Head Coach Gary Happy With D2 Dragons’ Progress

Head Coach Gary Shaw on the D2 Dragons' bench (photo by Adam Bassett)

Deeside D2 Dragons Head Coach Gary Shaw has declared the development team’s season so far a "success" and added:

“We as a coaching group are happy with the way the team is starting to compete in every game. We are having some really close matches between ourselves and the teams that are above us in the table.”

“The juniors of the team are becoming stronger in their performances and learning quickly how to control the puck during play and we are having some very strong performances, which is our goal for this team.”

“Which is now leading to more of them training at the next level Dragons and they are performing well at practice at that stage.”

The D2 Dragons were formed during the summer after a rebranding of the Deeside Ducks team that played in the Laidler Division last season and they have continued their policy of giving regular league match experience to promising younger players.

So far this season, the D2 Dragons have given senior NIHL debuts to 7 players, retained many of the youngsters who made the big step up form junior hockey last year and have also recruited a few former senior Dragons players to their ranks as well to offer some stability and guidance to these young protégés.

As of the end of the 2025 calendar year, the D2 Dragons team have won 5 of the 14 league games that they have played and sit in 5^th place out of 9 teams in the Laidler Division table.

Now, while that may only sound like a fairly “average” performance, at the same time last season the Deeside Ducks - who were playing their first league season with a lot more NIHL debutants - had only managed two wins from 15 starts and were second from bottom. 

So in terms of points on the board – along with first ever wins over Altrincham Aces and Kingston Sharks – significant progress has, indeed, been made.

James Shaw is the D2 Dragons’ leading points scorer at this stage of the season with 15 goals and 5 assists from the 12 games that he has played. James Parsons is second with 9+6 from 13 games and Chris Jones is the leading playmaker with 11 assists.

A total of 32 different players have iced for the development team, of which 22 have got on the scoresheet with at least one goal or assist.

Shaw added:

“We are in a good position in the table this year and have won more games than we did last season, and if we can pick up some more points we can keep our position which is just below the top four.”

“Our goal to provide the opportunity for our junior players to improve their skills is in a strong position as two more 16 year olds we give the opportunity to ice for the team.”

“We finished the year off with a solid performance to beat a tricky opponent (Nottingham), who also are providing the opportunity for young players to get more confidence at senior level.”

“So, our goal for the next part of this season is to keep our current position in the league and build on the momentum that we are currently developing with our team and hopefully provide more opportunities for the next generation of young players coming through the club.”

The D2 Dragons face four away games in a row when play restarts in the new year – in Sheffield on 4^th January, Coventry on 10th, Altrincham on 11^th and Nottingham on 8th February.

They are next at home on Saturday 14^th February when they take on Coventry Blaze at Deeside Leisure Centre.

End of Year Comments from Mike Clancy

Deeside D1 Dragons Head Coach Mike Clancy (Photo by Keith & Jenny Davies)

Deeside D1 Dragons Head Coach Mike Clancy is pleased with how the team’s season has gone so far.

He said:

“The Deeside Dragons have made a positive and encouraging start to the season, with performances reflecting the team’s depth, growing cohesion, commitment, and competitive edge.”

“As the campaign has progressed, the Dragons have shown clear development on the ice, combining energy, discipline, and resilience in a series of competitive outings. The squad continues to build confidence, with players responding well to the demands of the season and demonstrating strong work ethic and unity whilst pushing to hit our season’s goals.”

“Off the ice, the club remains focused on its long-term development, maintaining strong connections with supporters, Local Businesses, and the local community. The backing from fans can’t go unnoticed and has been a vital factor as the Dragons push forward and look to build consistency in the weeks ahead.”

“With a strong foundation now in place and a clear pathway between Dragons 1 & 2 the Deeside Dragons are focused on continued improvement and taking the next steps as the season unfolds in cup and playoffs.”

The Dragons end the calendar year in fourth place in the Moralee Division table, having briefly occupied second spot before being overtaken by Solihull Barons and Telford Tigers in the latest round of matches.

Following the festive break, they will be back in action on Sunday 4^th January when they take on Nottingham Lions at Deeside Leisure Centre. The game has a later than usual face off time of 7pm.

Match Report: Billingham Stars 5 – Deeside D1 Dragons 3 (NIHL Moralee Division)

Jake Witkowski was the Dragsns' MVP away at Billingham (Photo by SL Sports Photos)

Saturday 20^th December 2025 – NIHL Moralee Division: Billingham Stars 5 – Deeside D1 Dragons 3

The Deeside D1 Dragons rounded off their fixtures for 2025 with a narrow 5-3 defeat away to defending champions Billingham Stars on Saturday.

