PAISLEY Pirates will go into this weekend’s crunch Scottish Cup second leg against Dundee Comets trailing by a goal after falling to a narrow 4-3 loss up in Dundee.

A repeat of the previous two years’ Scottish Cup finals, this was always likely to be a high scoring affair and the Pirates were quickly into their stride as they took the lead inside three minutes thanks to forward Richard Thorp.

The home side hit back quickly, however, getting themselves level just three minutes later with John Dolan getting the better of netminder John Russell.

Comets were on top after their equaliser and soon found themselves ahead through Ross Johnston. 

It was a fairly even first period with the Pirates doing well to haul themselves back on level terms with minutes remaining after defenceman Dean Hamilton pushed forward to get on the scoresheet.

Both sides continued to press high in the second period, but with both netminders on top of their games, neither side was able to find the breakthrough.

The hosts came out looking for an early opening in the final period and they got just that as Dolan forced home his second of the evening with just a minute played. 

Back came the Pirates, however, levelling once again in the dying minutes through Ryan Sarginson.

The visitors were dealt a sucker punch with little more than two minutes to play as Adam McNicholl hit a late winner to hand his side a crucial lead heading into the second leg at Braehead Arena this Sunday. Face-off 5pm.

Coach Adam Walker commented: “That was a game I felt we let slip. Moving into the second leg, the boys will need to focus for the full 60 minutes if we want to progress.”