REPORT: Glasgow Clan 3 Sheffield Steelers 6

Report by Sam Scouller; photos by Al Goold

Aspray Glasgow West sponsored Glasgow Clan were humbled by the league leaders Sheffield Steelers in an entertaining Elite League affair.

In the opening minutes, Luke Lynch dragged the puck across the Steelers’ zone before teeing up Gary Haden for a backdoor finish, but the #23’s effort trailed just wide.

Steelers goalie Matthew Greenfield was called into action a number of times in the opening period though as Ryan Harrison and Alex Forbes put shots on net.

At the other end, Marc-Olivier Vallerand rebounded Mitchell Balmas’ effort and was only narrowly beaten by the pipe.

Darien Craighead pushed the Clan out in front later in the period as he sniped the puck from deep in the slot on the powerplay.

The game then took a physical turn with Reid Petryk and Cody Sol in the middle of it all for Glasgow with Charlie Combs getting involved too.

The Steelers weren’t behind for long though as Patrick Watling levelled the scoring with a well-struck shot into the bottom corner on a power play rush.

Watling followed up with a snipe from the right-side dot but home netminder Jake Kielly was quick to glove it up high.

Josh Nicholls then gave Sheffield the lead when he rebounded the puck through the Clan goalie’s legs on the powerplay.

Vallerand opened the second period with a rebound shot down low which zipped past Kielly to double the deficit.

Daniel Ciampini was then on the end of a failed clearance from the Clan defence before attempting to dangle the puck around Kielly, but his attempts were futile.

Clan captai Dyson Stevenson then halved the Steelers’ advantage when he rebounded Sol’s shot and slammed the puck high over Greenfield.

Haden and Petryk both got good shots off on the Sheffield net later in the period, but neither could find an equaliser for the hosts as the Steelers held onto a 2-3 lead into the third period.

Craighead almost started the third period off perfectly for the Clan as he got in the way of a clearance from the Steelers’ crease and nearly deflected it over the line.

Nicholls grabbed his second goal of the game when he sent the puck past Kielly from the backdoor later in the period.

Bryce Reddick then got the Clan back to within one with a tidy finish at the backdoor but the celebrations were short-lived as Sheffield scored two late goals – one each from Robert Dowd and Scott Allen on the empty net – to claim the 6-3 win.