The Dragons had a number of regular players missing and travelled to the North East with a short bench but the players who were there put in a spirited performance and were unlucky not to take something from the game.

Billingham opened the scoring on 9 minutes and took a narrow 1-0 lead into the first period break.

They scored twice early more in the second but Deeside visibly upped their game and goals from Jake Witkowski on 31 minutes and Noah Percival - his first in the Moralee Division for the senior Dragons – on 35 minutes narrowed the deficit and left the score standing at an equally close 3-2 at the second interval.

The Dragons outshot the Stars by 2 to 1 in the third period but Billingham were next to score when they made it 4-2 on 52 minutes. Witkowski pulled a goal back with his second of the night – a sensational short handed goal – at 57.43 to leave the game tantalisingly close at 4-3 heading into the closing minutes.

As the clock ticked down, Deeside withdrew their netminder in a favour of an extra attacker in an attempt to try and force a late equaliser and send the game into overtime. Unfortunately, this tactic failed to pay off as Billingham scored an empty net goal with 44 seconds left to play to seal their 5-3 victory.

Ben Roscoe in action for the D2 Dragons
(Photo by Lewis Cleveland)

Aside from the plucky performance by an understrength team, another positive note from this game was that 18 year old Ben Roscoe made his first appearance for the senior D1 Dragons in the Moralee Division.

A former Deeside junior, Roscoe made his NIHL debut last season with the erstwhile Deeside Ducks team and has continued playing with the D2 Dragons team this season in the Laidler Division.

He was joined by former senior Dragon and now D2 team mate Cameron Kushnirenko, who was also drafted in to bolster the team for this tricky trip up to the North East.

The weekend results across the Moralee Division have seen the Dragons drop down from second place to fourth in the league table. Both Solihull Barons and Telford Tigers picked up wins over the weekend and move ahead of the Dragons into second and third respectively.  Solihull now have 46 points from 21 games, Telford 45 from 21 and Deeside 44 from 21.

Blackburn Hawks remain top after their 3-7 win away over Hull Jets and finish the calendar year with 60 points from 22 games.

The Dragons now have a couple of weeks’ break to recharge their batteries and are back in action on Sunday 4^th January when they entertain Nottingham Lions at Deeside Leisure Centre.

New Book: Sledge Hockey 2025

Well – here is something that you probably haven’t seen before.  What you are looking at, as far as I can tell from extensive research (well, a 30-second glance on Amazon, anyway) would appear to be the very first book that has ever been published about Para Ice Hockey anywhere in the world, ever.

Probably.

And, while it is quite true that I do a lot with the Manchester Mayhem team, despite what you might be thinking, this book is NOT all “Me, Me, Me!” and it’s not all “Mayhem, Mayhem, Mayhem!” either.

We also have match reports from Bill Hardy about the Sheffield Steelkings and Sheffield Steelstings and from Ian Offers about the Peterborough Phantoms. Plus reports and articles from Petter Bradders, who is the Manchester Mayhem’s official press guy – so there is plenty to keep everybody interested.

Obviously, that means there is a certain amount of repetition and overlap but it IS interesting to read different people’s views of the same match – and I did want to include as many people as possible in this season review.

There is also a fully comprehensive reports and stats section about the Great Britain  women’s team that took part in the first ever official Women’s World Championships in Slovakia.   

And – because I just happened to have it handy - there’s also an appendix with the 2024 BPIHL season stats as well. 

So, welcome to the very first book that has ever been published about Para Ice Hockey anywhere in the world, ever.

Probably.

Copies are available by mail order by following the link HERE. 

Match Report: Nottingham Vipers 15 – Widnes Wild Women 1 (WNIHL Div 1 North)

Widnes Wild women's team (Photo by Wil Evans)

Sunday 14^th December 2025 – WNIHL Div 1 North: Nottingham Vipers 15 – Widnes Wild Women 1

The Widnes Wild Women rounded off their fixtures for 2025 with a 15-1 defeat away to Nottingham Vipers on Sunday.

Widnes have had a fairly good record on their trips to Nottingham in the past. They got a point from a 5-5 draw the last time they visited the Lace City in the Women’s Premier League (as it was called then) in the 2021/22 season and also celebrated their last win at that level with a 0-2 shut-out back in December 2017.

But it was not such a happy hunting ground this time around. The Wild Women were up against it right from the start and found themselves 2-0 down within the first minute of play.

The score was 4-0 to Nottingham at the first period break and 6-0 at the second interval.

Nottingham out-shot Widnes by 72 to 26 over the 60 minutes of the game and adopted a rather physical approach that saw them rack up 45 penalty minutes.

