Fife Flyers fans praised by head coach Tim Wallace after exciting weekend of Challenge Cup action

One week on from losing 4-3 in a shootout at home to the same opposition in the same competition, Flyers gained their revenge (match report at foot of page 59) thanks to an overtime winner by Joey Pierce.

And Wallace told the Fife Free Press: “It was another even game, another overtime game against Glasgow and we found a way to get it done. So it was a lot of fun.

"We had some guys that stepped up and shut them down. That was the first step and then we just competed and found a way to get the job done. The fans were great and we got a couple of points.

"We had a big kill late. The crowd was really loud, got some momentum going.

"And then when Joey buried it, it was probably the loudest I've heard it since I've been here. So we feed off it.

"I think momentum is huge in hockey and our fans are definitely pulling through right now."

After the exhilaration of getting the win over Clan, there were some opposite emotions a day later as Flyers were defeated 6-0 at reigning EIHL champions and Group B leaders Belfast Giants.

Wallace said: “They buried their chances, right? One little mistake and it's in the back of our net.

"We had a couple of bad breaks in terms of going off something and going in, but we had chances too.

"We had spells that were really good with our style of hockey. For maybe half the game we played solidly, but they buried their chances and we didn't bury ours.

"But it's been a really good four weeks or so, right? I think the players have bought in, they've competed and they're all trying to get better every day.”

When asked if there is anything his players could learn from Belfast, Wallace added: “Possibly. There's a lot of fine details in the game that we don't want to teach them too much too early, but they're champions for a reason.

"They've got a lot of good players, some established pros.”

Flyers now have five points from four matches ahead of visiting Belfast again in Group B in a 7pm start on Saturday before hosting Dundee Stars from 5pm on Sunday.

Wallace said: “There's a lot of different parts of the game that we can improve on. I think, just simply put, without going into too much detail, there's some D-Zone stuff that we can clean up and I think maybe the puck will be very important on Saturday in Belfast.

"I think if you get a little too cute and play around with it like they did, they'll counter and they're putting it back in there. So we’ve just got to manage the puck and keep playing.”

When asked if he thought UK ice hockey teams playing each other so often was “overkill”, Wallace added: “It's just how it is, right? I think the Challenge Cup is unique.

"It does make sense to try to have us play as close as we can in terms of travel and logistics and everything. But the regular season is almost upon us. It's coming up, so we'll be ready to go whenever it's thrown our way.”