ICE HOCKEY: Belfast Giants beat Braehead Clan

It took the Clan just seconds to get their first goal through Daniel Ahsberg, but the Giants fought back.

But there was still less than four minutes gone when David Rutherford fired in a goal from an assist by Alex Foster to pull the home side back level.

And the home side thought they had another one in the net with about nine minutes to go in the first period, but it wasn’t to be .

Bu then Colin Shields got in on the action as made sure of his effort from assists by Rutherford and Mark Garside to make it 2-1.

Craig Peacock found the Clan’s second equaliser with just over a minute to go before the first break, which meant the sides were level at 2-2 heading into the second period.

In the second period, it was the Giants who forged ahead with another goal inside the first two minutes – James Desmarais with a fine finish to extend his side’s lead.

And seconds later, the Giants thought they had grabbed their fourth goal, but it was waved off.

When the fourth goal came, it was Alex Foster who scored for the Belfast side, but Braehead kept themselves within a goal of their opponents when Alex Leavitt made it 4-3 to make things close.

However, with the Clan pushing hard for another equaliser, Foster put the puck home for his second of the night and restored the Giants’ two-goal lead with the game at 5-3 with one period left to play.

The sides battled out a tense, but ultimately scoreless final 20 minutes, with the Clan desperately trying to get back in the game and the Giants still pushing to add to their goal tally.

But, with the score still 5-3, the home side got back to winning ways after their slip-up against the Manchester Storm just two days earlier.

The Giants next game is Coventry Blaze at the SSE Arena on January 2.