Wild netminder Stephanie Drinkwater took a heavy knock at the end of the second period and was replaced in goal for the last 20 minutes by plucky 16 year old attacker Maggie Whitmore, who had never played in goal in a competitive game before.

Nine more Nottingham goals followed in the third period but Widnes did, at least, get something to cheer about as Ilyssa Flemington broke their duck on 43 minutes, scoring her first goal for the club – an achievement for which she was named MVP for the Wild.

The Wild Women now have a well earned break and are next in action on Sunday 11^th January when they take on the Caledonia Steel Queens at Planet Ice Widnes, 4.25pm face off.

Dragons Go Second After 6-Point Weekend

Dragons' netminder Tyler de la Bertouche was in fine form over the weekend (Photo by Keith & Jenny Davies)

Saturday 13^th December 2025 – NIHL Moralee Division: Leeds Knights 2 - Deeside D1 Dragons 11

Sunday 14^th December 2025 – NIHL Moralee Division: Deeside D1 Dragons 7 – Solihull Barons 3

The Deeside Dragons moved up to second place in the Moralee Division after a six point weekend that saw them win 2-11 away to Leeds Knights on Saturday and then 7-3 at home to Solihull Barons on Sunday at Deeside Leisure Centre.

Despite the final scoreline the Leeds game on Saturday was very close in its early stages and the Knights actually opened the scoring just 70 seconds in. 

Deeside equalised with a goal from Colin Cromie in the 5th minute but Leeds edged ahead again and it needed an 18^th minute strike from Rhys Edwards to send the Dragons into the first break level pegging at 2-2.

Matty Barlow put Deeside into the lead for the first time on 23 minutes and further unanswered goals from Ross Kennedy, Cromie again and two from Jake Witkowski saw the Dragons leading 2-7 at the second interval.

It was the same story in the third period, with Deeside out-shooting the Knights by some margin and goals from Kennedy (2) and Witkowski rounding off hat-tricks for each player. A second of the night for Edwards on 53 minutes proved to be the last goal of the game.

But it wasn’t all about scoring goals and this was certainly a joint effort by the whole team. Tyler de la Bertouche put in another solid performance in the Deeside net keeping out 24 of the 26 shots that he faced and Ryan Jones was named MVP for his sterling contribution in defence.

Sunday’s keenly anticipated “second v third” encounter against Solihull turned out to be a real “old school” game with lots of penalties and plenty of goals.

Deeside got off to a dream start with Dan Fadejevs giving them the lead on 3 minutes. Three more unanswered goals followed – from Matty Barlow, Damarni James and Henry Phillips to give the Dragons a 4-0 lead at the first period break.

The second period saw an unbelievable number of penalties handed out to both sides – so much that there was hardly any room in the penalty boxes.

A huge fight broke out at 29.42 which saw three players from each side sent to the sin bins and the immediate aftermath of this saw a goal from Jake Witkowski on 30 minutes and two quick fire strikes within 13 seconds of each other on 31 minutes - from Colin Cromie and Jared Dickinson – to give Deeside a 7-0 lead.

Solihull finally opened their own account on 35 minutes but the score stood at healthy looking 7-1 to Deeside at the second interval.

The Barons scored again on 42 minutes but it wasn’t enough to spark a late fight back and another highly entertaining, penalty-riddled period followed.

Solihull scored the final goal of the game with 70 seconds left on the clock but the Dragons had the last laugh as they were able to celebrate their 7^th win in a row.

In contrast to Saturday’s game, Tyler de la Bertouche was the busier of the netminders on the night, with Deeside being outshot by 38 to 50, but he kept 47 of them out to be named MVP for the Dragons.

Following their two weekend victories, the Dragons move up into second place in the Moralee Division table with 44 points from 20 games, leapfrogging Solihull who drop into third who have 43 points from the same number of games.

Blackburn Hawks still lead the table with 54 points from 20 games after a narrow 0-1 win away over Widnes on Sunday.

The Dragons play their last game of 2025 this Sunday 21^st December when they travel to the north east to take on defending champions Billingham Stars, who they beat 10-6 at Deeside two weeks ago.

They are next at home on Sunday 4^th January when they entertain Nottingham Lions at Deeside Leisure Centre.

Match Report: Deeside D2 Dragons 6 – Nottingham Lions 4 (NIHL Laidler Division)

Finn Ogden was the D2 Dragons' MVP against Nottingham (Photo by Paul Breeze) 

Saturday 13^th December 2025 – NIHL Laidler Division: Deeside D2 Dragons 6 – Nottingham Lions 4

The Deeside D2 Dragons rounded off their fixtures for 2025 with a highly entertaining 6-4 win over Nottingham Lions at Deeside Leisure Centre on Saturday.

