A TEAM of young ice hockey stars from North Ayrshire put in a gr-eight performance to crown themselves as the best in Scotland.
Last weekend, Saturday April 15, North Ayrshire Wild's under 19 side travelled to The Linx Arena in Aberdeen - for a Scottish Cup Final showdown against Fife Falcons from Kirkcaldy.
And the local sporting stars blew away their opponents to secure the title - winning the contest by an impressive scoreline of 8-1.
Dawning their new white and orange kits - reminiscent of those worn by the clubs senior side - the Wild put nerves to one side on what promised to be a daunting occasion.
As both sides took to the ice, the rink lights went off in the arena and the ice pad was illuminated in trademark blue to represent Scottish Ice Hockey before the two teams commenced their warm ups.
With the rink back to normal lighting and final team talks from coaches done, it was time to get this fixture under way.
Wild came out strong from the first puck drop and set about their business in a professional manner with clean crisp passing that was splitting the Fife defensive line time and time again.
Although the young netminder between the pipes for Falcons was doing well it was inevitable that something would give with the intensity of the attacks from North Ayrshire side.
Whilst Fife were having some good puck possession they spent a lot of time chasing down integral Wild players and picking up silly penalties when they didn't have the puck, this allowed Wild a lot of time in front of net where they could punish Fife, and they did just that.
With a 2-0 lead at the end of the first period, it was still possible for Falcons to get back into the game, however, following the same tactics as the first period North Ayrshire put them to the sword as they took a commanding lead of 5-1 at the end of the second period.
With some more guidance and words of wisdom from coach Domenico DeSimone we were ready for an electric third period.
From the puck drop Wild were strutting there stuff which frustrated Fife even further as they were pulled from one end of the ice pad to another, unable to stop North Ayrshire Wild as they put another three goals passed the netminder in Yellow bringing the game to a close.
It was a resounding and impressive win from the North Ayrshire outfit, which led to 'wild' celebrations at the final buzzer.
Goals from three goals from man of the match Liam Houston, two from Anthony Curlett and further scores from Lewis McCrindle, Jacob Woods and Rocco Murray, had more than earned them this right.
As well as the players, after the game, Head Coach Domenico DeSimone could not hide his delight.
He said: "Hazel, Bryan and myself are so proud of each and ever one of these players.
"Since the start of the season they have been relentless in turning up game after game and putting in great performances, but this one was the icing on the cake for us as a team and a club.
"Fife are a well drilled team and are not sitting top of the league for nothing, so to defeat them in the manner we have speaks volumes about the character of these players.
"They were focused on the job in hand and were switched on from the start and set about their job brilliantly.
"For some of these guys it's their last season in junior hockey as they move onto SNL, and to end it as Scottish Cup champions is amazing.
"We couldn't be any prouder of them all."
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