Deeside Girls Selected For Canada Tournament

Hallie, Sav & Violet (Photo by Rachael Feather)

Three Deeside junior girls have been selected for the England Under 13 squad to play in a prestigious youth tournament in Canada.

Violet Foster-Noble and sisters Savannah and Hallie Morgan will be flying across the Atlantic to take part in the 67th International Pee Wee Tournament that is being held in Quebec City from 10^th to 21^st February.

It is the biggest pee wee tournament in the world, attracting over 100 teams from across the globe, and is based at the city’s 5000-seat Pavillon Guy Lafleur - and the highly impressive 18000 capacity Centre Videotron arena.

All three girls play for the Dragons Under 16 girls team that won through to the women’s national play offs last season - and also for the junior mixed teams at various age groups, having come up through the Deeside development system. 

Hallie has already had some international experience, having played for the England U13s Girls in a tournament in the Czech Republic last season but this will be the first outing in an England shirt for Violet and Savannah.

Needless to say, there is a lot dedication and commitment involved in the sport – particularly when it comes to playing at an international level - with travel down to London for England training camps coming on top of regular local club sessions.

The costs quickly mount up with training fees, equipment and travel - and flying out to Quebec for the pee wee tournament will represent a significant extra cost.

The girls are looking for sponsors to help them get to Canada and would be pleased to hear from anybody who is able to support them.  

Interested individuals or companies are requested to visit the girls’ fundraising pages in the first instance where they can find out more about the players and what they are hoping to achieve.

Sav & Hallie Morgan: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-send-us-to-canadaquest-for-quebec

Violet Foster-Noble: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-get-violet-to-canada-2027-with-england-u13s-girls

Mark Stokes Back On Deeside

Former Flinsthire Freeze Head Coach Mark Stokes (Photo by Paul Breeze)

The weekend saw the return of a Deeside legend in the shape of former Flintshire Freeze head coach Mark Stokes, who was a match official at both the D1 and D2 Dragons home games.

Stokes helped found the Freeze team when the new Deeside rink opened back in 1998 and remained at the helm until 2007, leading the team to the ENL Northern Conference league title in 2004. 

He is back in the north west this week to take part in the Manchester Storm 30^th anniversary celebrations, having been a Storm player during their debut 1995/96 British League season.

Match Report: Nottingham Vipers 4 – Deeside Dragons Women 4 (WNIHL Division 2 North)

A minute's silence for Remembrance Sunday (Photo by Katy Lennon)

Sunday 8^th November – WNIHL Division 2 North: Nottingham Vipers 4 – Deeside Dragons Women 4

The Deeside Dragons Women remain top of the Division 2 North table after a 4-4 draw away to Nottingham Vipers on Sunday.

Deeside opened the scoring with a goal from Niamh Walsh on 3 minutes but Nottingham equalised 7 minutes later and the score remained 1-1 at the first period break.

The Vipers upped their game in the second period and had more of the play but it was Deeside who scored the only goal of the period – from Walsh, again - on 28 minutes to lead 1-2 at the second interval.

Nottingham levelled again on 43 minutes and then edged into the lead for the first time in the game 4 minutes later.

Niamh Walsh fired in her hat-trick goal 5 minutes after that to put Deeside back to level pegging but Nottingham took the lead again with just 90 seconds left on the clock, setting up a nail-biting finale.

The Dragons called a time-out to discuss strategy and they threw everything they could muster at the Vipers goal. The pressure paid off and Walsh’s fourth goal of the game with just 9 seconds left to play in the game secured a point for Deeside.

When the two teams last met - also in the somewhat imposing 7000 seater National Ice Centre - four weeks ago, the Vipers came out 8-2 winners so – even though they led for much of the game before being caught up, this has to be looked upon as a positive result for the Dragons Women.

Over the course of the game, Nottingham out-shot Deeside by 45 to 28 and Chloe Smith did well in the Dragons goal to keep out 41 of the shots that she faced.  Not surprisingly, Niamh Walsh was named MVP for the Dragons after her four–goal haul.

The result means that Deeside now have 11 points from their 7 league games to date and are 4 points clear of second place Leeds Thorns, who have also played 7 games.

The Dragons Women are away again this Saturday 14^th November when they travel to take on the league’s bottom team Manchester Storm – who they beat 0-26 in their last meeting. They then have three more away games before their next home game, which is against Leeds Thorns on 6th February.

