Paisley Pirates 3 Dundee Comets 3

Paisley Pirates gave up a two-goal lead as a late strike from Dundee Comets secured a share of the spoils for the Tayside outfit at the Braehead Arena on Sunday night.

In the tightest of matches the Comets recovered from an early 3-1 deficit to snatch a point less than five minutes before the end.

Pirates had a powerplay opportunity with less than a minute on the clock and Frazer Campbell was on hand to force the puck home and give his side an early lead.

The visitors were looking powerful on the break and they were level before the halfway point as Adam Walker scored to tie the match. However, parity didn’t last long as less than a minute later Orr fired home to restore the home side’s advantage.

Three minutes later a second from Campbell, prodding the puck over the line as it ran loose, gave Pirates a handy 3-1 lead at the first break.

Into the middle session, and with Pirates taking a succession of penalties they were obliged to defend for much of the period, conceding just before the halfway point in the play as Gold reduced his side’s deficit to one.

With the home side appearing to drop off, the Comets had several chances to tie the scores. While Pirates had several one on one opportunities, they were unable to take advantage of any of them and so by the end of 40 minutes the match remained at 3-2.

In the final session the effects of Pirates’ heroics at Aberdeen Lynx the previous evening, when they notched a 3-2 win in the first leg of the Scottish Cup quarter final tie, Pirates’ players began to visibly tire.

The home side were hanging onto their lead, while still finding the energy to break to the other end. But the visitors were gaining momentum and enjoyed periods of sustained pressure, Meechan coming up with several outstanding saves to keep his side in front.

However, he could do nothing when Dolan waltzed through the home defence to pick his spot and net with ease, giving his side a point which no one would have begrudged to them.