Match Report: Kingston Diamonds 2 – Deeside Dragons Women 12 (WNIHL Division 2N)

Emily Davies MVP
(Photo by Katy Lennon)

Sunday 20^th September 2026 – WNIHL Division 2 N: Kingston Diamonds 2 – Deeside Dragons Women 12

The new Deeside Dragons women’s team continued their winning start to the season with 2-12 away victory over Kingston Diamonds in Hull on Sunday.

Somewhat surprisingly, considering the eventual scoreline, the first period played our goal-less and it took until 4 minutes into the second period for the first goal of the game to be scored.  That fell to the Dragons’ Niamh Walsh and she added two more goals for a straight hat-trick within 16 seconds of each other on 33 minutes to give Deeside a comprehensive lead.

Teagan Walsh found the back of the net 9 seconds from the restart - meaning that three goals had been scored in just 25 seconds – and further strikes from Walsh, again, and Grace Taylor saw Deeside leading 0-6 at the second period break.  

Kingston finally got a goal of their own 90 seconds into the third period but the Dragons’ 6 goal cushion was restored on 44 minutes with a goal from Charlotte McAdam.

Kingston pulled another goal back on 45 minutes but McAdam scored again 4 minutes later – and, 16 seconds after that, player coach – and former Flintshire Fury - Emma Dutton scored her first goal of the new era to put Deeside 2-9 up.

The Dragons women heavily outshot the Diamonds by 50 to 19 over the course of the 60 minutes and, by now there was only going to be one winner.

Two goals for experienced captain Lucy Kirkham late in the period and a second of the game for Dutton with just 58 seconds left on the clock saw Deeside cruise to a 2-12 victory.

It was superb all round performance for the new team who were only playing their second ever game and seven different players got on the scoresheet. It was a very difficult task to pick a single “player of the game” but the MVP award eventually went to Emily Davies.

The Dragons women’s team have two more away games now – at Manchester Storm this Saturday 3^rd October and Nottingham Vipers on 10^th October.  They are next at home on Saturday 17^th October when they take on Kingston at Deeside Leisure Centre, 6.30pm face off.

Sledge Hockey 2026: Great Britain v Ukraine International Tournament

Team GB v Ukraine at Lee Valley (Photo by Rox Photography)

The Great Britain Para Ice Hockey team played a 4-match international challenge series against Ukraine at the Lee Valley Ice Centre in east London over the weekend of 21-23 August.

The tournament saw GB international debuts for Dan Hartshorn and Max Phillips-Brant and a first start in the Mens / Mixed team for Kirsty van der Poll who had previously played for the GB Women’s team in the 2025 World Championships.

The full GB squad for the tournament was:

• Karl Nicholson (Manchester Mayhem)
• Ben O'Brien (Sheffield Steelkings)
• Jon le Galloudec (Cardiff Huskies)
• Dean Lahan (Manchester Mayhem)
• Josh Davies (Cardiff Huskies)
• Felicity Gregory (Manchester Mayhem)
• Max Phillips-Brant (Sheffield Steelkings)
• Mark Colquitt (Manchester Mayhem)
• Shannon Mitchell (Cardiff Huskies)
• Kirsty van der Poll (Sheffield Steelkings)
• Dani Czernuszka-Watts (Cardiff Huskies)
• Callum Shakespeare (Peterborough Phantoms)

 

Netminders

• Bryan Hackworth (Sheffield Steelkings)
• Dan Hartshorn (Manchester Mayhem)
• Nicole Hill (Cardiff Huskies)

 

Coach: Peggy Assinck

It was a special occasion for the brand new Ukraine team as it was one their first outings since forming a number of months ago.

The team is made up entirely of military personnel who have been injured in the ongoing war against Russia and are based around the Nezlamni (Unbroken) Rehabilitation Center in Lviv.

Things got off to a good start in the first game on the Friday afternoon as Karl Nicholson gave Team GB an early lead after just 10 seconds of the first period. Ukraine equalised on 14 minutes with a goal from Yurii Yaskovets and the score remained 1-1 at the first period break.

Ukraine scored again on 25 minutes with the only goal of the second period from Oleksandr Zhavrenko and then Yevhenii Shvab extended their lead on 41 minutes. Despite creating chances of their own, Team GB were unable to get past the strong Ukraine defence and the first game ended up as a 1-3 win to the visitors.

The second game - on Saturday morning - saw a goalless first period but Ukraine took control with two goals from Viktor Drachuk within 90 seconds of each other right at the start of the second.

Ben O’Brien pulled a goal back on 28 minutes but GB weren’t able to build on this and a third Ukraine goal 2 minutes into the third period from Zhavrenko rounded off the scoring for the game.

Saturday afternoon saw an exhibition game to showcase the GB Women’s team against a composite side made up of GB and Ukraine men’s players and coaches.