Deeside D2 Dragons Weekend Report - 7th & 8th November

D2 Dragons MVP Charlie Spridgeon
(Photo by Maxine Roscoe)

Saturday 7^th November – NIHL Laidler Cup: Deeside D2 Dragons 0 – Coventry Blaze 4

Sunday 8^th November – NIHL Laidler Cup: Sutton Sting 7 – Deeside D2 Dragons 2

The Deeside D2 Dragons had another frustrating weekend, losing 0-4 at home to Coventry Blaze on Saturday and then 7-2 away to league leaders Sutton Sting on Sunday.

Saturday’s home game was a lot closer then the final scoreline suggests and Deeside weren’t outplayed by any means.  They gave as good as they got but were left lacking in front of goal, while Coventry took full advantage of their chances.

The Dragons had an early 5 on 3 powerplay opportunity but were unable to make it count and Coventry eventually took the lead on a powerplay of their own on 14 minutes.

The score stood at a very close 0-1 at the first period break and the game was still wide open.

Unfortunately, the Dragons were their own worst enemies when it came to picking up unnecessary penalties and they conceded another powerplay goal on 30 minutes.  A third Coventry goal followed with just 39 seconds left in the period, leaving the score at 0-3 with 20 minutes left to play.

The Dragons continued to push forward but were unable to get past the stubborn Blaze defence and Coventry scored their 4^th and final goal of the evening – yet another powerplay strike - on 56 minutes effectively killing the game off.

Charlie Spridgeon was named MVP for the Dragons while Ben Roscoe was voted hardest worker by his fellow players.

In the away game on Sunday – contrary to current league form - Deeside rushed to a two goal lead with goals from Charlie Spridgeon and James Parsons before Sutton eventually got into their stride.  

The league leaders then hit back with seven unanswered goals to take the win. Netminder Mike Rogers was named MVP for the Dragons and Mark Norman was voted hardest worker.

The D2 Dragons are back at home this Sunday 15th November when they take on the Hull-based Kingston Sharks at Deeside Leisure Centre, 5.15pm face off.

Match Report: Deeside D1 Dragons 4 – Nottingham Lions 3 (NIHL Moralee Division

Matty Barlow was on target for the D1 Dragons against Nottingham (Photo by Angel Devlin)

Sunday 8^th November – NIHL Moralee Division: Deeside D1 Dragons 4 – Nottingham Lions 3

The Deeside D1 Dragons picked up their second win in a row with a close-fought 4-3 victory over Nottingham Lions at Deeside Leisure Centre on Sunday.

As it was Remembrance Sunday, there were commemorations before the game and the Dragons players wore special themed playing shirts. The shirts were raffled off after the game with a donation from the profits going to the Royal British Legion.

The game saw a call up to the senior Dragons for promising youngster Lucas Betts who has impressed while playing for the D2 Dragons in the Laidler Division, and another opportunity to play “up” for Lewis Edward.

Nottingham actually took a surprise lead just 12 seconds from the face off but Deeside eventually drew level with a Colin Cromie goal on 9 minutes.

Matty Barlow fired the Dragons in front on 13 minutes and the score remained at 2-1 at the first period break.

Ross Kennedy edged Deeside further ahead on 22 minutes and, after a goal-less phase that saw a few niggly penalties handed out to both sides, Nottingham pulled a goal back to leave the score standing at a rather close 3-2 at the second interval.

Theo Malone restored daylight between the two teams with a goal on 42 minutes but the Lions refused to roll over and once again hit back to narrow the deficit to a single goal with a short-handed strike on 47 minutes.

As the clock ticked down, the tension racked up and the latter stages were punctuated with a number of penalties, including a crowd-pleasing fight that saw Noah Percival and a Lion both pick a 5+2 spells in the sin bin.

The Lions called a strategic timeout with 3 minutes to go and the score still standing at 4-3. Deeside called a timeout with 90 seconds to go and the score still at 4-3, setting up a nail-biting finale but there was no further scoring and the Dragons hung on to seal the win.

Despite the win, the other weekend results across the league see the Dragons drop down to 7^th place in the Moralee Division table with 18 points from 10 league games – two points behind Leeds Knights, who have, however, played 5 more games. The Dragons have games in hand over all of the other teams in the league and will, hopefully, occupy a more realistic position in the table once they have caught up.

The D1 Dragons are away to Solihull Barons this Sunday 15^th November and they will be keen to avenge the 4-7 defeat that they suffered at Deeside Leisure Centre three weeks ago.

