IT was to be no small step for Braehead Clan, but a Giants leap for the Scottish ice hockey club back in December.

As the last EIHL season approached the halfway point, Northern Irish league leaders Belfast looked in danger of being brought back down to earth with a bump.

A run of results saw Braehead cut the gap between the two sides to seven points with a two-game head to head approaching. Wins in both for the Glasgow club would have seen Ryan Finnerty's men cut that margin to just three.

But following a 4-1 defeat in Belfast on December 27, the first-ever sell-out Braehead Arena crowd witnessed one of the matches of the season -Belfast somehow recovering from being 5-4 down to win 6-5 in overtime.

It was to prove a pivotal two days for both teams, with the challenge to the Giants disappearing while Braehead's season hit turbulent times.

And as Braehead once again stand on the verge of boldly going where they have never gone before in their four-year history, Finnerty is hopeful he can plot a smoother course for his team this campaign.

He said: "We wanted to get off to a good start last season and with us being on the road for the first month, it was a surprise even to us.

"We went on a good run but after the Belfast double header - where I thought we played two good games and lost - we maybe lost a bit of confidence and perhaps thought the league was gone. I don't know.

"Injuries also played their part. We lost our goaltender Kyle Jones for a month, we had to replace Ash Goldie every week, we suffered pretty significant injuries. These aren't excuses just factors which we had to deal with. We finished fifth which was disappointing. I thought we were probably a second or third-placed hockey club.

"We definitely made some big strides last season and we will hope to continue that again in this campaign.

"It's important that we got to the play-off final as it gave the guys a taste of the big stage and a huge crowd."

That experience will stand Clan in good stead when they go again this term, with their league opener, ironically, coming against the Giants in little over two weeks.

Kyle Jones, Scott Aarssen, Chris Frank, Matt Haywood, Neil Trimm, Lee Esders and Tristan Harper remain at Braehead after the summer recruitment drive.

Finnerty says the standard in British ice hockey is getting better season on season, with Clan at the heart of the rise in quality.

He said: "Everyone has improved their team. The top four certainly have, especially Belfast, who did tremendously well in the league last season.

"If you look at the Scottish sides, we've all recruited well.We've all brought in a higher calibre of player. I like that Edinburgh has invested a bit more money and brought in North American guys. They will make a big difference and will be competitive.

"There's a big pull to come to the UK, and especially Scotland. Wives and partners can get work visas, it's an English- speaking country and, apart from the fact you drive on the wrong side of the road, it makes for an easy transition."

Read the final part of our exclusive interview with Ryan Finnerty in Saturday's SportTimes.