The GB Women’s team for the occasion was:

Nicole Hill, Davina Hall, Helen McGivern, Freya Austin, Kirsty van der Poll, Felicity Gregory, Dani Czernuszka-Watts, Peggy Assinck, Emily McLean and Nicola Terrell.

The game ended in a 0-7 defeat for the GB Women, although they put in a battling display and did good work in promoting women’s para ice hockey.

Game 3 of the main series was played on Saturday evening and started off with another goal-less first period. 

Ukraine scored twice in the second period – with goals from Oleksandr Zhavnenko and Viktor Dykyi – and Yurii Yaskovets added another in the third period for a 0-3 victory.

In the Ukraine goal, Taras Hryshchuk recorded a 6-shot shut-out while GB netminder Bryan Hackworth did well to turn away 25 of the 28 shots that he faced.

The final game on Sunday afternoon was very close and, despite chances for both sides, the score remained 0-0 after two periods.

Ukraine finally broke the deadlock on 33 minutes with a goal from Zhavnenko and then Dykyi doubled the lead on 42 minutes for a final score of 0-2.

Ukraine netminder Roman Humeniuk celebrated a 5-shot shut -out while Dan Hartshorn and Nicole Hill notched up a goal-free period each before Hartshorn conceded two in the final period.

Ukraine’s Yevhenii Shvab was the tournament’s top points scorer overall with 7 points from his 1 goal and 6 assists.

Oleksandr Zhavnenko was the top goal scorer with 4 goals while Viktor Dykyi also finished on 4 points with 2 goals and 2 assists. Viktor Drachuk and Yurii Yaskovets both notched up 2 +1 and Viktor Deineka contributed an assist.

The Ukraine netminding duo of Hryshchuk and Humeniuk  was particularly impressive as they only conceded 2 goals in 180 minutes of play and recorded two successive shut-outs in the final two games.

The GB side was missing a few regular players but gave a good account of themselves over the 4 games. The tournament also offered some useful game time against strong opposition for the women players ahead of the Women’s World Championships that will be held in Australia in November.

Mayhem Players in GB WWC Squad

Felicity Gregory, Peter Hagan and Emily McLean on GB duty (Photo by Breanna Wagner)

Three Mayhem players have been named in the provisional Great Britain Para Ice Hockey squad that will take part in the Women’s Worlds Championships in Australia in November.

Felicity Gregory, Emily McLean and Nicola Terrell are set to travel to Newcastle in New South Wales where GB will  face Australia, Canada, Norway, USA and one further team to be confirmed at the six-team tournament from 24th to 29th November.

This will be the second time that the official Women’s World Championships have run, following the inaugural 2025 tournament in Dolny Kubin, Slovakia, where Team GB finished in fourth place.

The coaching and team staff have yet to be announced but more Mayhem personnel are likely to be involved.  

The full provisional GB squad is:

• ·                  Freya Austin - Peterborough Phantoms
• ·                  Shannon Mitchell  - Cardiff Huskies
• ·                  Dani Czernuszka-Watts - Cardiff Huskies
• ·                  Leanne Emmerson - Cardiff Huskies
• ·                  Felicity Gregory - Manchester Mayhem
• ·                  Davina Hall - Peterborough Phantoms
• ·                  Nicole Hill- Cardiff Huskies
• ·                  Helen McGivern- Cardiff Huskies
• ·                  Emily McLean - Manchester Mayhem
• ·                  Stacey Quirk - Peterborough Phantoms
• ·                  Nicola Terrell - Manchester Mayhem
• ·                  Kirsty Van Der Poll - Sheffield Steelkings

GB's Nicola Terrell
(Photo by Peter Hagan)

Manchester Mayhem official website:  www.manchestermayhem.co.uk

For more information about the British Para Ice Hockey League, check out the official website at www.paraicehockey.co.uk 

Match Report: Widnes Wild Women 0 – Nottingham Vipers 22 (WNIHL Div 1 North)

Nottingham Vipers MVP Quinn Tarling (Photo by Paul Breeze)

Sunday 20^th September 2026 – WNIHL Div 1 North: Widnes Wild Women 0 – Nottingham Vipers 22

The Widnes Wild Women suffered a heavy 0-22 defeat in their opening game of the new WNIHL season at home to Nottingham Vipers at Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday.

The visitors turned up with a very experienced team that included 2 current GB internationals and, with the Wild Women bringing in a number of new players over the summer, it will obviously take a little time for the new-look line-up to gel.

The game was pretty close in its early stages and it took until the 6^th minute for the Vipers to break the deadlock.  Once they did, however, the floodgates opened and they scored seven more unanswered goals to lead 0-8 at the first period break.

It wasn’t all one–way traffic, however, and Widnes also had their chances - but Nottingham were able to make the most of theirs while the Wild Women weren’t.

Six more goals followed in the second period and eight more in the third to give the Vipers a comprehensive victory.

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 went to Quinn Tarling for Nottingham and summer signing Kara Gledhill for Widnes.

