Paisley Pirates head coach Ian Turley insists it’s still all to play for in the race for the SNL league title.
That’s despite the Paisley club suffering a narrow 3-2 defeat to current table-toppers Aberdeen Lynx on Saturday night.
The hotly-anticipated clash got off to the perfect start for the visitors, with Marty Simpson putting the Pirates ahead after a dominant first session.
The hosts roared back into action though, scoring three unanswered goals to flip the match on its head.
The Pirates battled back in the final session, with skipper Chris Turley netting late to set up a grandstand finish.
In the end it was too little, too late though as the hosts extended their lead at the top of the table to five points.
Turley believes his side are still yet to deliver the complete performance they need to take their game to the next level.
He told Express Sport: “It was a really close game that genuinely could have gone either way.
“We played exceptionally well in the first period and were deservedly ahead.
“Then we lost our way in the second session and found ourselves 3-1 down.
“There were a couple of situations where we just switched off. There were lapses in concentration and you just afford to do that at this level.
“You can never afford to switch off, especially against the side sitting at the top of the league.
“We scored with 22 seconds to go in the third and we hit the post as well. We took it right to the wire and I can’t have too many complaints about the performance.
“On another night we’d have taken it to overtime and maybe come away with the win.
“We’ve dropped five points now and Aberdeen have dropped two, against us earlier in the season.
“There’s still plenty of games to go between now and the end of the season so we certainly won’t be giving up just yet.”
The Pirates have an excellent chance to bounce back from the narrow defeat when they welcome North Ayrshire Wild to Braehead Arena this Saturday.
Turley is hoping they can put their disappointment at losing out to Lynx behind them and continue to put points on the board.
He said: “We’re back at home this weekend which is positive.
“We know it’ll be another tough game but we’ve got to be positive and try to carry on the momentum we’ve had in the last few weeks.
“We’ve played very well in sessions but now it’s time to deliver a complete performance across the 60 minutes.
“That’s what I’m asking for this weekend. We’ve had an issue with switching off during matches all season. Maybe it’s to do with starting up later or playing fewer games.
“Whatever it is we need to put an end to it as we can’t afford to drop many more points between now and the end of the season.”
