UNLIKE most of his players on the ice, Braehead Clan head coach Ryan Finnerty didn’t miss when giving his scathing assessment of his team’s Challenge Cup collapse on Wedensday night.

The Canadian’s side turned in one of their worst performances of the season for the quarter-final second leg against Nottingham Panthers after much hope had been heaped on their shoulders.

Going in just a goal down from the first leg, they failed to fire after bringing the tie level within the first minute, only to eventually lose 5-3 on the night and 10-7 on aggregate.

In truth, it was a margin that flattered Braehead, and Finnerty didn’t even attempt to dress it up as he blasted those who he felt let him down, claiming only one line of players out of four turned up.

“You get the dream start and then we get no life off of it,” he said. “You get no life off of it because the line that got us going was the only one we had. The rest of the guys watching from the bench weren’t in it from that moment until the end of the game.

“Matt Keith, Alex Leavitt and Chris Bruton are the only positives we had.

“I think some guys thought maybe it was just going to happen. We are at home, we are the Braehead Clan, thinks it’s easy and mentally they weren’t there, physically they were worse.

“Against a team like Nottingham you can’t do that.”

Finnerty continued: “I think going into the third period with how flat we were [I knew game was over]. Our big-game players might as well have been sitting in the stands and we had one line.

“I got a reaction from the Keith line, they got better. The rest just stayed where they were or get worse.

“There were some hard truths between the second and third. Like I said, the Keith line got better but I got nothing out of the rest of them.

“Listen, we were terrible. Apart from those three we were awful, awful. You are not going to win and don’t deserve to when you perform like that.”

Braehead have an immediate opportunity to get back on the horse on Friday as the Fife Flyers come to the Braehead Arena on league duty.

Despite their Challenge Cup flop, Clan are still on a seven-game winning streak in the EIHL, and Finnerty has demanded a response from those who he believes failed to turn up on Wednesday.

“I’m definitely expect a response, especially from the Pitt line. They have been pretty silent for a while now,” he warned.

“It’s not about producing but they have been getting out-worked. Defensively they haven’t been strong.

“We can’t afford to have just one line.

“You draw a line under it, but by no manner of means is everyone okay here. It takes some hard truths, you have got to let it burn and get back to it.”