The result represents the Wild Women’s heaviest ever home defeat - beating the 0-20 mauling that they suffered at the hands of Bristol Huskies back in January 2022. 

Their heaviest defeat overall came back in April of this year when they succumbed 23-0 to Caledonia Steel Queens up in Edinburgh.

The Wild Women are in action again this Sunday 27^th September when they welcome Whitley Bay Beacons to Planet Ice Widnes, 4.20pm face off.

Match Report: Deeside D1 Dragons 7 – Leeds Knights 4 ( NIHL Moralee Division)

Rhys Edwards
(Photo by Keith & Jenny Davies)

Sunday 20^th September – NIHL Moralee Division: Deeside D1 Dragons 7 – Leeds Knights 4

The Deeside D1 Dragons continued their winning start to the new Moralee Division season with a 7-4 victory at home to Leeds Knights on Sunday at Deeside Leisure Centre.

The visitors actually opened the scoring in this game with a goal in the 4^th minute and it took until the 16^th minute for Deeside to draw level through a Ryan Jones strike.

Two minutes later, the Dragons were ahead courtesy of a Rhys Edwards goal and the score remained 2-1 at the first period break.

They edged further ahead with a goal from Jake Witkowski just 26 seconds into the second period and the same player scored again on 26 minutes to give the Dragons a 4-1 lead.

Further goals followed - from Theo Malone and Colin Cromie – but two more for the Knights left the score at 6-3 at the second interval

The third period played out goalless for its first 18 minutes until Jake Witkowski scored his hat-trick goal.

The game was clearly won by this point but Leeds didn’t give up and their efforts were rewarded with a fourth goal with 47 seconds left on the clock.

Following the weekend games, Deeside sit in fifth place in the Moralee Division table with 6 points from their two wins to date and are playing catch up as all of the other teams have played more games.  

Solihull Barons currently top the table with 10 points from 4 games with Widnes Wild in second and Blackburn Hawks in third – both on 8 points.

The D1 Dragons are at home again this Sunday 27^th September when they take on Hull Jets at Deeside Leisure Centre, 5.15pm face off.

Match Report: Sutton Sting 13 - Deeside D2 Dragons 3 (NIHL Laidler Division)

Ben Roscoe acored away at Sutton
(Photo by Adam Bassett)

Saturday 19^th September 2026 – NIHL Laidler Division: Sutton Sting 13 - Deeside D2 Dragons 3

The Deeside D2 Dragons slumped to a 13-3 defeat away to defending champions Sutton Sting on Saturday evening.

The hosts opened the scoring in the 3^rd minute and the score stood at 5-0 before Lucas Betts fired in his first senior goal for the Dragons on 14 minutes.

The score was 7-1 at the first period break, but Oliver Massey gave the Dragons some hope with a goal just 61 seconds into the second period.

Four more Sutton goals followed, however, and the Sting led 11-2 at the second interval.

The third period saw a similar pattern with Deeside scoring again with a Ben Roscoe goal on 43 minutes and Sutton hitting back with two more of their own to end up as 13-3 winners.

The Dragons were outshot by 66 to 26 over the course of the 60 minutes but netminding duo Leo Hyman and Jake Lowndes – who split the game in goal – managed to keep out an impressive 53 of the shots that they faced.

The game saw a senior NIHL debut for Dragons Junior Ruben Price and a Deeside debut for summer signing Callum O’Reilly.  Lucas Betts – making only his second senior start - was named MVP for Deeside.

The D2 Dragons are without a game this weekend and are next in action on Sunday 4^th October when they make the long trip to Billingham. They are next at home over the weekend of 10^th & 11^th October when they have back to back home games against Coventry and Sutton.

Match Report: Deeside Dragons U16 Girls 3 - Leeds U16 Girls 3 (U16 Girls North Division)

Lucy Kolisek was the
Dragons Girls MVP
(Photo by Katy Lennon) 

Saturday 19^th September 2026 – U16 Girls North: Deeside Dragons U16 Girls 3 – Leeds U16 Girls 3

The Deeside Dragons Under 16 Girls team opened their season with a 3-3 home draw with Leeds at Deeside Leisure Centre on Saturday.

The Dragons raced to a 3-0 lead in the first period with goals from Niamh Walsh (2) and Ella Mitchell but Leeds pegged them back in the second to level at 3-3. A goal-less third period ensued and the game ended in a 3-3 draw. Lucy Kolisek was named MVP for the Dragons Girls and Savannah Morgan was Hardest Worker.

Due to a somewhat unbalanced fixture list, the Under 16 Girls now play a number of away games in a row - with Altrincham the next port of call on 4^th October for a match against Manchester Storm.

They then face SIX more away trips before their next home game which will take place on Saturday 13^th March when they entertain the Caledonia Iron Maidens at Deeside Leisure Centre.

