Match Report: Widnes Wild Women 1 – Nottingham Vipers 8 ( WNIHL Division 1 North)

Charlotte McAdam was the Wild Women's MVP against Nottingham (Photo by Paul Breeze)

Sunday 3^rd May 2026 – WNIHL Division 1 North: Widnes Wild Women 1 – Nottingham Vipers 8

The Widnes Wild women’s team rounded off their rollercoaster Division 1 season with a keenly contested and highly entertaining 1-8 defeat to Nottingham Vipers at Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday.

The game saw a WNIHL debut for Grace Teinert and a welcome return for experienced player Jennifer Greenwood, who had missed most of the season through injury.

Despite the eventual scoreline, this was far from being a one-sided game and featured plenty of end to end hockey with lots of chances for both sides.

The Wild Women actually took the lead in the 3^rd minute with a well-taken goal from former Belgium international player Leen de Decker. 

This was important, not only as it opened the scoring for the home team, but it also saw off the spectre of a record breaking goal-less spell that had been hovering since the Wild Women had been shut out in their two previous games.  Back in the 2021/22 season – which was the last time that they had played at this higher Division 1 / WPL level – they managed to go three games in a row without scoring at all and went 208 minutes and 48 seconds in total without a goal across 5 games.

De Decker’s goal against Nottingham at 2.52 on Sunday meant that the current season’s goal drought only amounted to 159 minutes and 32 seconds, and another unwanted record was happily averted.

Unfortunately, the lead only lasted 21 seconds as Nottingham immediately equalised and then fired themselves in front just 13 seconds after that.

The rest of the period played out goal-less - with Widnes giving as good as they got – and the score remained 1-2 at the first break.

The second period started badly for the Wild Women as Nottingham edged further ahead just 54 seconds in and went on to score 3 more unanswered goals to lead 1-6 at the second interval.

The game got scrappier as it went on – with Nottingham adopting an unnecessarily robust approach on a number of occasions - and both sides picked up niggly penalties, which affected the ebb and flow.  

The Vipers scored again 13 seconds into the third period and added their 8^th goal on 56 minutes. This was an odd one as the same player who scored the goal was also handed a 2 minute misconduct penalty at the same time – a rather rare occurrence.

Widnes had a powerplay opportunity in the dying seconds but were unable to end the game with a flourish and the match finished at 1-8 to the visitors.

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 the Wild Women General Manager Karyn Cooper and went to Jemma Dilley for Nottingham and Charlotte McAdam for Widnes.

Sunday’s result means that the Wild Women finish the season in 6^th place out of 6 teams in Division 1 with two wins from their 20 league games – two wins more than they achieved the previous time that they played at that level.

Rhys Edwards Is Dragons Player Of The Month For March

This is a bit late due to the play-offs and other goings on but we are pleased to announce that the Deeside Dragons Player of the Month for March was Rhys Edwards.

Rhys played in all 8 of the Dragons games during the month of March – 6 league games and two play-off quarter finals – scoring 4 goals and 10 assists.  He also picked up 15 penalty minutes.

Rhys was presented with his award at the Dragons Presentation Evening by assistant coaches Steve Hirst and Matt Compton.

Previous winners of the monthly award this season have been:

• September: Matty Barlow
• October: Colin Cromie
• November: Jake Witkowski
• December: Ross Kennedy
• January: Jared Dickinson
• February: MJ Clancy

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

D1 Dragons Presentation Evening

The Deeside D1 Dragons team held their End Of Season Presentation Evening at the Connah’s Quay Civic Hall on Friday evening.

The annual event is always very popular with fans and players alike as it enables everybody involved with the club to come together in a relaxed environment and celebrate the season.

The Player awards were:

• Top Points – Jake Witkowski
• Players’ Player Of The Season – Colin Cromie
• Coaches’ Player Of The Season – Ethan Mayoh
• Young Player of the Season – Tyler de la Bertouche
• Supporters’ Player of the Season – Tyler de la Bertouche

Two new awards were introduced for this season:

The Marc Lovell Trophy – awarded to the best “team player” – went to Ross Kennedy

and the Peter Sheffield Memorial Shield - in memory of the long term Dragons photographer and media man who tragically died in November 2024 - for the unsung hero of the year, and this was awarded to team captain Jared Dickinson.

A special “Man Of Steel” award was presented to the 4 players who had taken part in all 49 of the Dragons games over the course of the season (36 Moralee Division, 2 preseason challenge, 2 Welsh Cup, 4 Moralee Cup knockout, 4 Moralee Play Off knockout, 1 Moralee Play Off final) and these went to Ethan Mayoh, Jake Witkowski, Colin Cromie and Ross Kennedy.

Supporters also received the “own and loan” playing shirts that they had sponsored during the season and were able to take photos with their favourite players.