In keeping with the D2 team’s policy of encouraging new talent, the game saw senior debuts for Deeside Under 19 players Tom Arrowsmith and Teddy Sterio-Foster and a place on the bench for Miles Radford as back up netminder.  

Deeside had the chance to take the lead on 16 minutes when they were awarded a penalty shot after a Nottingham defender had frozen the puck in the Lions’ goal mouth during a frantic scramble – but, unfortunately, the resulting shot was saved.

The Dragons finally opened the scoring with 48 seconds left in the first period when Charlie Spridgeon fired in a delayed penalty goal punishing a hi-sticking call.

Nottingham equalised 90 seconds into the second period but Deeside edged back into the lead with Spridgeon’s second goal of the game on 25 minutes.

Nottingham levelled again on 30 minutes and then took the lead themselves two minutes later, but the Dragons fought back and goals from James Shaw and Noah Percival saw them leading 4-3 at the second interval.

Two more goals in the third period – from James Parsons and Cody Ogden – finally put some daylight between the two teams but Nottingham pulled one back on 56 minutes to ensure a nervy finish to the game.

As it turned out, there was no more scoring and the Dragons were able to celebrate their 5^th win of the season.

This was the D2 Dragons’ last game of 2025.  They have four away games in a row in the new year – in Sheffield on 4^th January, Coventry on 10^th, Altrincham on 11^th and Nottingham on 8th February - and they are next at home on Saturday 14^th February when they take on Coventry Blaze at Deeside Leisure Centre.

*****

D2 Dragons defenceman Cameron Kushnirenko missed the win over Nottingham after being handed a three game suspension by the governing body’s Department Of Player Safety. 

It came following an incident at the end of the home game against Sheffield the previous week that involved a number of players and saw Kushnirenko penalised for physical abuse of officials.

Cameron will also miss the D2 Dragons’ next two games – away to Sheffield on 4^th January and Coventry on 10^th January – but he will be available for selection for the away trip to Altrincham Aces on 11^th January.

Witkowski Named Player Of The Month For November

Deeside Dragons'  Jake Witkowski (Photo by Emilia Roberts Photography)

The Deeside Dragons Player of the Month for November has been announced as Jake Witkowski.

The popular American forward played in all 7 Dragons games during the month of November, scoring 10 goals and contributing 23 assists while sitting out just 4 minutes in penalties.

Witkowski is the leading points scorer overall (73) in the Moralee Division at the half way point of the season with 35 goals and 38 assists, 12 points ahead of Telford’s Vladimir Luka.  

Jake also works hard behind the scenes at the Dragons club in his role as Director of Marketing, where he is responsible for spreading the word among the business community and arranging sponsorship deals with local companies.

The Player of the Month award is organised by Dragons D1 and D2 press reporter Paul Breeze and the trophies are sponsored by the Ice Hockey Review grassroots news website.

Match Report: Sheffield Shadows 11 – Widnes Wild Women 1 (WNIHL Dvision 1 North)

Widnes Wild Women (Photo by Wil Evans)

Sunday 7^th December 2025 – WNIHL Division 1 North: Sheffield Shadows 11 – Widnes Wild Women 1

The Widnes Wild Women’s difficult start to the season continued with an 11-1 defeat away to Sheffield Shadows on Sunday.

The Wild Women had already played Sheffield twice this season – losing 2-16 in their opening fixture at home in Widnes back in September and then 12-1 away in the Steel City in November.

The team have had trouble finding the back of the net this season since stepping up to the higher Division 1 North of the Women’s National Ice Hockey League. However, their single goal in this game at least warded off the spectre of notching up an unwanted third shut-out in a row, after being kept goalless in their previous two games, both against Kingston Diamonds.  

The Wild Women are now playing in the second tier of women’s ice hockey in the UK - just one step down from the Women’s Elite League – and a big step up from the second teams and development clubs that they were playing in Division 2 North last season.

The game on Sunday saw a similar pattern to the previous games against the Shadows, with Sheffield comfortably on top for long spells and plucky Widnes defending and netminding bravely battling to keep them at bay.

The highlight of the night, from a Widnes point of view,  came in the third period when Dee Vause - playing in her second game of the day after turning out for Whitley in the preceding Division 2 match at the same venue – fired in a superb break-away goal, her first for the club since joining in the summer.

Widnes have another road trip this weekend when they travel to mid-table Nottingham Vipers on Sunday 14^th December, 7.30pm face off, which rounds off their games for 2025.

They are next at home on Sunday 11^th January when they play host to the Edinburgh-based Caledonia Steel Queens at Planet Ice Widnes, 4.25pm face off.