Sledge Hockey 2026: Final Netminder Stats (Regular Season)

The Sheffield Steelkings won the league title at a trot and only conceded 4 goals in their 8 regular season games, so it was only to be expected that the Kings’ goalies would top the Netminding standings for the season.

Damien Barker finished on top of the pile with a highly impressive 1 goal conceded in over 180 minutes playing time, giving him an overall Goals Against Average of just 0.24 and a Save Percentage of 95.65.

Jonathan Gill shared the Kings netminding duties 50/50 across the season and he finished up in second place with 3 goals conceded for 0.77 GAA and 91.89 Sv%. 

The rest of the netminders were pretty closely matched, - all ending up on around 3 GAA, with the exception of over-worked Davina Hall in the Peterborough Phantoms goal who faced the most shots overall – 183 – and finished with 8.38.

With Barker and Gill sharing the goalie minutes in most matches, this led to a number of shared shut outs and, rather than going along the NHL route where shared shut outs don’t count, the BPIHA decided to adopt a more “inclusive” approach and recognise shared shut outs in the netminders’ playing records.

As things turned out, Bryan Hackworth of the Steelkings B team eventually topped the Shut Out standings with 3 clean sheets, with Damien Barker second with 2 2/3.

Manchester Mayhem’s Daniel Hartshorn picked up two shut outs - in the very first and very last games of the 2026 season - while Jonathan Gill and the Cardiff pairing of Dan Hutchinson and Nicole Hill also feature on the Shut Out list. 

Sledge Hockey 2026: Final Player Stats (Regular Season)

A total of 79 players took part in the 2026 BPIHL regular season making at least one appearance – with 47 of those scoring a goal or an assist.

Gary Farmer was, once again, the top overall points scorer in the 2026 BPIHL with 14 goals and 13 assists from his 8 games with runaway champions Sheffield Steelkings.  His team-mate Daniel Clarke finished in second place with 10+14 from 8 while Cardiff’s Tyler Christopher finished third with 11+10, having only played in 6 games.

Farmer’s 14 goals made him top goalscorer with Steelkings B’s Jurrian Raa coming second with 12 and Tyler Christopher third with 11. Daniel Clarke was the leading playmaker with his 14 assists, closely followed by Farmer on 13 and the Stings’ Jake Oakley on 12.

Oakley topped the Penalty standings 22 PIM – the only player to pick up a major misconduct penalty during the season. Manchester Mayhem’s Dean Lahan finished second with 8 PIM and 5 players tied for third place with 4 each.

Each of the 5 teams gave league debuts to new players – many of whom were playing their first ever season of Para Ice Hockey. The most notable of these newbies was Max Phillips-Brant of Sheffield Steelkings who scored 3 goals and 3 assists in 8 games and earned a call up to the GB team for the Ukraine tournament.

Ashley Mason scored 2+5 in his debut season with the Steelkings B team while Jurrian Raa – admittedly already an experienced player from the Dutch league - finished 7^th in the overall scoring standings with 12+2, also playing for the Stings.

Wild Women Prepare For First Game

Wild Women's Eleanor Johnson - Photo by Gary Johnson

The Widnes Wild Women have put the finishing touches to their roster for the 2026/27 WNIHL season with a number of returning players and some new signings.

Experienced defender Laura Bibby is back for her 4^th season with the Wild, having previously played 7 seasons with Oxford and Eleanor Johnson is also back for her 4^th season with the Wild Women on a two way arrangement with the new Deeside Dragons team.

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.

This is a great help for the young players getting experience of playing a higher level of hockey and -  obviously - has knock on benefits for their respective clubs as well.

Tayla Huxley–Richards – who had a superb first season in Division 1 last year, scoring 5 goals – is also back on a two-away agreement with Division 2 Manchester Storm and Maggie Whitmore returns on a 2-way with Telford Wrekin Raiders. Jennifer Greenwood, Eva Gibson, Nicola Wallace and Grace Teinert also return to the Wild Women for the new season. 

The Wild Women also have two additional netminders to share duties with Stephanie Drinkwater. Isabel Bateson played one game for the Wild Women last season but spent the rest of the season at Oxford and Natalie Hammond is a newcomer, having played last season for Blackburn Hawks in Division 2 North.

*****

The Widnes Wild Women play their first game of the new 2026/27 season this Sunday when they take on Nottingham Vipers at Planet Ice Widnes, 4.25pm face off.

Despite having finished bottom of the Division1 North table last season, the plucky Wild Women are back in the higher division for another go at the same level and will be keen to improve on their record from last season of 2 wins from their 20 league games.

While that may not sound very impressive, the home win over Nottingham in January was, in fact,  the first time that the Wild Women had picked up a victory at WPL level since December 2017 and their final tally of two wins was their best in the higher division since the 2016/17 season.

The Edinburgh-based Caledonia Steel Queens will be missing from Division1 North this season as they won promotion to the Women’s Elite League via the play offs and their place had been taken by Whitley Bay Beacons who played in Division 2 North last season.