Dragons Players To Play In Bradford Charity Game For Blood Cancer UK

Deeside Dragons' Damarni James (Photo by Adam Bassett)

There is yet more charity ice hockey on offer next weekend as Dragons players Matty Barlow, Rhys Edwards and Damarni James will all be playing in a charity game at Bradford on Saturday 9^th May in aid of Blood Cancer UK.

The game is part of Bradford Ice Rink’s 60th anniversary celebrations and will feature a number of current and former Bulldogs players. 

All three players learned their early hockey at Bradford – who have a highly respected junior development programme – and also played for the Bulldogs in the Laidler Division. Interestingly enough, they then also all spent time at Widnes before joining the Dragons for this season.

The game on Saturday faces off at 4.45pm with doors opening at 4pm. Tickets are Adults £5, OAPS/Students £3 and Under 16s £1 - and spectators can pay on the door.

There will be a raffle, 50-50 draw, Chuck-a-Puck plus plenty of other ways for spectators to donate to the charity.

You can find out more in the run-up to the charity game on the Bradford Bulldogs Facebook page HERE

Blood Cancer UK website HERE

Dragons Players At Rob Craig Charity Game

Deeside's James Parsons at the Rob Craig Memorial game (Photo by @_jiminal)

Deeside was well represented at the annual Rob Craig Memorial match thst took place at Blackburn Arena on Sunday, featuring a wide range of current and former NIHL league players, along with recreational players from various north west clubs.

The game is played every year in memory of former Blackburn recreational player Rob Craig who took his own life in 2017 and aims to raise funds and awareness for mental health charities.

A healthy crowd of over 1000 cheered the teams on and they were treated to an entertaining goal-fest worthy of the occasion.

The “Blue” team included current D2 Dragons player/coach James Parsons while Marc Lovell and Ethan Mayoh played on the “Black” team.  Dragons Assistant Coach Steve Hirst made up the Deeside contingent by running the Black team’s bench for the game.

The money raised from this year’s event will go to the CALM Zone (Campaign Against Living Miserably). Co-organiser – and Team Blue bench coach for the game - Wez Spurrett said:

“We aren’t finished with our fundraising yet as we have the jersey auction to go, but it’s on plan to beat our record last year of £12,700.”

For the record, Team Black beat Team Blue 14-10 but, on this occasion, the taking part was certainly much more important than the winning.

You can see lots more great match photos from Jiminal - and keep up with the latest fundraising news - on the Rob Craig Memorial Game's Facebook Page HERE  

And find out more about the Calm Zone charity HERE

Dragonettes On England Duty

Deeside players with the runners up trophy (Photo by Katy Lennon)

Four Deeside players were in the England Under 13 girls team that came second in the Lions Easter Cup tournament at Most in the Czech Republic.

Violet Lennon, Poppy Ward and Hallie Morgan all play for the Dragons Under 16 Girls team while Ava Crumbie actually plays for the Billingham girls team but also for the Dragons U14 mixed side as well. The Deeside contingent was completed by Katy Lennon as team manager. 

It was quite a test for the England girls as the tournament was classed as Under 14, so most of the opposing players were older than they were.

In the group games, Team England beat Frisk Asker from Norway 5-1 - with both Morgan and Crumbie scoring a goal each - and the Czech Foxes from Vysocina 2-0, with Crumbie scoring the second goal and Ward getting an assist on the first.

They lost their other group game 4-0 to another Czech team – the Warriors from Brno.

Team England then beat the Vysocina Foxes in the semi final 3-2 – with Poppy Ward scoring the opening goal and Crumbie firing in the winner. In the final, the girls met the Warriors again but this was a much closer game, as they only very narrowly lost 2-1.

Ava Crumbie finished the tournament as England’s top scorer with 3 goals and 1 assist. Poppy Ward got 1+1 and Hallie Morgan 1+0 - and they both received Player of the Match awards. 

Violet Lennon put in a number of superb displays in the England goal and had the distinction of being named netminder of the tournament.

You can see the full results and player stats from the tournament HERE

Deeside Dragons Presentation Evening This Friday

The Deeside D1 Dragons club are holding their annual End of Season Presentation Evening this Friday 1^st May at the Connah’s Quay Civic Hall.

The event will enable, players, fans, team staff, club volunteers and sponsors to come together and celebrate a successful season that saw the Dragons win two cups and finish as runners-up in both the league and the play-offs.

A number of player awards will be presented and supporters will be able to receive the “own and loan” playing shirts that they have sponsored during the season.

Tickets for the Presentation Evening cost £10 for adults and £5 for children and must be bought in advance via the Dragons website HERE  

Match Report: Caledonia Steel Queens 23 – Widnes Wild Women 0 (WNIHL Div 1 North)

Stephanie Drinkwater
was Widnes MVP
away at Caledonia
(Photo by Nicola Cawthorne)

Saturday 25^th April 2026 – WNIHL Div 1 North: Caledonia Steel Queens 23 – Widnes Wild Women 0

The Widnes Wild Women were trounced 23-0 by league title hopefuls Caledonia Steel Queens away in Edinburgh on Saturday. 