 

New Book: 10 Years Of The Widnes Wild Women

The Widnes Wild Women are celebrating their 10^th anniversary this year and a new book has been produced by niche publisher Ice Hockey Review to record their first decade together as a team.

“Wild Women – The First Ten Years: 2015-2025” contains

• match reports for every game from 2015 to 2025,
• news stories, player profiles and season summaries as were published year to year at the time
• league tables, playing records and player statistics for all 9 seasons that were played (2020/21 was cancelled due to Covid)
• 10 year totals, player stats and head to head records

and is illustrated with fascinating photos throughout.

The book is available to purchase via mail order and details can be found HERE

Match Report: Deeside D1 Dragons 10 - Billingham Stars 6 (NIHL Moralee Division)

Jake Witkowski scored 4 goals against Billingham (Photo by Angel Devlin Sports Photography)

Sunday 7^th December  – NIHL Moralee Division: Deeside D1 Dragons 10 – Billingham Stars 6

The Deeside Dragons made it five wins in a row with a 10-6 victory over defending champions Billingham Stars at Deeside Leisure Centre on Sunday.

The Stars have been having a disappointing season by their own high standards but this was the first time that the two teams had met in the current campaign so it was a bit of an unknown quantity.

As it turned out, this was a thriller of a game, with end to end hockey, played at a furious pace throughout.

Deeside took the lead with a powerplay goal from Jake Witkowksi with just 95 seconds gone on the clock   It was 2-0 to the Dragons courtesy of a Matty Barlow goal 82 seconds after that but then Billingham found their feet and hit back.

Three straight goals for the Stars saw them overhaul the Deeside lead and sneak ahead 2-3 by the 9 minute mark. The Dragons equalised with a second Barlow goal on 11 minutes but Billingham edged ahead once more within 40 seconds.

A Ross Kennedy strike drew Deeside level once again on 16 minutes and the score stood at an evenly balanced 4-4 at the first period break.

The Dragons edged back into the lead again on 24 minutes with Witkowski’s second goal of the game but, once again, Billingham equalised almost immediately.

Ross Kennedy put Deeside back in front with a goal at the midway point of the game and, despite the Dragons outshooting the Stars by 3 to 1 over the course of the period, the score remained 6-5 at the second interval.

The third period started with yet another Billingham equaliser as the Stars punished a boarding call with a powerplay goal on 42 minutes and the score remained locked at 6-6 as the game headed into its final 10 minutes.

Jake Witkowski’s hat-trick goal on 52 minutes put the Dragons back into the lead and there was finally daylight between the two teams when Ross Kennedy put away his third goal of the game on 57 minutes.

Billingham called a time out at this point and removed their netminder in favour of an extra attacker but the tactic failed as Witkowski fired in an empty net goal for his fourth of the night and pretty much sealed the win for the Dragons. 

A powerplay goal with just 25 seconds left on the clock for Charles Phillips rounded off the scoring and Deeside were able to celebrate a hard fought 10-6 victory.

Following the weekend games, the Dragons remain in third place in the Moralee Division table with 38 points from their 18 games to date. Blackburn Hawks still lead the table with 51 points from 19 games and Solihull Barons are in second with 43 from 19.

Deeside now have a game in hand over both Blackburn and Solihull - who played each other home and away over the weekend, with the Hawks winning both matches

Telford Tigers remain 2 points behind the Dragons in fourth place with 36 points after hammering the Nottingham Lions 10-2 on Sunday – having now played the same number of games.

The D1 Dragons are away to Leeds Knights this Saturday 13^th December - 7,30pm face off - and are then back at home on Sunday when they take on Solihull Barons at Deeside Leisure Centre, 5.15pm face off.

Sunday’s game will be especially important as, if Deeside manage to win away in Leeds on Saturday and then beat the Barons on Sunday, they will leapfrog Solihull and move up into second place in the league table

Before that, the D2 Dragons team are at home on Saturday when they take on the Laidler Division’s bottom team, Nottingham D2 Lions – 5.15pm face off.

Match Report: Deeside D2 Dragons 2 – Sheffield Titans 8 (NIHL Laidler Division)

Noah Percival was the Dragons' MVP against Sheffield (Photo by Adam Bassett)

Saturday 6^th December 2025 – NIHL Laidler Division: Deeside D2 Dragons 2 – Sheffield Titans 8

The Deeside D2 Dragons Laidler Division team put in a battling performance against league leaders Sheffield Titans, ultimately losing out 2-8 at Deeside Leisure Centre on Saturday.

Despite the final score-line, this wasn’t a one-side game by any means and the Dragons had plenty of the play. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to make the most of their chances when they came.

It took until the 12^th minute of the game for the first goal – which fell to Sheffield – and the Titans scored again two minutes later to take a 0-2 lead into the first period break.

