Cardiff Devils fought back from 3-0 down to gain a point, but missed out on the win with a penalty shootout defeat. Both teams started the game playing fast, physical hockey and it was Braehead who opened the scoring after 9 minutes. Drew Bannister firing in a speculative shot from a tight angle that caught out Stevie Lyle and beat him at his near post.

Cardiff came close to equalising on a powerplay but couldn’t quite force the puck over the line. Two goals in less than a minute at the end of the first period though looked to have put the Clan is a very strong position. First Jade Galbraith collected the puck in front of the net before firing the puck into the roof of the net, and then the same player fired a shot through traffic to make it 3-0.

The Devils came out at the start of the second period looking for a way back into the game, and within 6 minutes they got it. Stuart MacRae’s slapshot wasn’t held by Jaakko Suomalainen and jeff Pearce raced to the puck first to tap it into the net.

Both sides had chances to increase the score but going into the third period it was Braehead who still held a two goal lead. This time though it was the Devils to score a goal blitz. First Gerad Adams fired in a shot that Suomalainen looked to have covered only for it to bounce out of his glove and into the net.

That raised the home team’s hopes and less than three minutes later they found their equaliser. Scott Matzka fed Pierce and although his first shot was blocked, he picked the puck back up and fired in a shot that beat the netminder at his near post.

Cardiff were now flying and as they poured forward it was just a matter of time before they found another. Ben Davies and Tim Burrows traded passes before picking out Scott Dobben in front of the net and his first-time shot gave the Devils the lead.

Braehead eventually regrouped and in the final minutes of the period laid siege to the Cardiff goal. It looked like the devils would hold out but after the Clan pulled their netminder in the final minute, Galbraith swung his stick at the puck and it flew into the top corner to make it 4-4.

Cardiff dominated overtime but despite firing in 8 shots to 1 they couldn’t find the winner to stop the game being decided by penalty shots.

After Galbraith’s first attempt was saved by Lyle, Kenton Smith stepped up and fired into the net to give the Devils an early lead. Krestanovich then fired a shot in off the post before Suomalainen blocked Pierce’s attempt.

Lyle then saved McPherson’s shot with his pads, only for Mark Richardson’s shot to also be blocked the same way. Galbraith then stepped up for a second time and this time beat Lyle, meaning that when Kenton’s second attempt was blocked it gave the Clan the win and the extra point.