The following weekend they have mouth-watering home and away games against local rivals Widnes Wild – who they have yet to play this season.

The home game is on Saturday 21^st November at Deeside Leisure Centre - at the new face off time of 4.45pm - and the away game is the next day at Planet Ice Widnes, 5.30pm start.

Mayhem Players In GB Cup Team

Kings Cup 2026 - Both Teams (Photo by Sheffield Steelkings)

A number of players from the Mayhem sledge team had the opportunity to pull on a Great Britain shirt over the  weekend of 23rd-25th October as part of a GB team that took part in the annual Kings Cup competition in Sheffield.

The Kings Cup is organised by the Sheffield Steelkings club as a post-season jamboree of para ice hockey and involves playing a number of back to back games against invited opposition at their iceSheffield rink.

There were three games in total – on Friday evening, Saturday mid-day and Sunday morning - and Mayhem players Dean Lahan, Karl Nicholson, Felicity Gregory, Mark Colquitt and Emily McLean all featured for Great Britain over the course of the weekend

McLean and Colquitt both played in all three games, Lahan and Nicholson in two and Gregory played the game on the Saturday.

Mayhem’s Canadian international player Peggy Assinck was GB’s coach for the tournament and also played in all three games – despite being Canadian...

The Steelkings won all 3 games – 9-1, 6-3 and 5-2 - to retain the Kings Cup trophy that they won last year when they beat Swedish team FIFH Malmo.

Karl Nicholson and Dean Lahan both scored a goal each, Nicholson added 3 assists and Mark Colquitt also contributed an assist.

It is difficult to read too much into these results from a GB perspective because not all of the players were available for all of the games but it was a good run-out for the international squad and gave them the opportunity to try some things out in a competitive match situation outside their regular GB training camps.

The weekend matches will certainly have been useful preparation for Felicity Gregory and Emily McLean, who - along with fellow Mayhem player Nicola Terrell - have been selected to play for the Great Britain Women’s team at the Women’s World Championships in Australia at the end of November.

On the domestic front, the Mayhem team train throughout the year at their Planet Ice Widnes home venue and are always on the look-out for new players, helpers and sponsors.

The club welcomes players of all ages and abilities – male or female, disabled or non-disabled – and anybody who is new to the sport can borrow kit and equipment to try it out.

Training sessions are at 10 - 11.30pm on alternate Thursday evenings and anybody who is interested in getting involved with the club in any capacity is asked to get in touch via info@manchestermayhem.co.uk

Match Report: Deeside D2 Dragons 6 – Nottingham Lions 7 (PS) (NIHL Laidler Division)

Gary Dixon (Photo by All Sports Photography)

Sunday 1^st November – NIHL Laidler Division: Deeside D2 Dragons 6 – Nottingham Lions 7 (PS)

The Deeside D2 Dragons narrowly lost out to Nottingham Lions in a highly dramatic penalty shoot-out after having drawn 6-6 in regulation time on Sunday at Deeside Leisure Centre.

The game started well for the Dragons with goals from Gary Dixon – making his first league appearance since playing for the Deeside Ducks back in 2024/25 - and Charlie Spridgeon giving them an early lead that they carried into the first period break.

Nottingham levelled with two quick goals of their own at the start of the second period but Cameron Kushnirenko edged Deeside back in front with a goal on 31 minutes.

The Lions equalised just 38 seconds later and the game remained on a knife edge at 3-3 at the second interval.

Two more Nottingham goals at the start of the third period put the visitors back in front but Deeside heads did not drop and an amazing spell of three goals within the space of 52 seconds – from Liam Yarwood, Spridgeon again and Lucas Betts – propelled them into a 6-5 lead. 

With just one minute left to play, Nottingham removed their netminder in favour of an extra attacker to try and force a late equaliser.  Deeside had a number of attempts  on the empty Lions goal – hitting the post twice – but were unable to score that elusive extra goal to secure the victory. 

Just as it looked as if the Dragons were going to hang on to claim their first win after 6 straight defeats, Nottingham made a last gasp attack and snatched the equalising goal with just 18 seconds left on the clock.

This sent the game into an extra 5 minutes of sudden death 3 on 3 overtime but the stalemate remained and the winner had to be decided on a penalty shoot-out.

