CLAN celebrated a landmark 400th goal but it was not enough to avoid defeat against a Steelers side who leapfrogged them into second spot.

Steelers overcame an early fright to win convincingly in the end and move two points clear in second place in the standings with two games in hand over Clan.

It was a first road win in six for Steelers but a Clan side, still missing injured regular starting goaltender Kyle Jones, have now lost their last four on the bounce.

It was an electric start for the home side in front of another 3,000 plus crowd with Matt Towe slotting home after only 49 seconds for their 400th goal in all competitions. Ed McGrane adding a second at 3.21. Steelers first powerplay opportunity saw them get on the board with Chris Blight on target at 6.36 and then at 10.18, just after Clan had killed off a Steelers powerplay it was Robert Dowd slotting past Mike Will to tie the game at two. That was not the end of the scoring in a tremendously fast paced period as at 11.59 McGrane slammed in his second of the game to edge Clan 3-2 ahead, that advantage lasting until the end of the session.

Steelers struck early in period two with Dowd scoring his second at 21.33 and with Clan suffering with an injury to defenceman Mario Larocque Steelers scored twice late on to take control. Blight grabbed his second at 36.27 and Jeff Legue got on the end of a swift move to make it 5-3 at 38.21.

When Gord Baldwin extended the Steelers lead after only 2.42 of the third period it was effectively game over and despite chances by both sides thereafter there was to be no further additions to the score and Steelers were happy to claim the points.

Period Scores: 3-2, 0-3, 0-1 Penalty Mins: Bra 4+2+0=6, She 2+0+4=6 Powerplay: Bra 0/3, She 1/3 Shots On: Mike Will 11+12+8=31, Frank Doyle 13+14+11=38 Referee: Scott Dalgleish gainst a Steelers side who leapfrogged them into second spot.