The other opposition in Division 1 North this season will be provided by Nottingham Vipers, Solway Sharks, Sheffield Shadows and Kingston (Hull) Diamonds with team playing each other twice at home and twice away for a 20-game season

The complete Wild Women fixture list for 2026/27 is as follows:

•  20th Sept: home v Nottingham Vipers
• 27^th Sept: home v Whitley Bay Beacons
• 10^th Oct: away @ Nottingham Vipers
• 18^th Oct: home v Solway Sharks
• 29^th Nov:  away @ Sheffield Shadows
• 6^th Dec: home v Solway Sharks
• 20^th Dec: away @ Nottingham Vipers
• 16^th Jan: away @ Solway Sharks
• 24^th Jan: home v Whitley Bay Beacons
• 30^th Jan:  away @ Solway Sharks
• 7^th Feb: away @ Whitley Bay Beacons
• 21^st Feb: away @ Sheffield Shadows
• 27^th Feb: home v Kingston Diamonds (Saturday!)
• 21^st Mar: away @ Whitley Bay Beacons
• 11^th Apr:  home v Kingston Diamonds
• 18^th Apr: home v Nottingham Vipers
• 25^th Apr: home v Sheffield Shadows
• 2^nd May: away @ Kingston Diamonds
• 9^th May: away @ Kingston Diamonds
• 16^th May: home v Sheffield Shadows

Match Report: Deeside D1 Dragons 12 - Sheffield Scimitars2 2 (NIHL Moralee Division)

Jake Witkowski scored 6 goals against Sheffield (Photo by Emilia Roberts Photography)

Sunday 13^th September 2026 – NIHL Moralee Division: Deeside D1 Dragons 12 – Sheffield Scimitars 2

The Deeside D1 Dragons opened their 2026/27 Moralee Division season with a 12-2 win over Sheffield Scimitars at Deeside Leisure Centre on Sunday.

The Scimitars D1 team have been the whipping boys in the Moralee Division for the past few seasons and, with Deeside tipped to be challenging for honours again this season, this game was always likely to be a bit one-sided.

It took just 59 seconds of the first period for last season’s record breaking scorer Jake Witkowski to find the back of the net and a goal from Theo Malone 25 seconds later and then a second for Witkowski on 11 minutes saw the Dragons comfortably ahead.

Sheffield pulled a goal back but two more within 10 seconds of each other on 17 minutes – from Matty Barlow and Witkowski for his hat-trick - saw the Dragons leading 5-1 at the first period break.

The second period went pretty much the same way, with two more goals from Witkowksi edging Deeside further ahead before Sheffield pulled another goal back.

With just 5 seconds left in the period, summer signing Kane Morin scored his first goal for the Dragons and they led 8-2 at the second interval.

Jace Gledhill took over in goal from Curtis Warburton and the Dragons went on to out-shoot the Scimitars by a massive 22 to 7 in the final 20 minutes.  Gledhill turned away all 7 shots that he faced and the “goal-rush” continued with strikes from Ross Kennedy, Jake Witkowski (his 6^th of the game), Colin Cromie and then a second for Theo Malone with 5 seconds left on the clock.

The D1 Dragons are at home again this Sunday 20^th September when they take on Leeds Knights at Deeside Leisure Centre, 5.15pm face off.

The new Deeside Dragons women’s team will be keen to continue their winning start to the season on Sunday when they travel to Hull and Back to face Kingston Diamonds in their first ever away game, 12.40 (noon) face off.

Mayhem Take Silver At Play Offs

Mayhem team at Play Offs (Photo by Lee White)

The Mayhem sledge team won the silver medal at the British Para Ice Hockey League play offs at Lee Valley over the weekend, after losing 5-0 – to Sheffield Steelkings in the final on Sunday. 

The semi finals on Saturday had seen league champions Sheffield Steelkings A easily sweep aside Cardiff Huskies 11-3 and then the Mayhem beat the Sheffield B team 0-4 in a much closer game. 

Anton Tomlinson opened the scoring for the Mayhem in the first period and two goals from Karl Nicholson saw them leading 0-3 at first break.  The second period played out goal-less and a hat-trick strike from Nicholson in the third saw the Mayhem progress to the final for the first since 2017.

Dan Hartshorn put in a superb display in the Mayhem goal to keep the “Stings” attack at bay, picking up his third shut-out of the season and Peggy Assinck was named Mayhem MVP.

The gold medal game against the Steelkings A team on Sunday was a different kettle of fish altogether. The Kings had dominated the league competition, easily winning the title with a 100% record.  They had shut out the Mayhem in both of their league encounters – winning 10-0 in Sheffield and 0-3 in Widnes – and were clearly odds-on favourites. 

And the game went to league form - the Mayhem team played their hearts out and didn’t give up until the final buzzer but it was not to be on the day.