The first set of penalties saw the tally level at 1 each after three attempts – with James Parsons converting for Deeside – but Nottingham took the win in the first round of sudden death shots.

The Lions receive two league points for the Penalty Shot win and Deeside get one point for having been level at the end of regulation time.

Mark Norman was named MVP for the Dragons and netminder Jake Lowndes – who put in a plucky performance and also saved a penalty shot at a crucial moment - was named hardest worker by his fellow players.

The weekend results leave the D2 Dragons in 7^th place in the Laidler Division table with one win and two overtime losses from their 7 games to date.

They are back in action this Saturday 7^th November when they take on Coventry Blaze at Deeside Leisure Centre, 6.30pm face off.  They travel away to face league leaders Sutton Sting the next day.

Match Report: Sheffield Scimitars 4 - Deeside D1 Dragons 11 (NIHL Moralee Division)

Theo Malone scored his first senior hat-trick at Sheffield (Photo by Angel Devlin)

Saturday 31^st October – NIHL Moralee Division: Sheffield Scimitars 4 - Deeside D1 Dragons 11

The Deeside D1 Dragons returned to winning ways with a 4-11 victory away to Sheffield Scimitars on Saturday.

Deeside had lost their 4 previous games but this visit to bottom of the table Sheffield who had yet to win a game all season – always seemed likely to go the way of the Dragons.

Deeside were on top pretty much from the start and peppered the Sheffield goal with shots with 25 in the first period as opposed to just 5 on Ryan Wardell at the other end.

The pressure eventually paid off and Colin Cromie finally opened the scoring for the visitors on 11 minutes and James Parsons – a long-term Deeside favourite who now usually plays for the D2 team – doubled the lead two minutes later , and the score remained 0-2 at the first  period break.

Sheffield seemed to perk up in the second period and had much more of the play. Two quick goals of their own within 50 seconds of each other saw them draw level but Theo Malone edged the Dragons back in front with a strike on 25 minutes.

Sheffield equalised again and Malone scored again to keep Deeside in front, and the Dragons upped their game by another gear after this. Two goals followed from Jake Witkowksi and one each from Jared Dickinson and Noah Percival to open up a 3-8 lead heading into the second interval

A shorthanded goal from Ross Kennedy just 19 seconds into the third period further extended the Deeside lead and, while Sheffield pulled a goal back on 49 minutes, they never really looked like catching the Dragons.

Theo Malone scored his third goal of the game for his maiden senior hat-trick 52 seconds from the restart and Ethan Mayoh rounded off the scoring for the game on 55 minutes to secure a much needed 4-11 victory for Deeside.

 

The D1 Dragons are back in action again this Sunday 8^th November when they take on Nottingham Lions – who they have yet to play this season - at Deeside Leisure Centre, 5.15pm face off.

Match Report: Deeside Dragons Women 17 – Whitley Bay Beacons 0 (WNIHL Division 2 North)

Eleanor Johnson scored her
first senior goal against Whitley
(Photo by Gary Johnson)

Saturday 31^st October – WNIHL Division 2 North: Deeside Dragons Women 17 – Whitley Bay Beacons 0

The Deeside Dragons women’s team remain top of the Division 2 North table following a 17-0 demolition of Whitley Bay Beacons at Deeside Leisure Centre on Saturday.

Eleanor Johnson opened the scoring for the Dragons Women in the second minute with her first ever league goal and Grace Taylor doubled the lead 66 seconds later.

Chloe Hellen added a third goal for the Dragons on 18 minutes and the score stood 3-0 at the first period break.

Deeside out-shot the Beacons by a whopping 90 to 8 over the course of the game and second period goals from sisters Teagan and Niamh Walsh extended the Deeside lead to 5-0 at the second interval.

After putting up a plucky defensive display in the first two periods, the Beacons obviously ran out of steam as the game went on and this Hallowe’en match turned into a complete horror show as they conceded 12 unanswered goals in the third period.

Dragons player coach Emma Dutton scored 5 of those goals, Niamh Walsh bagged a further brace to round off a hat-trick, Teagan Walsh, Chloe Hellen and Grace Taylor all added their second for the evening and Lana Botes and Evie Davies completed the rout.

Emma Dutton was the Dragons MVP against Whitley
(Photo by Paul Breeze)

Emma Dutton was named MVP for the Dragons Women after her 5-goal haul while over-worked netminder Lindsay Young got the award for Whitley after keeping out an impressive 73 shots of the 90 that she faced.