Sheffield further extended their lead with a third goal on 25 minutes but Deeside’s efforts were finally rewarded when Noah Percival broke away and fired in a superb shorthanded goal on 29 minutes.

Two further goals late in the period extended the Sheffield advantage and the score stood at 1-5 at the second interval.

The Titans scored again 80 seconds into the third period but Deeside pulled a goal back from Lewis Edwards - laid on by Percival – on 44 minutes.

Two more unanswered strikes late on for the visitors gave the score a more one sided look than the game necessarily deserved and it finished 2-8 to Sheffield.

The various niggles and tensions that had been simmering during the game finally boiled over at the final buzzer and a number of players from both sides were involved in an unseemly mêlée against the boards.  A number of penalties were handed out post-game and further disciplinary action may well follow.

The D2 Dragons are at home again this Saturday 13th December when they take on the Laidler Division’s bottom team Nottingham Lions - who they beat 2-6 away in the Lace City back in September - at Deeside Leisure Centre, 5.15pm face off.

Match Report: Connah’s Quay Cobras 15 – Telford Spartans 3 (Challenge Match)

Stephen Shelley was the Cobras' MVP against Telford (Photo by Scott Dutton) 

Sunday 30^th November 2025 – Challenge Match: Connah’s Quay Cobras 15 – Telford Spartans 3

The Connah’s Quay Cobras played their first game of the new rec season notching up a 15-3 challenge match win over Telford Spartans at Deeside Leisure Centre on Sunday.

The recreational season runs from October to October for administrative purposes but the majority of competitive games and tournaments are held during the summer months when there is more ice time available - and this friendly game gave the Cobras an opportunity to try out their new signings in a match situation.

The game on Sunday saw Cobras debuts for Steve Kewin, Ellis Flanagan, Karl Jones and Stephen Shelley – all of whom previously played for the Chester Road Reapers team – and also George Spofforth, another ex-Reaper who played Laidler Division hockey for the Deeside Ducks last season.

The Cobras opened the scoring just 90 seconds into the game with a goal from Mike Filek and never really looked back from there. Further goals from Sam Plant, Spofforth and Shelley saw them take a 4-0 lead into the first period break.

The second period saw Connah’s Quay add an incredible  8 goals to their tally – from George Kelly (3), Libor Krempasky, Spofforth again, Sam Hunt (2) and Slavo Sykora – but Telford did, at least manage three of their own to keep their heads above water.

However, with the score standing at 12-3 at the second interval, it was already over as a contest and three unanswered goals in the third period – a second for both Filek and Sykora and a hat-trick strike from Sam Hunt – saw the Cobras cruise to an emphatic victory.

The MVP awards went to netminder Maxine Hancock for the Spartans and Stephen Shelley for the Cobras.

The Connah’s Quay Cobras train at 8.30pm on Sunday evenings at Deeside Leisure Centre and are always keen to welcome new players.  More information can be found on their website HERE and Facebook page  HERE .

Match Report: Deeside D1 Dragons 11 – Leeds Knights 2 (NIHL Moralee Division)

Dragons goalscorers Barlow, Witkowski, Dickinson, Cromie and Kennedy (Photo by Emilia Roberts Photography)

Sunday 30th November 2025 – NIHL Moralee Division: Deeside D1 Dragons 11 – Leeds Knights 2

The Deeside Dragons recorded their fourth win in a row with an 11-2 victory over Leeds Knights at Deeside Leisure Centre on Sunday.

Team captain Jared Dickinson opened the scoring for the Dragons on 5 minutes and further goals from Colin Cromie and Jake Witkowski saw them leading 3-0 at the first period break.

Deeside outshot the Knights by over two to one in the first period and the onslaught continued in the second period as goals from Dickinson, Ross Kennedy and Witkowksi again doubled the lead.

Leeds finally found the back of the net themselves on 33 minutes and then scored a second goal two minutes later but that was as good as things got for the Yorkshiremen.

A goal from Matty Barlow and a second of the night from Ross Kennedy late in the period extended the Dragons lead again and the score stood at 8-2 at the second interval.

Third period goals followed from Bailey Thomas and Colin Cromie again, and the scoring for the game was rounded off with Ross Kennedy’s hat trick strike, for which he was deservedly named MVP.

Jace Gledhill put in a solid performance in the Dragons goal, turning away 23 of the 25 shots that he faced.

Following the weekend games, the Dragons remain in third place in the Moralee Division table with 35 points from their 17 games to date. Blackburn Hawks lead the table with 45 points and Solihull Barons are in second with 43. All of the top three teams have now played the same number of games.

Telford Tigers are just behind the Dragons in fourth place with 30 points and a game in hand.

