Fife Flyers: 10 games left to make play-offs

Fife Flyers’ hopes of making the post-season play-offs may be slender, but Sunday’s thrilling 3-1 win over title-challenging Sheffield Steelers has given them a new sense of self-belief.

The manner in which they set about tackling Steelers gave the fans something to cheer after long and difficult campaign saw the team equal its record of 14 straight defeats.

Since then, it appears to come out with a bit more grit, and taken five points from their last four games to at least narrow the deficit in the three-way battle with Dundee Stars and Manchester Storm for a top eight slot.

The gap, however is still hefty.

Flyers are still seven points away from drawing level with Storm in the eighth and final qualifying spot.

To get there they need to hit a winning streak and hope that Ryan Finnerty’s side, or Dundee Stars in ninth, suffer a wobble at the same time.

And then, having drawn level, they need to throw everything at it.

It’s a tall order for a team that has struggled to impose itself and deliver consistency 60-minute hockey games throughout this season.

But, some of the pressure seems to have fallen away after the team finally snapped that horrendous losing streak with that 4-1 win over Dundee Stars on February 8.

The underdog role ha always tendsed to suit the club too.

They now have ten games to make one final, sustained push to end this season on a high note.

Stars and Storm have 11 games – and only one of the three will make the play-offs, unless there is a major collapse by Glasgow Clan currently in seventh spot.

The run-in looks something like this:

FIFE FLYERS: Seven games on the road beckon for Flyers starting with a long journey to Cardiff on Wednesday where they came close to nicking points off Devils last time round.

But the season pretty much comes down to this weekend when they travel to Dundee on Saturday and then entertain Manchester on Sunday.

Anything less than two wins in regulation time and you might as well draw the curtains and start tidying up the locker room.

They then have a trio of games on thew road - Sheffield, Belfast and Coventry - before heading into ae home straight which brings Glasgow Clan to Kirkcaldy one last time, and ends with a visit from Danny Stewart’s impressive Blaze side on March 28.

DUNDEE STARS: Omar Pacha’s side has taken some big points at key moments in this campaign, and that has kept them one - or two - steps head of Flyers.

They have a better split of games with five at home and six on the road but it’s a tough schedule with two games against Clan, Sheffield and Cardiff still to come.

Stars remain a team that cannot be under-estimated, and their fans will be daring to dream if they can keep picking up mpoints across each weekend.

If nothing else, they are heading to a thrilling finale.

MANCHESTER STORM: Two big weekend sloom large for Ryan Finenrty’s team – Belfast home and Fife away this weekend, and then a Scopttish double header against Clan and Stars.

How the dust settles from that mini series could be of huge importance in this play-off race.

Storm have five of their 11 remaining games at home, and will look to capitalise on their dominance on a small ice pad, and they’ll be hoping everything doesn;’t come down to needing a win over Sheffield on the last day of the season.

FLYERS: Wed Feb 19 Cardiff (A); Sat 22 Dundee (A); Sun 23 Manchester (H); Sat 29 Sheffield (A) Fri March 6 Belfast (A); Fri 13 Coventry (A); Sat 14 Glasgow (H); Fri 20 Belfast (A); Sat 21 Belfast (A) ; Sat 28 Coventry (H)

STARS: Sat 22 Fife (H);l Sat 29 Manchester (A); Sun March 1 Cardiff (A); Sat 7 Glasgow (H); Sun 8 Coventry (A); Sun 15 Cardiff (H); Wed 18 Glasgow (A); Sat 21 Sheffield (A); Sun 22 Sheffield (H); Sat 28 Nottingham (H); Sun Guildford (A)

STORM: Sat 22 Belfast (H); Sun 23 Fife (A); Fri 28 Glasgow (A); Sat 29 Dundee (A); Sun March 1 Glasgow (H); Sat 7 Coventry (H); Sat 14 Sheffield (A); Tues 17 Nottingham (A) Fri 20 Guildford (H); Sun 22 Cardiff (A); Sat 28 Sheffield (H)