Chloe Smith had a relatively quiet night in the Deeside goal, keeping out all 8 shots that came her way to record her second shut-out of the season.  

The win sees the Deeside Women stay top of the league table with 10 points from 6 games, 3 points ahead of second place Leeds Thorns who lost at home to Kingston Diamonds at the weekend.

The Dragons Women are next in action this Sunday 8^th November when they travel away to face Nottingham Vipers at the National Ice Centre.

They then have 4 more away games before they are next at home - to Leeds Thorns on Saturday 6^th February.

Deeside D1 Dragons Weekend Report - 24th & 25th October

Dragon’s Kane Morin scored away at Telford

(Photo by Keith & Jenny Davies)

Saturday 24^th October – NIHL Moralee Division: Telford Tigers 6 - Deeside D1 Dragons 3

Sunday 25^th October – NIHL Moralee Division: Deeside D1 Dragons 2 – Telford Tigers 3

The Deeside D1 Dragons’ losing streak continued at the weekend with back to back to defeats at the hands of Telford Tigers, losing 6-3 away in Shropshire on Saturday and then 2-3 at Deeside Leisure Centre on Sunday.

Telford opened the scoring on Saturday on 4 minutes but Deeside equalised with a goal from Kane Morin 5 minutes later and the score remained at a finely balanced 1-1 at the first period break.

Telford edged back into the lead 70 seconds into the second period and then Deeside got into penalty trouble which saw them defending a 5 on 3 powerplay.  The Tigers scored from this on 26 minutes to double their lead but a Ross Kennedy goal on a Deeside powerplay two minutes later brought the game back to 3-2.

More penalties followed for both teams and Telford scored another powerplay goal to lead 4-2 at the second interval.

The Dragons weren’t particularly outplayed and they actually outshot the Tigers by 47 to 33 over the course of the game - but Luca Tessadri was in fine form in the Telford goal and Deeside struggled to make their chances count. 

They managed to narrow the deficit to just one with a Colin Cromie goal on 48 minutes but Telford hit right back just 36 seconds later to lead 5-3.

Deeside called a tactical time-out with 3 minutes left on the clock and withdrew netminder Curtis Warburton soon after in favour of an extra attacker.

Unfortunately, they were unable to make the extra man count and got caught out at the back while pushing forward.   

Telford made sure of the win with an empty net goal with just 10 seconds left in the game to condemn the Dragons to their third defeat in a row.

Jake Witkowski got himself into penalty trouble at the final buzzer and was handed a 10 minute misconduct penalty – which may lead to further disciplinary action, depending on the referee’s report.

Colin Cromie in the Dragons’ Parkinson’s UK Cymru 

warm up shirt (Photo by Adam Bassett)

The home game on Sunday was a special occasion to promote awareness of the Parkinson’s UK Cymru charity, who are represented on the Dragons’ themed warm up shirts for this season.

Guests from the charity manned an exhibition stand and a Parkinson’s UK Cymru warm up shirt signed by all the Dragons players was raffled off.

Once again, the game was fiercely contested throughout and multiple penalties were handed out to both sides.

For the second game in a row, the Dragons out-shot the Tigers by a clear margin over the 60 minutes and peppered Tessadri’s goal with an amazing 21 shots in the first period. 

The Tigers managed to weather that early onslaught, however, somehow the score remained 0-0 at the first period break.

In fact, it took until the 35^th minute when Telford finally broke the deadlock with a goal from former Dragons player Brodie Jesson, on a powerplay punishing a Dragons interference call.

Deeside equalised with a powerplay goal of their own from Ross Kennedy on 39 minutes and the score remained 1-1 at the second interval.

Telford edged back in front on 43 minutes but the Dragons drew level again just 84 seconds later as Jake Witkowski fired in a another powerplay strike.

Telford had more of chances in the third period and scored what turned out to be the winning goal on 49 minutes.

The last 10 minutes were especially tense as the clock ticked down and Deeside were unable to mount any sort of late fight-back. 

Ross Kennedy – ever the most enthusiastic of players - missed the end of the game as he picked up a 2+10+game penalty for abusive behaviour and, like Jake Witkowski, may well face further disciplinary action as a result.

The weekend results mean that the Dragons remain mired in mid table with 12 points from 8 league games and have lost more ground on the teams at top of the league.

Blackburn Hawks are the new Moralee Division leaders after a 6 point weekend from two wins – at home to Widnes and way to Leeds and they now have 28 points from 11 games.

