Paisley Pirates match report

DUNDEE TIGERS   0             PAISLEY PIRATES   7

 Pirates took a massive step towards reaching the SNL playoff weekend as they swept the Tigers aside with a ruthless display in Dundee.

They were ahead with less than two minutes on the clock as skipper Graham McCamley scored an unassisted goal, and before the halfway point the lead had been doubled as Stuart Miller linked up with David Orr and Mark Hassan to make it 2-0. While both sides were testing the respective netminders at regular intervals, Graeme Meechan was once again repelling all boarders, and with just over two minutes to go in the period  Frazer Campbell scored a third, with assists going to McCamley and Thorp, to give the visitors a comfortable lead already with only twenty minutes gone.

In the middle session, Pirates did take a couple of minor penalties which Tigers were unable to capitalise on, and the home team continued to struggle to make headway against a resolute visiting defence who kept them at bay, and with just under eight minutes of the period remaining Pirates made it four as McCamley took a pass from Martyn Guy to bury the puck in the net and effectively put his side out of sight. A fifth marker from Guy himself with barely two minutes remaining merely reinforced Pirates’ superiority and sent them into the dressing room with a more than comfortable 5-0 advantage.

With the game over as a contest, and with a second leg still to come, the final session was somewhat similar to the second, in that while Tigers did have chances to open their account, Pirates’ defence in general, and Meechan in particular, were giving nothing away, and it looked as if the match might end with no change to the scoreline. However, Pirates had a powerplay opportunity as Phillips sat out a minor late on, and Orr took advantage of the additional space to finish off a pass from Chris Turley to make it six, and with less than ninety seconds remaining Campbell notched his second, and Pirates’ seventh, to give a final 7-0 scoreline which, in fairness, would not have been predicted beforehand and, in the process, gave netminder Graeme Meechan his second consecutive shut out after stopping 38 shots.

The second leg of this playoff quarter final takes place at Braehead Arena on Sunday 3 April, the match facing off at 6.00pm.

Scorers:          McCamley (2+2), Campbell (2+0), Guy & Orr (both 1+1), Miller (1+0), C Turley (0+2), Wilson, Thorp & Hassan (all 0+1)

Penalties:        Blair, C Turley & Quinn (all 2)