REPORT: Guildford Flames 2 Glasgow Clan 1

Aspray Glasgow West sponsored Glasgow Clan forward John Dunbar haunted his former team, Guildford Flames with a third period strike, but it was Flames who clinched the late win.

For Clan, it was another chance to try and claim that first win of the season, after falling short in each of their opening three fixtures.

A reasonable start yielded opportunities from Gabriel Chabot, Gary Haden and Nolan LaPorte in the opening stages, but had to watch themselves as Guildford looked dangerous on the break.

Mitch Jones tried a shorthanded effort from just inside the blue line, only to see it deflected and sail high.

Zach Driscoll was called into action on numerous occasions as Flames themselves looked to edge themselves ahead, but the home team couldn’t find a way through either as the first period ended goalless.

There were good energy levels from both teams and that would really be a test as the game went on, but nothing was given at either end as the game moved into the second period.

Guildford were getting more chances in and around the Clan net, with Daniel Tedesco and Peter Crinella in the dangerous areas to cause problems.

Paul Dixon’s side took the lead with 11 minutes to go in the middle session after Gergely Tóth was called for a holding call, from which Guildford took advantage.

Set up by Brett Ferguson, Sam Marklund fired a shot past Driscoll from the right side face off circle to finally break the deadlock.

Clan didn’t panic and tried to play their way back, with Tóth and Haden asking questions, followed by Jordan Cownie, who saw his shot saved by Flames netminder Eamon McAdam.

Malcolm Cameron’s side needed something to hang on to going into the third and luckily for Glasgow, they had Dunbar to call upon.

The Clan #90 struck against his old team from the back post, with Mathieu Roy providing the assist and the visitors got their first league goal of the new campaign.

From there, a tight remaining third period played out, although chances from Roy, Steven McParland and Haden threatened.

But the heartache came late on when Guildford broke in the final minute, with Ben O’Connor setting up McNulty, who dealt the killer blow to claim both points and leave Glasgow gutted despite a resolute performance.