Clarke fires Panthers back to top of Elite League

 GREAT Britain forward David Clarke fired Nottingham Panthers back to the top of the table, grabbing the winner in a seven-goal thriller against Edinburgh Capitals.

Clarke struck seven minutes from time in a topsy-turvy game that saw both sides take the lead before the Panthers inflicted a fourth loss in five games on the Capitals.

The Scottish outfit went in front in the first period thanks to Mark Smith's first goal of the season as Nottingham started sluggishly - unsurprisingly having lost their last five on the road.

But the visitors roared back with three quick-fire goals in the second period as Marty Gascon, Jade Galbraith and Sean McAslan all found the net to leave the Capitals shell-shocked.

The match took another dramatic twist when Galbraith, fresh from having notched his 12th goal of the season, was ejected for abuse and Owen Hussey levelled the scores in the 43rd minute.

But it was the Panthers who won out in a frantic last ten minutes, with Clarke firing home his 11th goal of the season to send his side back on top of the pile.