Paisley Pirates 3 – 4 Whitley Warriors (OT)

It was overtime heartbreak at Braehead as the Paisley Pirates fell 4–3 to the Whitley Warriors in a hard-fought contest that swung back and forward all night.

Goals from Ryan Parkin, Marty Simpson, and Jamie Whitelaw saw the Pirates battle back from an early 2–0 deficit, finishing the first period level at two apiece. The sides continued to trade goals through the second before a tense, goalless third period set up three-on-three overtime.

A late penalty in overtime proved decisive, with Whitley converting on the powerplay to edge the game and deny the Pirates the extra point.

Turley: “A mixed bag tonight.”

Head Coach Ian Turley was honest in his assessment post-game.

“Obviously frustrating to lose there in overtime. Over the piece, we played in waves. Some great play, some moments of madness. A bit of a mixed bag tonight.”

Whitley’s structured, triangular setup was something the Pirates recognised and adjusted to as the game progressed.

“It’s the way they play and it’s not unfamiliar to us. As the game went on, we adapted. I thought for large spells we handled it well.”

Simpson “Absolutely Phenomenal”

Man of the Match Marty Simpson earned deserved praise after another standout display.

“Marty’s really stepped up and is playing to his potential. He logs a lot of ice time, he’s solid defensively and adds that offensive upside with a good shot. Over the course of the season he’s been one of our top defencemen — and the last couple of weeks he’s been absolutely phenomenal.”

While the first line continued to produce, Turley acknowledged the need for more depth scoring.

“They’ve been rolling again, but it has to filter down. We maybe need our third and fourth lines going a bit more to give us momentum through the game.”

Rusty Start, Strong Response

After a week without a fixture, the Pirates were slow out the blocks.

“You seen early on we were rusty. Silly mistakes — not tracking back hard enough, not stopping on pucks. There’s no excuses. Maybe if we’d played last week we’re not making those errors.”

Despite going two goals down, the response impressed.

“To finish the first period two each after being two down, I was quite happy with that.”

Overtime ultimately came down to fine margins.

“Three-on-three is high risk, high reward. I thought we were doing a relatively good job on the kill as well, but they slip it through and it’s a good finish by them. Just unfortunate for us.”

Three League Games to Go

With three league fixtures remaining before the playoffs, Turley believes there’s still plenty to play for.

“Overall, we’ve not had a bad season. We know exactly which games have cost us league position and why. But that’s hockey.”

Home form has been a strong foundation throughout the campaign.

“We’ve been very, very good here. It’s taken time to get guys embedded, but we’ve got a good solid core now.”

And looking ahead to the postseason:

“It doesn’t matter who we play. All bets are off. We have to come to work every night. That’s our identity — we battle, we’re defensively sound, and we give Ourel a chance. If we do that, there might be a couple of teams who don’t want to face us.”

The Pirates are back on the road on 14th March to face the North Ayrshire Wild before returning home on 15th March to welcome the Solway Sharks SNL.

One point gained. Three league games left. Playoffs on the horizon.