Fife Flyers v Glasgow Clan: ‘wake up’ yelled the crowd as Flyers toiled all night long

The cry “wake up” was yelled from the stands more than once as the team turned in a right guddle of a performance against a Clan side that skated with purpose and really ought to have wiped the floor with them inside half an hour.

It was an error-ridden night which started badly with the loss of a goal after just eight seconds, saw them, fall 3-0 down, rally to 3-2 and, just as they grabbed a lifeline, they coughed a fourth goal 17 seconds from the buzzer. And that was just the opening period ...

Only Lucas Chiodo and Phelix Martineau could be exempt from the brickbats which came from the stands as everyone played themselves into trouble, and dispatched passes as if it was their first time handling a stick and puck.

Cole Ulley had a hat-trick in the bag before Flyers woke up. His work was done by the 19th minute, with Mitch Heard logging three assists in that time.

It took a Michael Cichy double powerplay to halt the slide at 16:01, and then Martineau produced some glorious stickhandling before pulling the trigger at 18:11. Game on at 3-2, only for Ulley to kill so much of that momentum in the last seconds of the period.

The second was just as loose and scrappy - Clan were just a ropey at times as well - with Gary Haden netting his obligatory goal against Flyers for 5-2 at 23:13. Chiodo’s determination and skill grabbed a lifeline third, but Clan kept edging ahead in the third.

Their sixth at 43:57 summed up Flyers night. On a powerplay they dithered over a puck deep in the corner of their own zone, Ulley chased and outstripped the defence, teed up Chris McKay who shot wildly over, but Joe Hazeldine swatted the rebound home after a video review - one of four on the night.

The gap was four goals by the 47th minute , and the fact Fife pulled it back to two with powerplays from Tyler Heidt and Drake Pilon underlined Clans own frailties, but an empty netter in the final seconds sealed the result and led to an exit from the stands. A night to forget – quickly.

Period scores: 2-4, 1-1, 2-3. PIMs: 13-21; SOGs: Fife (Owen) 54, Clan (Bow) 33; Flyers scoring: Martineau (1+1), Chiodo, Cichy, Pilon, Heidt (1+0); Shulga, Delmas (0+1); Clan scoring: Ulley (3+1), Seigo (1+1), Haden, Hazeldine, Neilson, Sideroff (1+0), Heard (0+4), Jameson (0+1)