Pirates tame the Lynx in away day mauling
With the current season put on ice, we’ve linked up with Paisley Pirates stalwart and media guru Bill Elliot to relive some of the club’s most dramatic and successful moments.
Today we’re looking back at a more recent clash between the Pirates and Aberdeen Lynx back in January last
ABERDEEN LYNX .............................................2
PAISLEY PIRATES ............................. ...............8
Pirates headed for the home of the Northern Lights in January 2020 expecting a dramatic match which normally accompanied their trips to the oil capital of Scotland.
When Aberdeen had first joined the Scottish League some years earlier, the matches had usually been played in front of a handful of spectators.
The fixture had also generally been won handsomely by the visiting team, and generally the occasion was decided well in advance of the final buzzer.
Those days were long since gone. Aberdeen were now one of the teams in the upper echelon of the Scottish League, playing to capacity crowds most weeks.
Along with live local radio coverage of matches, spectators had to book their tickets in advance to be assured of a seat such had their popularity soared.
Gone were the days of the regulation heavy home defeats and, indeed, the Lynx had inflicted regular losses to most teams in their own arena.
That included the Pirates, where towsy affairs had become more of an expectation.
In this respect if you had made the long trip north, you were not left wanting on this particular night.
Pirates, minus the suspended Turley and Andreucci with Donaghy taking on netminding duties, took both points with an excellent display against the home side.
The visitors were six ahead before the home side even got on the board in a game which saw no fewer than 135 minutes awarded in penalties during a game which was niggly throughout.
Play was fairly even throughout the first period, with both goalies called into action.
It wasn’t until the 14th minute that Waler and Abercrombie combined to let the former beat Chalmers for the only goal of the session, one which saw several minor penalties given against both teams for minor misdemeanours.
The middle session saw the visitors really open up and put the game to bed with a burst of five goals in under ten minutes.
It was not until the 26th minute that Pirates actually doubled their lead when a fine move involving Walker, Speirs and Abercrombie ended with the latter firing home.
The same threesome were on the powerplay just over a minute later for Walker to apply the finishing touch in a period which saw the hosts concede seven penalties in the session.
Abercrombie completed his hat-trick with two in a minute, before Crawford scored a rare marker to take it to six.
Pirates comfortably played out the rest of the session to take a dominant 6-0 advantage into the last sessions.
The hosts finally got on the board in the 44th minute when, with Duncan sitting out a minor for high sticking, Malcolm beat Donaghy to break his team’s duck.
However within a minute Thorp made it a six goal difference once again with a superb goal.
Then, to rub it in, Walker completed his hattrick on the powerplay to push the scoreline even further to 8-1.
By this time, the penalty count had risen significantly with a host of minor calls, while ex-Pirate MacEachran participation in the game had ended entirely
Pirates’ Crawford and Wallace had also taken lengthy bench-warming breaks, but eventually the ice hockey took centre stage again and the game came to a close.
Even so, penalties continued to be handed out like confetti right up until the last buzzer sounded and the Pirates headed home to Paisley with two points safely in tow.