The D1 Dragons are at home again this Sunday 7^th December when they take on last season’s champions Billingham Stars at Deeside Leisure Centre, 5.15pm face off. The two teams have yet to meet this season so it should be a fascinating encounter.

Before that, the D2 Dragons team – who were without a game this weekend - are at home on Saturday when they take on Laidler Division league leaders Sheffield Titans – 5.15pm face off.

Young Dragons Play Up

Deeside's Dan Fadejevs (Photo by Lewis Cleveland)

A trio of young Deeside Dragons players had the chance to play some NIHL National Division hockey at the weekend as guest players with the Milton Keynes Lightning team.

Rhys Edwards, Dan Fadejevs and Bailey Thomas all lined up for the Buckinghamshire club in their home game against Sheffield Steeldogs on Saturday.

League rules allow for players under the age 23 to “play up” for other teams in a different league to their own in order to give them extra match experience and help with their development. With their young players getting experience of playing a higher level of hockey, this will -  obviously - have knock on benefits for the Dragons as well.

Rhys Edwards already had a lot of National League experience as he made a number of appearances for the Hull Seahawks during the 2023/24 season when he was a Widnes Wild player and 2024/25 when he was based on Humberside and alternated between the Division 1 Jets and the Seahawks.

Saturday, however, saw debuts at that level for both Fadejevs and Thomas who are both Deeside Under 19 players but also regularly turn out for the senior Dragons team in the Moralee Division.

The game finished 3-3 after regulation time and had to be decided by a penalty shoot-out, which was won by Sheffield.

Match Report: Widnes Wild Women 0 – Kingston Diamonds 7 (WNIHL Division 1 North)

Ellen Tyrer was the Wild Women MVP against Kingston (Photo by Paul Breeze)

Sunday 30^th November 2025 – WNIHL Division 1 North: Widnes Wild Women 0 – Kingston Diamonds 7

The Widnes Wild Women put in a spirited performance against unbeaten league leaders Kingston Diamonds before ultimately slumping to a 0-7 defeat at Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday.

While that might sound like a heavy defeat on paper, when the same two teams met seven day earlier, the Humbersiders strolled to a comprehensive 0-18 victory so Sunday’s game actually represented a significant improvement.

Having only just played the Diamonds, the Wild Women adapted their tactics for this game and re-arranged the playing lines to better counter the opposition’s strengths.

This move obviously worked – up to a point – as the two Kingston players who had caused the most damage in the previous game, scoring 6 goals each, were both restricted to a solitary strike on this occasion.

The beefed-up Widnes defence kept the title favourites at bay for 5½ minutes before the first goal eventually went in and, by the end of the first period, the score stood at 0-4 to Kingston.

Just two goals followed in the second period for the visitors and one in the third.  Widnes had their own chances in front of goal but were unable to get past the Diamonds’ netminder, who recorded her third shut out in a row.

At the other end, Stephanie Drinkwater was kept busy in the Widnes goal and put in her usual heroic performance to keep the score down.

The MVP (Most Valuable Player) awards are once again this season being sponsored by niche publishers Ice Hockey Review and were presented by match goal judge Valerie Cooper. They went to Holly Smith for Kingston and Ellen Tyrer for Widnes.

The Wild Women are away to Sheffield Shadows this Sunday 7^th December and then off to the Lace City on 14^th December to take on the Nottingham Vipers for the first time this season.

They are next at home on Sunday 11^th January when they entertain the Caledonia Steel Queens at Plant Ice Widnes, 4.25pm face off.

10 Years Of The Widnes Wild Women

I have been involved with the Widnes Wild Women’s team pretty much from when they started back in 2015 - in an ever-expanding variety of capacities - and what you have here is pretty much every single word that I have written about them over a 10 year period, along with all the stats that I have lovingly and painstakingly compiled.

To summarise, we have:

• Match reports for every game from 2015 to 2025
• News stories, player profiles and season summaries as were published year to year at the time
• League tables, playing records and player statistics for all 9 seasons that were played.
• 10 year totals, player stats and head to head records
• and lots and lots of great photos.

Much – but by no means all - of the written material has previously appeared on my icehockeyreview.co.uk website, in the Widnes Weekly News paper and on the Wild official website at various times - and also in various season review books. However, this is the first time that it has all been collected together and it is also the first time that the majority of the player stats have been published in this format.

Please be aware that there are TWO versions of this book available to order via Amazon.  There is the “budget” black and white version that has b/w photos throughout and is available for a very reasonable £12.50 and can be ordered here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wild-Women-statistics-separate-available/dp/190964370X

There is also the super duper Colour Edition which has exactly the same season by season team information, player stats, photos etc but it is in colour. The problem is that this costs a whopping £23.84 on Amazon, which I think is an unreasonable price to ask.