The previous leaders, Solihull Barons, lost both of their weekend games - away to both Leeds and Widnes and now drop to second place with 25 points from 12 games.

Coming Next

The D1 Dragons are away to Sheffield Scimitars this Saturday 31^st October.  The Scimitars currently sit rock bottom of the Moralee Division table without a win so far this season – their only point to date coming from an overtime loss at the hands of Leeds Knights.

The Dragons won their first game against Sheffield 12-2 when the two teams met in Deeside back in September, with Jake Witkowski scoring an impressive double hat-trick.

There is still, however, plenty of competitive ice hockey to be seen at Deeside Leisure Centre this weekend as the Dragon’s Women’s team are at home to Whitley Bay Beacons on Saturday 31^st October (Halloween), 6pm face off.

The day after – Sunday 1^st November – the D2 Dragons will be looking to break their recent losing streak when they take on Nottingham Lions at the Queensferry rink, 6.30pm face off. 

Match Report: Leeds Junior Knights U16G 1 – Deeside Dragons U16G 2 (WNIHL Under 16 Girls N)

Sav Morgan was the Dragons Girls'
MVP at Leeds 
(Photo by Katy Lennon)

Sunday 18^th October – WNIHL Under 16 Girls (N): Leeds Junior Knights U16G 1 – Deeside Dragons U16G 2

The Deeside Dragons Under 16s Girls team picked up a narrow 1-2 victory away to Leeds Junior Knights U16s.

The two teams had played out a nail-biting 3-3 draw at Deeside a few weeks earlier and this game was just as close.

The shots on goal tally was 18-18 for both teams over the course of the game and for most of the time you couldn’t squeeze the proverbial cigarette paper between the two sides.

The first period played out goal-less and there were just 54 seconds left to play in the second period when Leeds eventually broke the deadlock and took a narrow 1-0 lead into the second break.

The clock ticked ominously down but, with just 3 minutes left to play, England international Hallie Morgan equalised for the Dragons girls.

Then just 23 seconds later, Savannah Morgan – Hallie’s younger sister - fired in a long shot from the blue line to put the Dragons ahead – and they held on to win 1-2.

The result sees the Dragons Girls occupying a comfortable mid-table position in the Under 16 North league at this early stage of the season with 2 wins and 1 draw from their first three games.

They are next in action on Saturday 5^th December when they travel to the North East to take on Billingham. 

400 Dragons Games For Matt Wainwright

Matthew Wainwright at his 400th game presentation (Photo by Dragons IHC) 

Long term Deeside favourite Matthew Wainwright was presented with a special award at the Dragons’ home game against Solihull Barons on Sunday evening to mark his 400^th game for the club.

The popular defenceman is a former Deeside junior player and made his senior debut with the erstwhile Flintshire Freeze in ENL Division 2 in the 2010/11 season.

A veteran of 16 seasons at NIHL level, Wainwright has played pretty much his whole career at Deeside – apart from the 2014/15 season when he briefly joined local rivals Widnes Wild, and the 2021/22 season when the Queensferry rink remained closed following the Coronavirus pandemic and he played with Blackburn Hawks.

He was a member of the Dragons team that won the Laidler Division league and play off double in 2015/16 and has won two Welsh Cups and the Moralee Cup in the post-Covid period.

In his 400 games for Deeside, he has scored 64 goals from his mainly defensive role and contributed 210 assists across all competitions, picking up 224 penalty minutes.

Talking about Wainwright’s contribution to the Deeside club over the years, Dragons Head Coach Mike Clancy  said:

 “Reaching 400 games for one club is a fantastic achievement and something Wainy should be incredibly proud of. As Head Coach, I know how important players like Wainy are to the fabric of this hockey club. Playing 400 games in a Dragons jersey takes commitment, loyalty, resilience and a genuine passion for representing the badge.

Milestones like this don’t happen by accident. They’re earned through years of hard work, sacrifice and dedication. Wainy has been part of the journey of this club, and reaching 400 appearances is a testament to his commitment to the Dragons.

“On behalf of myself, the coaching staff and everyone involved with the club, I’d like to congratulate Wainy on this fantastic milestone. 400 games in a Dragons jersey is something special. Congratulations, Wainy, and here’s to many more!”

