Edinburgh Capitals 4 Paisley Pirates 1 2/3/2003 at Murrayfield Ice Rink
Scottish National League

Capitals clinched the Scottish League title as Pirates self destructed again.

The match had a good flow to it at the start but neither side looked, initially, like breaking the deadlock. The best chance of the opening exchanges wasn’t until the 9th minute when John Russell had to produce a double save to keep out Sean Lamb and Ross Hay. Pirates were given a golden opportunity when Capitals found themselves skating two men short and they were punished for it, James Clark opening the scoring on the powerplay in the 16th minute. The match erupted for the first, but not the last, time in the 18th minute, Ian McFarlane and Stuart Swiatek both receiving minor penalties for a bout of no more than handbags. Just when it looked like Pirates might lead at the break, disaster struck in the 19th minute. Russell couldn’t hold a Daniel McIntyre shot and Steven Francey was on hand to poke home the rebound.

The second period was littered with penalties, mostly to Pirates with little in the way of clear chances. It wasn’t until the 32nd minute that the penalties started, another flare up but this time several punches were exchanged as Mark Steele and Neil Hay went toe to toe. As referee Wilson went whistle happy, Pirates were destined to spend the rest of the period shorthanded. Despite this and Capitals firing 22 shots on the Paisley goal with only 5 in reply on Flockhart’s net, Pirates seldom looked in danger, so it was still deadlocked at the final break.

It didn’t take long for that to change in the final period and it was a nightmare goal for netminder Russell, Lamb mishitting a shot that Russell misjudged in the 43rd minute. Only fourteen seconds later and Capitals killed the game as a contest, Lamb turning provider as he sent Ross Hay clear on goal to make it 3-1. Compared to the second session, the third was relatively penalty free but on a rare powerplay, Capitals completed the scoring, Hay netting his second of the night in the 50th minute. Pirates’ night was largely summed up as they finished the match shorthanded.

So despite still having almost half their league programme to go, Pirates cannot now catch Edinburgh so the Scottish League title goes the way of the Capitals.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Paisley: Russell Edinburgh: Flockhart
SCORING:
Paisley: Clark 1+0, C. Nelson, Steele 0+1
Edinburgh: R. Hay 2+1, Francey, Lamb 1+1, McIntyre 0+2, Lonsdale 0+1
NETMINDING:
Paisley: Russell 42 shots/4 goals Edinburgh: Flockhart 39 shots/1 goals
PENALTIES:
Paisley: G. Nelson 10 minutes, Monson 8, Steele 6, C. Nelson 4, Swiatek 2
Edinburgh: N. Hay 4, Beatson, Flockhart, Francey, Hughes, McFarlane 2