Fife Flyers’ fans urged to rally round for winner-takes-all midweek cup tie

Crowds dipped below 1000 on both Saturday and Sunday as Fife struggled to defeat at the hands of two of the league’s leading sides, Guildford Flames and Sheffield Steelers.

Their home form has been poor all season, and an injury crisis is biting deep at the worst possible time with games stacked up between now and the all important Christmas schedule.

But Jeff Hutchins, associate coach, urged supporters to leave their armchairs and head rinkside for Wednesday’s game against Dundee Stars, regardless of the 6-2 and 5-1 weekend losses.

He said: “I completely understand our home form hasn’t been great and that may be having an effect on crowds. I appreciate there is a cost of living crisis and people are finding it tough.

“But, I would implore people that this is essentially a play-off game. The more fans the better. If we want to improve, crowd numbers have to go up. Our directors have been hugely supportive but it has to be sustainable for everyone.”A short-benched Flyers delivered a gutsy performance to lead 4-2 in the first leg before Stars punished their tired legs.

For Hutchins, it’s win or bust.

“We just have to be good, be disciplined and outwork them,” He said. “It is a one-off play-off game. If we do the things we live up to out within our capabilities, I feel confident of our chances of winning. If we dip our toes in, we leave it up to chance.”

Flyers hope to be boosted by the return to the line-up of veteran forward Chris Lawrence for Wednesday’s tie, along with key forward Mikael Johansson who missed Sunday’s game through illness.