Match Report: Widnes Wild Women 4 – Solway Sharks Ladies 10 (WNIHL Div1 North)

Leen de Decker was the
Wild Women's MVP
(Photo by Wild Women IHC)

Sunday 18th October 2026 – WNIHL Div1 North: Widnes Wild Women 4 – Solway Sharks Ladies 10

The Widnes Wild Women gave their best performance of the season so far but ultimately lost out 4-10 to a strong Solway Sharks side at Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday.

The scoresheet will tell you that an incredible 9 of the Sharks’ 10 goals were all scored by the same player but they were far from being a “one woman band” and were a very tough side all round. 

Having said that, Widnes made them work hard for the win and the game turned out to be one of the roughest women’s matches - in terms of penalties handed out, at 10-22 - to be seen at Planet Ice Widnes for a number of seasons.

Solway opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal in the 4^th minute and scored four more before Leen de Decker opened the Widnes account with another short handed goal on 19 minutes.

The score stood at 1-5 to the visitors at the first period break but the second period was much closer and remained goal-less for the first 9 minutes.

Widnes were given an extended powerplay opportunity when Solway picked up three penalties in quick succession but they were caught out at the back while pushing forward, trying to make the most of a 5 on 3 player advantage but conceded another shorthanded goal on 29 minutes.

 

The Wild continued to press forward, however, and were rewarded with a powerplay goal just 80 seconds after that, from Leen de Decker.

Solway scored again with 32 seconds left in the period and led 2-7 at the second interval.

Widnes continued to have more of the play as the game went on and their pressure paid off with a goal from Kara Gledhill  - her first for the club – on 24 minutes.  Leen de Decker then fired in her hat-trick goal 5 minutes after that to narrow the score to 4-7.

It looked at this point as if the Wild Women might stage a late revival but Solway shut up shop after this and they were unable to make any more headway.

The visitors scored three more goals late in the period and that gave the score a more one-sided look than the Widnes performance necessarily deserved.

As well as de Decker’s hat-trick and Gledhill’s maiden goal, there were impressive performances right across the team. 

Isabel Bateson –usually a netminder - played out as an attacking skater to make up the numbers and didn’t look at all out of place in an unusual role for her.

Stephanie Drinkwater turned away 45 of the 55 shots that she faced in the Widnes goal and Natalie Hammond took over for the last few minutes and kept the Solway attack out all together.

The MVP (Most Valuable Player) awards for Wild Women home games are once again this season being sponsored by niche publishers Ice Hockey Review and, as well as the usual trophies, the winners also receive special edition pens handcrafted and donated by Anthony Stock. 

The awards were presented by match volunteer Lynda Bird and went to Ruby Riley for Solway and Leen de Decker for Widnes.

The Wild Women are next in action on Saturday 29^th November when they travel away to play Sheffield Shadows and they are next at home the Sunday after – 6^th December - when they entertain Solway Sharks Ladies once again at Planet Ice Widnes, with a later than usual face off time of 5.45pm.

Match Report: Billingham Buccaneers 7 - Deeside D2 Dragons 0 (NIHL Laidler Division)

Popular Deeside enforcer Karl Bacon was in the penalty minutes at Billingham (Photo by AJ Stoves Photography)

Sunday 18^th October 2026 – NIHL Laidler Division: Billingham Buccaneers 7 - Deeside D2 Dragons 0

The Deeside D2 Dragons slumped to a disappointing 7-0 defeat away to Billingham Buccaneers.

The team were a bit short on players so they drafted in promising youngsters Edward Sterio, Tom Arrowsmith and Thomas Warburton - who have all played for the development side before - and also gave a senior NIHL debut to Mark Norman, who also plays for the Dragons Under 19 team. 

This was quite a feisty game, littered with penalties for both sides throughout and, while Deeside gave as good as they got, they were, unfortunately, unable to make much headway in front of goal.

Billingham opened the scoring in the 3^rd minute and then doubled the lead with a delayed penalty goal on a Deeside slashing call 7 minutes later.

Popular Dragons enforcer Karl Bacon – quite possibly lamenting the fact that he failed to top the Penalty Minutes standings last season, and trying extra hard this time around – entertained the crowd when he went toe to toe on 16 minutes with Buccs’ Luke Burdon in a brief fight that has since been shared widely on social media, for which both players were handed 5 minute penalties.

In the aftermath of this, Billingham managed to score again to lead 3-0 at the first period break, although Deeside certainly didn’t look out of the game.