While it is always disappointing to lose, this is the first time that the Mayhem have won the silver medal and it is their best performance at the play offs since they won the crown back in 2017.

In the 9 years since they formed as the Mayhem, they have won 1 gold, 1 silver and four bronze medals at the end of season jamboree.

Sledge Hockey 2026: Play Offs Weekend (12th & 13th September)

Double double winners Sheffield Steelkings (Photo by T Barber Photography) 

The Sheffield Steelkings A team won the British Para Ice Hockey League Play Off title for an unprecedented fourth time in a row after beating Manchester Mayhem 5-0 in the final at Lee Valley on Sunday.

They add the play off crown to the league title that they have already won this season, representing their second league and play off “double” in consecutive years.

The Steelkings got the weekend off to a flying start, beating Cardiff Huskies 11-3 in the first semi final on Saturday. The other semi final saw the Manchester Mayhem shut out the other Sheffield team - the Steelkings B (known as the “Stings”) – 0-4 to reach the final for the first time since 2017.

The third place game on Sunday saw the Cardiff beat the Stings 3-2 to deprive the Sheffield development side of their first ever play off medal.

Saturday 12^th September

• SF1:  Sheffield Steelkings 11 – Cardiff Huskies 3
• SF2: Sheffield Steelkings B 0 – Manchester Mayhem 4

Sunday 13^th September:

• 3^rd:  Sheffield Steelkings B 2 – Cardiff Huskies 3
• F: Sheffield Steelkings 5 – Manchester Mayhem 0

Match Report: Deeside D2 Dragons 5 - Sheffield Scimitars2 6 - OTL (NIHL Laidler Division)

Cameron Kushnirenko was the D2 Dragons' MVP against Sheffield (Photo by Maxine Roscoe)

Saturday 12^th September 2026 – NIHL Laidler Division: Deeside D2 Dragons 5 – Sheffield Scimitars2 6 (OTL)

The Deeside D2 Dragons narrowly lost their first home game of the new season with a frustrating 5-6 over time loss to Sheffield Scimitars at Deeside Leisure Centre on Saturday.

The game saw a senior NIHL debut for youngster Lucas Betts - who is also playing for the Dragons U19 team this season - and a D2 Dragons debut for long-standing Deeside legend Marc Lovell who has been tempted out of retirement to add some extra experience to this youthful development side.

Deeside had the better of the first period and led 4-2 at the first break thanks to goals from James Parsons, Cameron Kushnirenko, Shannon Lingwood and a debut strike from another summer signing, Oli Howells.

Sheffield drew level during a penalty-rich second period and the score stood at 4-4 heading into the final 20 minutes.  Deeside edged ahead again with Parsons’ second goal of the game on 45 minutes but, despite having a couple of powerplay opportunities, they were not able to press on and finish the game off.

Sheffield drew level again with just 82 seconds left on the clock and then went on to win the game 2.51 into sudden death overtime.

Sheffield receive two league points for the OT win while Deeside get one point for having been level at the end of regulation time.

The D2 Dragons are next in action this Saturday 19^th September when they travel to face defending league champions Sutton Sting at iceSheffield. 

They are away again when they make the long trip to Billingham on 4^th October and are next at home over the weekend of 10^th & 11^th October when they have back to back home games against Coventry and Sutton.

Mayhem Play Offs Preview

The Mayhem team after their recent win away at Peterborough (Photo by Rox Photography)

The Mayhem sledge team are heading down to London this weekend to take part in the British Para Ice Hockey League end of season play offs.

The top four finishers in the league have qualified for the event, which takes place at the Lee Valley Ice Centre in east London and features four matches over Saturday and Sunday.

The two semi finals on Saturday are seeded, meaning that league champions Sheffield Steelkings A will play fourth place finishers Cardiff Huskies in the first game that faces off at 2.15pm.

The Mayhem – who finished in third place in the league table - will play runners up Steelkings B (the “Stings”) in the second semi-final at 5pm.

The Steelkings A team won the league title by some distance, winning all 8 of their league games and only conceding just 4 goals in total, so they would have to be firm favourites for winning their fourth play off title in a row – and second consecutive league and play off double.

The Kings beat Cardiff 4-1 at home and 1-5 away in their two league meetings this season so the Huskies will have to put in an inspirational performance if they are to win through to Sunday’s final.

The other semi final looks to be more evenly matched with just 1 goal separating the Mayhem and the Stings in their two games from the regular season.  The Mayhem beat the Stings 1-3 up in the Steel City before succumbing 0-4 at home in Widnes at the end of July.

The winners of the two semi finals will progress to the Play Off final, which faces off at 5pm on Sunday, with the two losing teams meeting in the earlier third place game, starting at 2.15pm.

Manchester Mayhem official website:  www.manchestermayhem.co.uk

For more information about the British Para Ice Hockey League, check out the official website at www.paraicehockey.co.uk 

Wild Women Add To Roster

Katie Adshead (Photo by David Law Photography)

The Widnes Wild Women continue to assemble their roster for the forthcoming 2026/27 WNIHL season in Division 1 North with the re-signing of several more members of last season’s Division 1 team.

Katie Adshead returns for her 8th season with the Wild team, having originally joined for the 2018/19 season. She has notched up 93 matches in that time, scoring 3 goals and 8 assists with 28 penalty minutes and was a key member of both the 2019/20 and 2024/25 title winning seasons.

As well as being Assistant Coach and Assistant Manager, Suzie Miller also returns to the Wild Women for her 7^th season as a player. To date she has played 76 games and contributed 4 assists from her defensive role.

Jennifer Hickey joined the Wild Women for the 2021/22 season and has played in 77 games overall. In her 4 seasons to date, she has contributed 7 goals and 14 assists and picked up just 10 penalty minutes.

Victoria Connelly is back for her fifth season as a Widnes player. She is a former Guildford Lightning Elite player, previously playing for the Bracknell Fire Bees and has made 38 appearances for the Wild Women over the past 4 seasons, scoring 8 goals and 6 assists. 

Ontario-born Lise Gillen brings a wealth of experience having played 3 seasons for the Guildford Lightning in the Women’s Elite League, as well as playing in her native Canada. She has played 40 games for Widnes over the past 4 seasons, scoring 17 goals and 13 assists.

The Wild Women start their league campaign in women’s Division 1 North on Sunday 20^th September when they take on Nottingham Vipers at Planet Ice Widnes, 4.25pm face off.

Match Report: Nottingham Lions 2 - Deeside D2 Dragons 4 (NIHL Laidler Division)

Leo Hyman
(Photo by Paul Breeze)

Sunday 6^th September 2026 – NIHL Laidler Division: Nottingham Lions 2 - Deeside D2 Dragons 4

The Deeside D2 Dragons got their new NIHL Laidler Division season off to a winning start on Sunday with a 2-4 victory away to Nottingham Lions.

They trailed to an early goal but fought back to take the win with goals from Charlie Spridgeon, Oliver Massey and two from James Parsons.  Netminder Leo Hyman was named MVP for the Dragons.

(Note: awaiting full gamesheet information...)

The D2 Dragons are at home this Saturday 12^th September when they play the Sheffield Scimitars Division 2 team (previously known as the Sheffield Titans) at Deeside Leisure Centre. The game has a later than usual face-off time of 6.30pm.

Deeside Dragons v Telford Tigers Pre-Season Weekend

New Deeside netminder Curtis Warburton (Photo by Keith & Jenny Davies)

Saturday 5^th September 2026 – Challenge Match: Telford Tigers 2 - Deeside D1 Dragons 5

Sunday 6^th September 2026 – Challenge Match: Deeside D1 Dragons 4 - Telford Tigers 1

The Deeside D1 Dragons opened their season with back to back challenge match victories over fierce rivals Telford Tigers over the weekend, winning 2-5 away in Shropshire on Saturday and 4-1 at home at Deeside Leisure Centre on Sunday.

The away game on Saturday saw Dragons debuts for summer signings Curtis Warburton, Kane Morin and Lewis Baldwin and also call-ups for D2 Dragons players Lewis Edward and Ben Roscoe.

Deeside took the lead with a goal from Noah Percival on 5 minutes and the score remained 0-1 at the first period break.

Matty Barlow edged the Dragons further ahead 2 minutes into the second period and further goals from Damarni James, Colin Cromie and Ross Kennedy saw them leading 0-5 at the halfway point of the game.

In comparison to some of last year’s tempestuous meetings between the two teams, this was a relatively tame encounter but Telford eventually got going and scored a goal of their own on 36 minutes, leaving the score at 1-5 at the second interval.

The Tigers scored the only goal of the third period on 55 minutes and the game finished 2-5 to the Dragons.

Deeside outshot Telford by 48 to 32 over the 60 minutes and new netminder Warburton put in an impressive display, keeping out all 10 of the shots that he faced before handing over to Jace Gledhill half way through the game.

Sunday’s return match started off with a goal-less first period and the deadlock was eventually broken with a Colin Cromie goal 70 seconds into the second period. 

A second goal from the same player 4 minutes later doubled the Dragons advantage but Telford pressure was eventually rewarded with a goal on 27 minutes.

Summer signing Ryan Wardell took over in goal from Curtis Warburton at the half way stage to make his Dragons debut and went to record a half “shut out” as he turned away all 15 shots that he faced.

Damarni James scored for the second game in a row on 35 minutes and the Dragons led 3-1 at the second interval.  The only goal of the third period came from the stick of Dragons’ U18 GB international Theo Malone to hand Deeside a 4-1 victory.

The competitive league season starts this Sunday 13th September for the D1 Dragons as they take on Sheffield Scimitars in the NIHL Moralee Division at Deeside Leisure Centre, 5.15pm face off.

Deeside Dragons Women's First League Game

Deeside Dragons women's team play their first ever game (Photo by Adam Bassett)

Saturday 5^th September 2026 – WNIHL Div 2 N: Deeside Dragons Women 13 – Leeds Thorns 1

The Deeside Dragons women’s team opened their debut league campaign with a comprehensive 13-1 victory over Leeds Thorns at Deeside Leisure Centre on Saturday.

It has been 16 years since a women’s team last played out of the north Wales rink and it was rather fitting that the first goal of this new era was scored by former Flintshire Furies player – now Dragons player coach - Emma Pearson after 6 minutes and 21 seconds of the first period.

Further goals followed – from Niamh Walsh, Charlotte McAdam and Lucy Kirkham – and the Dragons Women led 4-0 at the first period break.

The visiting Leeds team put in a spirited performance but were no match for Deeside and the Dragons scored two more goals – from Grace Taylor on 24 minutes and McAdam again on 29 – before they managed to find the back of the net for the only time of the game on 33 minutes.

Deeside responded quickly with a goal from Ava Langford just 50 seconds later, a strike from Alicia Smith on 36 minutes and a hat-trick goal for Mc Adam with just 53 seconds left in the period.  The Dragons took a 9-1 lead into the second interval and looked well in control.

The third period continued in similar vein with Deeside well on top and outshooting the visitors by some 3 to 1 overall. Goals from Teagan Walsh, Niamh Walsh, Ava Langford and Lucy Kirkham rounded off the scoring for the game and the Dragons women were able to celebrate their maiden league victory.

Chloe Smith was the Dragons Women's MVP against Leeds (Photo by Paul Breeze)

Despite being the less busy of the two netminders, Chloe Smith put in a solid performance in the Deeside goal in her fist ever senior WNIHL game, narrowly missed out on getting a shut out and was named MVP for her sterling efforts. The MVP award for Leeds went to Grace Eggett.

Talking afterwards about the game, Dragons player coach and overall Women’s Lead at Deeside, Emma Pearson said:

“Yesterday was an incredible start to the first ever season for the Dragons women's team. There hasn't been a women's team at Deeside for around 16 years and to see all the people who came down to support us was just amazing.”

“We had a lot of under 16s and girls who have just turned 16 icing and that was the main reason why we wanted to set the team up. We want them to have somewhere to progress to and to help keep them in the sport after they turn 16. I'm very proud of the team and what we have achieved so far.”

The full Deeside squad for this historic first league game was:

Chloe Smith (NM), Ava Langford, Emma Pearson (Player/ Coach) , Lucy Kirkham (C) , Grace Taylor, Sophie Royle, Jessica Petley, Autumn Lennon, Niamh Walsh, Teagan Walsh, Alicia Smith, Katie Jenkinson, Jenny Wild, Eleanor Johnson, Charlotte McAdam, Emily Davies, Lana Botes.

Bench Coaches: Phil Pearson, Gary Shaw, Dave Clancy & Stewart Cutting,

Match Officials: George Perrett & Adam Hedges

 

The Dragons women’s team have three away games in a row now – at Kingston (Hull) Diamonds on 20^th September, Manchester Storm on 3^rd October and Nottingham Vipers on 10^th October.  They are next at home on Saturday 17^th October when they take on Kingston at Deeside Leisure Centre, 6.30pm face off.

 

The full list of fixtures for the Dragons Women’s 2026/27 WNIHL season is as follows:

• Sat 5^th Sept: Home v Leeds Thorns (won 13-1)
• Sun 20^th Sep: Away @ Kingston Diamonds
• Sat 3rd Oct: Away @ Manchester Storm
• Sat 10^th Oct: Away @ Nottingham Vipers
• Sat 17^th Oct: Home v Kingston Diamonds - 6.30pm
• Sat 31st Oct: Home v Whitley Bay Beacons - 6pm
• Sun 8^th Nov: Away @ Nottingham Vipers
• Sat 14^thNov: Away @ Manchester Storm
• Sat 28^th Nov: Away @ Whitley Bay Beacons (at Dumfries)
• Sun 6^th Dec: Away @ Leeds Thorns
• Sun 10^th Jan: Away @ Kingston Diamonds
• Sat 6^th Feb: Home v Leeds Thorns - 5.45pm
• Sat 13^th Feb: Home v Nottingham Vipers - 6pm
• Sat 20^th Mar: Home v Whitley Bat Beacons - 6.15pm
• Sat 3rd April: Away @ Whitley Bay Beacons (at Dumfries)
• Sat 10^th April: Home v Kingston Diamonds - 6pm
• Sat 17^th Apr: Home v Manchester Storm - 6pm
• Sat 24^th Apr: Home v Manchester Storm - 6pm
• Sat 1^st May: Home v Nottingham Vipers - 6pm
• Sat 15^th May: Away @ Leeds Thorns