Away wins at Sheffield Spartans on Saturday (1-3) and Whitley Warriors on Sunday (1-6) place the Sting well and truly in the mix, having spent much of the season in the bottom half of the table.
Blackburn Hawks took a step nearer to their first ever league title with an 8-4 win over Solway which also means that the Sharks are now mathematically unable to retain their title of the past two seasons.
In the other Moralee game of the weekend, Billingham Stars kept their own slim title hopes alive with a 3-1 home win over Spartans.
There is now an interesting battle emerging to avoid the relegation play off place that comes with finishing second from bottom. Having suffered their worst weekend of a hitherto reasonably successful season, Spartans are now locked in a duel with Whitley Warriors. Both team have 15 points and are 3 points adrift of the mid-table pack. If things go as planned, the second bottom team will play off home and away against the team that finishes 4th in the Laidler Conference - currently Widnes Wild - to see who will play in the Moralee Conference next season.
Photo: Goalmouth action from Billingham Stars v Sheffield Spartans - photo by Linda Crabtree