The second period continued in similar vein with more penalties and three more goals for the Buccaneers and the score stood at 6-0 to the hosts at the second interval.

Cameron Kushnirenko – last season’s overall Penalty King in the Laidler Division - had a fight of his own on 45 minutes to bolster his claim in the sin bin stakes and Billingham eventually scored their seventh and final goal with two minutes left on the clock.

Leo Hyman and Jake Lowndes shared the Deeside netminding duties and, between them, managed to keep out 41 of the 48 shots that they faced. 

Ben Roscoe was the D2 Dragons' MVP away at Billingham (Photo by Buccaneers IHC)

Ben Roscoe was named Dragons MVP for the second consecutive trip to the North East and Joe Everitt was voted hardest worker by his fellow players.

The D2 Dragons now have a weekend off and return to league action on Sunday 1^st November when they take on Nottingham Lions at Deeside Leisure Centre, 6.30pm face off.

Deeside D1 Dragons Weekend Report - 17th & 18th October

Damarni James was Dragons' MVP away at Leeds (Photo by Angel Devlin)

Saturday 17^th October – NIHL Moralee Division: Leeds Knights 5 - Deeside D1 Dragons 3

Sunday 18^th October – NIHL Moralee Division: Deeside D1 Dragons 4 – Solihull Barons 7

The Deeside D1 Dragons suffered their first defeats of the season, losing 5-3 away to Leeds Knights on Saturday and then 4-7 at home to league leaders on Sunday at Deeside Leisure Centre.

Saturday’s game at Leeds was the Dragons’ first away game of the season and they came up against a Leeds team packed with young talent who were just one point behind them in the league table.

The Dragons narrowly out-shot their hosts over the 60 minutes but were unable to make their chances count.  They fell foul of a number of niggly penalties and it was ultimately two powerplay goals that were the difference between the two teams.

Deeside actually opened the scoring with a Colin Cromie goal on 12 minutes but were pegged back by two quick goals to trail 2-1 at the first period break.

Leeds edged further ahead on a powerplay 6 minutes into the second period but a shorthanded goal from Jake Witkowski eventually narrowed the deficit on 32 minutes.  The Knights struck again on another powerplay on 38 minutes and led 4-2 at the second interval.

The Dragons threw the proverbial kitchen sink at the Knights in the third period and out-shot them by more than two to one.  Their efforts were rewarded with a goal from Damarni James on 44 minutes but they were unable to build on that.

Leeds scored a fifth goal on 59 minutes and although Deeside withdrew their netminder for the final 60 seconds in favour of an extra attacker, they were unable to force a late fight-back.

Sunday saw the visit of league leaders Solihull Barons and it was a close run thing for the first two periods.

Solihull scored first and raced to an early 0-2 lead but were pegged back by goals from Colin Cromie and Jake Witkowski to leave the game all square at 2-2 at the first period break.

The Dragons edged ahead briefly with a second Witkowski goal 3 minutes into the second period but

Solihull equalised just 40 seconds later and retook the lead themselves on 25 minutes.

There was no more scoring until the dying seconds of the period when Cromie fired in a delayed penalty goal punishing a Solihull slashing call to leave the score at a finely balanced 4-4 heading into the final period.

The Barons out-shot the Dragons by almost two to one over the course of the game and their pressure paid off in the third period when they hit three answered goals to secure the win.

The D1 Dragons have slipped down to 7^th place in the Moralee Division table following their two defeats at the weekend, coupled with wins for the other teams around them. 

Leeds Knights and Nottingham Lions have both leapfrogged above the Dragons and Solihull Barons, and Blackburn Hawks have pulled further away at the top of the table.  Solihull remain top with 25 points from 10 games and Blackburn are second with 22 from 9 games. Deeside have 12 points from their 6 games but they still have the advantage of games in hand over all the teams above them.  

The Dragons have tantalising home and away fixtures against Telford Tigers this weekend – playing away in Shropshire on Saturday and then at home on Sunday at Deeside Leisure Centre.

The two teams built up a tremendous rivalry last season as they battled it out for league places and also met in the two legged Moralee Cup final  – with Deeside coming out on top in both competitions.

They met in back to back friendly matches in early September, with Deeside winning 2-5 away and 4-1 at home but these first competitive meetings of the season are likely to have an extra edge.

Telford currently sit in fifth place in the Moralee Division table, four points ahead of Deeside - so two wins for the Dragons at the weekend would see them overtake the Tigers.