N-ice one as Pirates tame Typhoons
Thorp is a persistent thorn in the flesh of Moray men
Craig Ritchie
Pirates got the show back on the road with a comprehensive 5- 1 at Elgin at the weekend.
They were minus the injured Stuart Miller and Haydn Bain, while Graeme Meechan and Liam Riddell were unavailable through work commitments.
But Pirates hit the ice quickly and scored in under three minutes as they took advantage of a powerplay opportunity to go ahead through Richard Thorp, assisted by Mark Hassan.
The giant forward continued to be a thorn in the flesh of the hosts and, just at the halfway point of the period, he doubled their trouble.
Once more on the powerplay, he again beat Johnstone in the home goal to put Pirates two in front, with assistance from Ross Jordan.
The home side did, however, manage to get on the scoreboard with under three minutes of the period remaining.
Russell beat Callum Hepburn to half the deficit to 2- 1 as the teams left the ice after 20 minutes.
A determined Pirates outfit was in no mood to allow the home side back into the game and within nine seconds of the restart the lead was back to two as Campbell beat Johnstone, assisted by Martyn Guy.
The scoreline got even better for Pirates when, with less than nine minutes of the session gone, Chris Wilson scored unassisted.
The visitors continued to keep their foot on the accelerator in the final session and, with just over eight minutes played, Dean Hamilton scored a landmark first goal for the club with a blue liner.
Jordan again assisted, to take the score to 5- 1 and end any lingering doubts of a home recovery.
A few seconds later, Pirates’ Marc Crute and the hosts’ Munro similarly sat out 10 minutes after a brief encounter.
The disciplinary infractions weren’t over, however. With just over a minute remaining, the home side’s Ramshaw, having already taken a 10 minute penalty earlier in the game, was summarily thrown out after receiving a game misconduct.
Pirates will visit Aberdeen in their Scottish Cup quarter final first leg tie on Saturday, before welcoming the in-form Dundee Comets to Braehead Arena on Sunday for another SNL match, with two critical league points at stake.
Pirates will be delighted to have got back on their bicycle to record an excellent victory after the disappointment of last weekend, and the boost will do them no harm as they prepare for another massive weekend.