REPORT: Guildford Flames 7 Glasgow Clan 1

Report by Sam Scouller; photos by John Uwins

It was a tough night for Aspray Glasgow West sponsored Glasgow Clan as they left the Guildford Spectrum following a chastening 7-1 defeat to Guildford Flames.

The fixture got off to a slow start as the two sides traded chances throughout the opening minutes, but neither could find the back of the net.

Mike Pelech came close to giving Glasgow the first goal in the game when he redirected Jake Bolton’s long-range effort, forcing a catcher save from Taz Burman.

Ryan Hughes put the Flames ahead midway through the period when he got on the end of a defence-splitting pass from Patrick Bajkov and sent the puck into the Clan net.

Ryan Tait followed up shortly after with a second goal for the hosts as he got on the end of a full-length pass from Peter Crinella and backhanded the puck underneath Glasgow goalie Antti Karjalainen.

In the second period, Matt Barry and Robert Lachowicz generated some strong offensive chances for the visitors but neither could find a route past Burman.

At the other end, Guildford were firing on all cylinders as they wriggled further and further from the Clan with a second Hughes goal on the breakaway early in the period.

Bajkov then picked up his own rebound and sent it past Karjalainen for a fourth Flames’ goal before Hughes completed his hat-trick with a tipped shot just nine seconds later.

Former Clan forward Steven McParland then scored a sixth goal for the hosts after the officials awarded him a penalty shot due to a shot infraction by Reece Kelly.

Matt Alvaro made it 7-0 with a slick finish on the powerplay early in the third period before Darien Craighead got the Clan on the boards with a hard fought goal later in the game.

Jordan Klimek struck the bar close to the end of the game before the buzzer sounded on a sour night for the Clan.