The Flyers and Clan met for the first time in league action this season and the home side certainly had some selection headaches. Scratched through injury were Mason Alderson, Jeremy Masella, Vlastimil Dostalek and Justin Ducharme. The Flyers did welcome back Jonas Emmerdahl but were still waiting on the arrival and clearance for David Booth and Anton Karlsson to respectively play. The Clan were without Colton Poolman and Chris McKay and gave Lucas Brine the start in net whilst Christan Purboo got the start for the Flyers.

The first shot of the game came from Ethan Somoza inside the opening minute but from the right circle he fired over the net. With 90 seconds played Giordano Finoro from the slot tested Brine who made a pad save. In the 3^rd minute Somoza picked of an attempted clearance from the Clan zone and went in on the net but Brine took everything down low away to make the save. The Flyers went on the games first powerplay in the 5^th minute as Robert Lachowicz was called for tripping as the Flyers were breaking out of their zone. The Flyers had some good zone time in the second half of the man advantage and Brine had to deal with a couple of shots from Simon Despres but Clan completed the kill. Josh Winquist had a chance in the slot in the 10^th minute that Brine knocked away and the puck just failed to land on the stick of Johan Porsberger. In the 11^th minute the Clan created some chaos around the Fife net and the home side just managed to scramble the puck clear. Purboo made his first serious save of the game in the 13^th minute as Tristin Langan put the puck on net. Richard Jarusek was next to test the Fife netminder in the 16^th minute but shot straight into Purboo’s logo. The Clan went on their first power play in the 18^th minute as Ian Scheid was binned for a slash. The visitors made the hosts pay as they worked the puck around and Braydon Burke from behind Purboo’s net put the puck out front and from the high slot Jason Fram swept it into the bottom corner of the net at 18:22. The Flyers were back on terms at 19:33 when Garet Hunt did well to keep the puck in the Clan zone and his pass to Keaton Jameson was quickly transferred over to Somoza out in front of Brine and he managed to stuff the puck home at the second attempt.

The first chance of the second period came in the 22^nd minute as Rylan Schwartz found himself in the slot and his low shot was deflected wide off the pad of Purboo. A shot from Langan in the 25^th minute went in and out of Purboo’s glove but landed in the corner. The Clan went in front again at 25:41 moments after Purboo had denied Burke but the Clan retained possession of the puck in the Flyers zone and it was fed over to Darrien Kielb who came in late on the far side to first time past the Fife netminder who got a piece of the puck. In the 27^th minute Purboo was square to the shot from Jarusek to knock the puck to safety. Scheid had a shot in the 29^th minute turned away by Brine and in the 31^st minute Schwartz tried to go short side on Purboo but he sealed the post to make the save. In the 33^rd minute with Clan having much more of the momentum Purboo fought off a point shot from Fram but moments later at 33:05 the visitors extended their lead when Langan reacted to a bouncing puck around the Flyers net and roofed it over Putboo’s shoulder. The Clan added another at 35:33 when Brett Neumann had the puck land on his stick as Kielb mis controlled it and his shot on the turn from the circles beat Purboo. Despres fired in a heavy shot from the blueline in the 37^th minute but Brine was able to hang on to the puck.

Into the third period and Despres again tested Brine with a long range effort but the Clan keeper gloved it with Somoza lurking. Moments later Jarusek tried a wraparound and Purboo just got his left pad out enough to block the puck. At 42:20 the visitors added another goal as Jarusek was net front to deflect a shot from the high slot by Lachowicz past the Fife keeper. In the 47^th minute Kielb carried the puck through the Flyers defence to go in on Purboo who stood tall to make the stop. A minute later and Despres was given the gate for holding in the Clan end of the ice to put the visitors back on the powerplay. Ther Clan enjoyed plenty of zone time with their man advantage but Purboo had only a couple of routine shots to deal with as the Flyers returned to full strength unscathed. In the 50^th minute Steven Seigo was denied by Purboo who was out at the edge of his crease to make the stop. The Flyers passed up a glorious chance when Hunt found Jaka Sturm all alone in front of Brine but the Glasgow keeper made sure there were no gaps as the Flyers forward tried to find the bottom of the net. The home side got a consolation goal at 51:53 following good work by Finoro and Scheid who got the puck to Porsberger and he fired it top corner on Brine with Winquist providing the screen. In the 57^th minute Purboo made a save on Cade Neilson after giving up a rebound and a minute later Hunt who was cruising through the slot redirected the puck on net but it caught metal work. In the final minute Porsberger was penalised for tripping in the neutral zone but the Clan were happy to run out the clock.

Pic Credits – Jillian McFarlane and Derek Young

Fife Flyers are next at home on  Sunday 30th November when they entertain the Cardiff Devils – tickets can be bought online here:  Tickets – Fife Flyers or look out on social media channels for box office opening times.