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Some defeats sting more than others. A 10-1 shellacking at the hands of Dundee Stars was akin to pouring vinegar and lemon into an open wound for Fife Flyers’ fans - a result that may well be a watershed moment.

Double digit losses always cut deep, even more so when they are the outcome of a four-pointer against one of your local rivals deep in the heart of the key festive programme.

The wheels came off a team that has been digging deep with depleted resources for too long, and it was painful to watch. A huge question mark is now starting to hang over the club’s play-off ambitions – sitting in tenth spot at Christmas was not part of their plan.

A 6-0 second period blew Flyers out of the water, and saw the gap between the teams widen to six points, with Stars having two games in hand.

Head coach Tom Coolen faces some big challenges to get Fife Flyers back on an even keel (Pic: Derek Young)

There was little head coach, Tom Coolen, could take from the evening, and he now has just a few days to get his team up and running for a tough Ne’er double header with Braehead Clan.

“I can’t remember being on losing end of a score like that,” he said “We are in a tough situation right now. We are short staffed and this was our fourth game in six days, I don’t know any league in the world that plays that. You could see they didn’t have lot of energy. We have shown we can play with everyone in the league – when we are healthy and rested.”

Flyers were 2-0 down inside four minutes, and it was an uphill battle from that point onwards as they iced without starting goalie Shane Owen, defenceman Stephen Desrocher, and forward Collin Shirley, and also minus a replacement for the departed Anthon Erikkson.

It was their biggest defeat of the season, and the final scoreline will have statisticians double checking the last time the team shipped ten goals. The only consolation was a late strike from Lucas Chiodo to deny Stars a shut out. Anthony Rinaldi bagged a hat-trick, while there was a double for Spencer Nass, with five other skaters also scribing their names on the scoresheet - Brendan Harms, Chris McKay, Carter Johnson, Brent Beaudoin and Ryan Valentini.

Fife went into the first period two down, but collapsed in the second as they shipped six without reply, two of them coming within 30 seconds. Stars got to double figures before Chiodo’s late counter.

Fife Flyers’ painful 10-1 defeat leaves team in ‘tough situation’ says coach