WILD went into this match-up with the realisation that they could not overthrow Kirkcaldy at the top of the league. But they knew a win would leave them well placed for a good position in the playoffs.

The game faced off in much the same way as the previous encounter between these two sides, fast with just a hint of physicality.

This ultimately led to some early penalties and this allowed Wild defenceman Colin Henning to score the first goal of the night on the powerplay at 18:29, assisted by Richard Thorp and Scott Cowan. Coming late in the period, this gave the visitors the edge going into the break.

After the break, Wild looked to add to their goal early and this was scored by another D Man, Stuart Andrews, unassisted at 24:19. This goal was quickly cancelled out by Paisley at 24:49, and gave the home side a lifeline.

Paisley levelled the scores after some open ice play at 31:14, causing the visitors to dig deep and try for that all important leading goal. This was to come sooner rather than later, again coming from D Man, Colin Henning assisted this time by Darren Swan, and Scott Cowan.

The rest of the game flowed evenly with Wild doing a great job at clearing their lines and keeping the puck in neutral ice, eventually climaxing in an important road win for the Wild as they face either Solway or Dundee Tigers in the first round of the playoffs.

With the tie against Kilmarnock in the Scottish Cup still to be decided, the season is far from over for the North Ayrshire side.

Stats: Colin Henning 2+0 Stuart Andrews 1+0 Scott Cowan 0+2 Richard Thorp 0+1 Darren Swan 0+1 MOM: Colin Henning.

For the full story see this week's Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald.