RYAN FINNERTY made his feelings abundantly clear following Braehead's controversial defeat to Edinburgh Capitals.

Despite being 2-0 up in the early stages of the first period on Wednesday night, Clan were eventually pegged back by their visitors to go down 4-2 on the night.

However, the manner in which the Caps went ahead on the night caused outrage in the stands as the opportunity to go top of the table slipped away.

With around eight minutes to play and the game tied at 2-2, a desperate bid by a visiting player to get back onside sent defenceman Scott Aarssen sprawling on the ice with a spectacular slide, allowing Dennis Rix to skate in to score.

Astonishingly, all four officials somehow missed the penalty in the run up to the game-winning goal.

It would turn out to be a decision Clan failed to recover from.

"I thought that was the best reffing display I've ever seen," said Clan head coach Finnerty, with more than a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"The officials had no impact whatsoever on the game, Edinburgh must have just played us all night. That was my take on it, it was a great refereeing display that had no influence on any of the goals.

"It was a well refereed game, I thought all their calls were great."

He added: "From my vantage point it looked like our last defenceman fell over a sliding player trying to get back onside and they then get in on a breakaway.

"It was a tough break, though. Not a penalty at all. That's a completely legal play. A soccer tackle I think you could describe it.

"That was the turning point."

Clan were missing some key players for the contest including captain Matt Keith and fan favourite Zack Fitzgerald.

It meant those who were left to fight it out against the Capitals were dead on their feet by the time they game was turned on its head with just a few minutes remaining.

Two games against Dundee Stars now loom this weekend for Finnerty and his players, starting at home tomorrow night.

Despite the late blow of Wednesday night, though, the Clan head coach has no concerns about lifting his troops as they push for top spot in the league.

"We had seven forwards and five defenceman and I thought we battled pretty hard," he said.

"Obviously we got off to a good start before dying at the end, but we were pretty fatigued and we didn't really have any energy to come back.

"It's not difficult to compose the guys after this, not difficult at all.

"I mean, what do you say to that? If I feel sorry for the fans that paid to watch that as you could have got that entertainment for free at the circus."

ends