves in penalty trouble and this allowed Paisley to close the gap when Dobson grabbed a powerplay goal and, two minutes later, he struck again to tie the game at two apiece.
McNicoll launched another rocket of a shot three minutes later, which was almost identical to his first strike, this time destroying the water bottle sitting on top of the visitors’ net in the process.
This lead was to be short lived as Paisley stalwart Chris Turley pounced, again on a powerplay, to go into the final session level at 3-3.
After the restart, an early strike from former Comet Richard Thorp put Pirates on course for the win at 4-3 up.
But this period had another five goals to come as both sides gave all they had to secure the desired result as they traded goals and the lead, with Hill grabbing his second of the night and Comets captain Lewis Gold getting on the scoresheet.
As the game drew to a nail-biting finale, Sam McCluskey put Dundee 6-5 in front with just 52 seconds left to play but, after pulling their goalie for the extra skater, former Comet Adam Walker fired in Paisley’s game-tying goal with 30 seconds left. However, Comets stood firm to see out the game and the final buzzer signalled celebrations on the home bench.
Comets coaches Rab Brown and John Gordon Sr said: “We knew this would be a tough test and it certainly was that. Our guys were shorthanded twice as much as the opposition and it’s a great result considering that.
“We are very proud of these guys as they always give their all and the team spirit is second to none. We’ll rest up and get ready for Saturday’s Scottish Cup Final against Paisley and, hopefully, come home with the treble.”
PAISLEY Blackhawks defeated Dumfries Demons 2-1 in overtime to retain the Scottish Recreational Cup at the DIA at the weekend.
Dundee Michelin narrowly missed out on a semi-final place after picking up two wins in their Pool B games.
Michy went down 2-1 to Irvine Flyers in their opening fixture but bounced back with a 5-0 victory against Paisley Panthers on Saturday.
On Sunday, a 10-0 win over Glenrothes Cougars was cancelled out by a 2-0 loss to Edinburgh Knights.