ICE HOCKEY

Clan survive late fightback to seal first win

FIFE FLYERS......................................... 2 CLAN............................................................3

Clan edged out the Flyers by the odd goal in five on their trip to Kirkcaldy despite playing the final ten minutes with a player down.

The intu Braehead outfit got their first win under Zack Fitzgerald but the team was made to work for it in the Challenge Cup following Mathieu Roy’s dismissal for spearing.

He told the the league website: “The boys battled through some adversity. I’m really proud of them.

“We were low on numbers to start but the guys really stepped up. I told the boys to be confident. We worked hard all week and we went out hungry for it. It was an exciting game with almost a playoff atmosphere and we coped well.”

It was another entertaining contest in the relatively short history of this fixture and the Flyers, the oldest club in Britain, were the better of the two teams in the early stages of the contest as they tried to assert themselves.

A James Isaacs penalty from tripping led to the opening goal for Clan as Chad Rau set up Mathieu Roy, who had space to fire his shot into the roof of the net.

Fitzgerald’s side made the advantage count once again as Flyers found themselves a man down for slashing with Rau applying the finish from Travis Ehrhardt’s blasted shot.

Clan went 3-0 up early in the third as Scott Tanski found himself in a one-on-one situation with Fife goalie Adam Morrison and the player duly finished.

With under ten minutes to go, Roy was called out for spearing, a decision that saw him sit out the rest of the game and that proved the trigger for Flyers to start clawing their way back into the game.

Danick Gauthier was first to make a mark followed by Tim Crowder on the powerplay just a minute later as their three-goal lead was wiped out in an instant.

It set up an exciting final few minutes as Fife pushed for the equaliser, that included a top save from Killeen as he dealt with a deflected shot.

Morrison was pulled in the last minute, but Clan held on for their first win of the season.

Next up for Clan is a trip to Belfast on Saturday to take on the Giants.

The Challenge Cup encounter at the SSE Arena gets underway at 7pm.

The following night Clan are in Elite League action in Cardiff against the Devils at the Viola arena. Face-off is at 6pm.