Camperdown Stars 5 Paisley Pirates 3
26/4/2003 at Linx Ice Arena, Aberdeen
Scottish Cup Final

Pirates ended their season with back to back cup final defeats but, unlike last Sunday’s reverse in Edinburgh, this was a game they threw away. Then they played only in the last period, tonight they only turned up for the first. Again too many players put in below par performances and when up against it had no creative thoughts to apply.

They couldn’t have dreamed of a better start, Stuart Swiatek carving through the Stars defence to net the opening goal inside the first 90 seconds. Then after good puck cycling, Roger Monson netted a second in the 7th minute. Even when Pirates were shorthanded, they still looked the more likely to score, with Gary Morris unlucky not to make it 3-0 in the 11th minute. Stars weren’t completely out of the match and Paul McGurnaghan almost pulled a goal back in the 16th minute but he found only the post.They did, however, pull a goal back shorthanded in the 19th minute, John Dolan breaking clear, keeper Damien Orr and Mark Steele appeared to have averted the danger, unfortunately Steele slid into Orr and somehow the puck ended up in the net. An own goal but in hockey there’s no such thing, so Dolan was given the credit. It was not to be his last of the evening.

When Swiatek netted his second of the evening in the 23rd minute, it appeared that Pirates had steadied the ship but inexplicably as the period wore on they appeared to just stop playing, nothing was going right and it was only a matter of time before Stars mounted a comeback and when Dolan was left totally unmarked in front of goal in the 30th minute, he didn’t pass up the chance. Despite looking completely lost, it seemed Pirates might hold the lead until the second break but when they gave Stars a late powerplay, the writing was on the wall. Again, Pirates didn’t keep a tab on Dolan and again he made them pay, firing home the equaliser, and his own hat trick, from the slot with less than 90 seconds left in the period.

Now the only side who looked like lifting the cup were the Stars and when Dolan got his fourth only 5 minutes into the final period, the match was effectively over there and then. Pirates even had a lifeline of a couple of powerplay opportunities but never looked like equalising on them. Far from pushing for a goal, Pirates looked increasingly a beaten side and the only real surprise was that Stars only added one more goal to the tally before the end; inevitably it went the way of Dolan who netted his FIFTH of the evening with less than two minutes remaining. Pirates’ frustration boiled over 7 seconds from time when Monson and Craig Phillips clashed but only the Pirate was throwing punches.

For Pirates they face a close season re-think as after looking unbeatable in the early part of the season the alarming late slump saw them win only 2 of their last 10 games.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Paisley: Stuart Swiatek Camperdown: John Dolan
SCORING:
Paisley: Swiatek 2+1, Monson 1+1, Andrews, Morris 0+1
Camperdown: Dolan 5-0, Phillips 0+3, Samuel 0+2, Ferguson, McGurnaghan, Stewart 0+1
NETMINDING:
Paisley: Orr 35 shots/5 goals Camperdown: Hoggan 34 shots/3 goals
PENALTIES:
Paisley: Monson 8 minutes, C. Nelson 4
Camperdown: Phillips 4, Dolan, Kinmond, Latto 2