It is nothing to do with me, by the way – it is due to the fact that this is a “Print On Demand” publication and that is what their pricing structure is for full colour books. Because I have set the selling price at the lowest possible figure, I am hardly making anything from these sales and pretty much all the revenue goes to Amazon. 

There is also a limit of 600 pages for this type of book, so the Black and White version – which I am also really not making any money on – has more pages (627) and has a load of my adverts included at the back, as well as Lucy’s poems about the Wild Women which are, sadly, missing from the colour edition.  

You can however, see all of Lucy’s collected ice hockey poems (and also my infamous “Pauline’s Bitch” verse…) in her dedicated volume here:

 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hockey-Poems-2013-2023-Lucy-London/dp/1909643572

So, if anybody is interested in the Colour Edition, please drop me a line first before placing an order anywhere…

Dragons Qualify For Cup Semi Final

Dragons celebrate their win away at Solihull (Photo by Keith & Jenny Davies)

The Deeside Dragons have qualified for the semi-finals of the Moralee Cup after their sensational win away in Solihull on Sunday.

As has been the case in recent seasons, there aren’t separate qualifying matches for the early stages of the cup.  The 10 teams in the Moralee Division have been placed in two groups of 5 and the results from the first league games home and away between the sides in the group count towards the final table.  The top two teams in the two groups then meet in the semi finals.

Deeside were placed in a Cup Group A, along with Solihull, Hull Jets, Widnes Wild and Sheffield Scimitars and their results in the 8 games against those teams - 5 wins, 1 OTW and 2 defeats - have netted them 17 points, which means that they can’t be knocked out of the qualifying positions and will finish at least second in the group.

There is one qualifying game still to be played in Group A – between Solihull and Hull - and the result of that will decide who the second team are that will go through to the semis.

If Solihull win - or even just pick up one point for an OTL - they will finish top of the group and Deeside will be second. If Hull win in regulation time (ie 3 points), they will leapfrog Solihull and finish in second place behind Deeside.

This is important because the top team in the group will play the second place finisher in the other group and vice-versa.

Blackburn Hawks have already qualified from Group B and finish top with 8 wins from their 8 qualifying games.

Telford Tigers currently occupy second spot but they play Billingham Stars away on 14^th December and the outcome of that game will decide who finishes in second place.

So, depending on the outcome of those remaining games in Group A and Group B, Deeside could play Blackburn, Telford or Billingham in the semi final.

The dates for the two legged semi finals have been pencilled in as Saturday 17th and Sunday 18^th January and who plays where and when will be arranged once the match ups are known.

The winners of the two semi final ties will go through to the two legged final, which will take place over the weekend of 21^st/22^nd February.

Match Report: Solihull Barons 1- Deeside D1 Dragons 3 (NIHL Moralee Division)

Dragons' captain Jared Dickinson scored the game winning goal against Soihull (Photo by Emilia Roberts Photography)

Sunday 23^rd November 2025 – NIHL Moralee Division: Solihull Barons 1- Deeside D1 Dragons 3

The Deeside Dragons put in a superb performance away to Moralee Division leaders Solihull Barons, picking up a well deserved 1-3 victory to inflict a first league defeat of the season on the West Midlanders on Sunday.  

The Barons are usually a decent mid-table side but have been having an especially good season this time around, beating the Dragons 5-9 on their own ice back in mid-October.

Deeside got off to a dream start with a goal from Colin Cromie with just 26 seconds gone but Solihull equalised with a powerplay goal on 8 minutes

Team captain Jared Dickinson edged the Dragons back into the lead on 13 minutes and the score remained 1-2 at the end of the first period.

Colin Cromie scored his second goal of the game on 27 minutes to give Deeside a 1-3 lead and, despite numerous chances for both teams in the latter stages, that turned out to be the last goal of the game.

The third period was very tense. There had been a number of skirmishes and other niggly penalties for both sides throughout the game and these, again, punctuated the last 20 minutes but the Dragons were able to weather the storm and record an impressive victory.

Netminder Tyler de la Bertouche was on top form throughout the game and made a number of important saves late on, earning him the MVP award for the Dragons.

Following the weekend games, the Dragons remain in third place in the Moralee Division table with 32 points from their 16 games to date. Blackburn Hawks leapfrog Solihull following their two weekend wins over Sheffield Scimitars and Billingham Stars and take over as league leaders with 42 points from 16 games. Solihull have 40 points but have played one game fewer than both the Hawks and the Dragons.

The D1 Dragons are at home this Sunday 30^th November when they take on Leeds Knights at Deeside Leisure Centre, 5.15pm face off.