Braehead Clan Head Coach Ryan Finnerty has praised the form of forward Matt Beca, after the Canadian bagged his fifth goal of the campaign in Saturday’s defeat at Sheffield Steelers.

Beca (above) joined the club during the summer after three seasons in Europe and Finnerty was keen to highlight the impact he’s made.

He added: “Matt’s a skilled player and we’ve put him in good spots – he works well with Jeff Ulmer and Scott Pitt. We want them to be tighter defensively, but they’re providing goals for us.

“They’ve been on the scoreboard more times than not and Beca reminds me of a Joey Talbot kind of player by the way he plays.

“You don’t notice him sometimes, but when he’s on the puck he can make things happen and can be dangerous.”

Beca’s strike put Clan within one goal of the Steelers, but penalty trouble put paid to any further comeback as the home team claimed two Elite League points.

“It was disappointing on the night and it was ten minutes at the bottom of the period that cost us,” Finnerty added.

“We gave up a powerplay and there was one where the puck comes off the back board straight on to one of their sticks and there’s nothing you can do about that.

“But we battled back and played hard and dominated for 11 minutes, but spent eight more minutes penalty killing. It was frustrating and we faced the same situation in Manchester the other week.

“It would have been nice for the guys to decide the game, but to see it end that way is frustrating. Overall we had good spells and bad spells, but I’m not concerned with where we’re at.

“On another night and on another bounce, it could have gone the other way.”

(Image permission: Al Goold Photo)