The Widnes team travelled to Scotland rather short on numbers and had just 11 skaters and 1 netminder. The minimum player requirement for a game to go ahead is 10+1 and the maximum allowed on a bench is 20+2. 

Caledonia iced 20 players in total, giving them an almost 2 to 1 advantage in playing numbers and energy levels and, not surprisingly, they won this game at a light trot.

It actually took the Steel Queens 4 minutes before they opened the scoring but, once they did, the floodgates opened. Four more goals quickly followed within a 2 minute period and the game was effectively over as a contest after just 7 minutes of play.

Caledonia led 9-0 at the first break, 17-0 at the second break and 6 more goals were added in the final period.

The league’s most overworked netminder Stephanie Drinkwater faced an incredible 106 shots over the 60 minute game and, to her credit, turned away 83 of them - registering a 78.30 Save Percentage.

The 23-0 defeat is one for the record books as it beats Widnes’ previous highest losing margin of 21-0 at the hands of the Bristol Huskies in the 2021/22 WPL season.

The Wild Women’s rollercoaster Division 1 season comes to a close this Sunday 3^rd May when they entertain Nottingham Vipers at Planet Ice Widnes, 4.25pm face off. 

Widnes have already beaten Nottingham once earlier in the season and will be hoping to go out on a high note.

Match Report: Whitley Bay U16G 14 - Deeside Dragons U16G 0 (WNIHL Under 16 Girls North)

Deeside Dragons Under 16 Girls team (Photo by Rachael Feather)

Saturday 25^th April 2026 – WNIHL Under 16 Girls North: Whitley Bay U16G 14 - Deeside Dragons U16G 0

The Deeside Dragons Under 16 girls team’s slender chances of winning the league title were dashed after a 14-0 defeat away to league leaders Whitley Bay on Saturday.

Whitley were by far the stronger team, with a 100% record for the season so far, and were on top from the very start.

The result means that Whitley have secured their third league title in a row and the Dragonettes will finish the season as runners-up, which is still a superb achievement in only their second year of competition.

The top two teams will take part in the end of season play off weekend in Sheffield from 23^rd to 25^th May where they will play against the top two finishers from the U16 League South to decide a national champion.

The Dragons girls have another trip to Sheffield before that, however, as they take on the Sheffield Shadows U16s on Saturday 9^th May in their last game of the regular season.

Deeside Dragons Players Win End Of Season Awards

The Deeside D1 and D2 Dragons have been well represented in the end of season player awards organised by the NIHL North Updates organisation, who ran a fans’ poll via their social media pages, with Dragons players claiming an impressive 9 of the 18 awards on offer across both the Moralee (D1) and Laidler (D2) Divisions.

Leading the way was Dragons’ record points scorer Jake Witkowski, who carried off both the Forward Of The Year and the Season’s Most Valuable Player awards for the Moralee Division

Tyler de la Bertouche was named as D1 Goaltender of the Year and Ross Kennedy was Most Valuable Player in the Play Offs.

Young Dan Fadajevs, who has played for both the D1 and D2 Dragons this season was named as Most Under-Rated Player in the Moralee Division and long-term Dragons favourite James Parsons - who is now a player coach with the D2 Dragons - was given the Sportsmanship Award.

Finn Ogden was named as the Most Valuable Player in the Play Offs in the Laidler Division and the Dragons achieved a clean sweep in the Tough Guy category with Damarni James and Karl Bacon winning the D1 and D2 votes respectively.

The full list of winners in the 2026 NIHL North Updates Awards is:  

• Underrated Player D1: Daniels Fadejevs, Deeside Dragons
• Underrated Player D2: Noah Barnes, Sheffield Titans
• Tough Guy D1: Damarni James, Deeside Dragons
• Tough Guy D2: Karl Bacon, Deeside Dragons
• Young Player Of The Year D1: Alex Rushby, Nottingham Lions
• Young Player Of The Year D2: Harry Roebuck, Sheffield Titans
• Sportsmanship Award D1: Zack Brown, Telford Tigers
• Sportsmanship Award D2: James Parsons, Deeside Dragons
• Goaltender Of The Year D1: Tyler de la Bertouche, Deeside Dragons
• Goaltender Of The Year D2: Ryan Wardell, Billingham Buccaneers
• Defenceman Of The Year D1: Sam Zajac, Blackburn Hawks
• Defenceman of the Year D2: Artem Pavlov, Billingham Buccaneers
• Forward Of The Year D1: Jake Witkowski, Deeside Dragons
• Forward Of The Year D2: Sam Dowd, Billingham Buccaneers
• Play Offs Most Valuable Player D1: Ross Kennedy, Deeside Dragons
• Play Offs Most Valuable Player D2: Finn Ogden, Deeside Dragons
• Season’s Most Valuable Player D1: Jake Witkowski, Deeside Dragons
• Season’s Most Valuable Player D2: Josh Milnes, Altrincham Aces

You can see the Awards panel’s comments in full about the various winners – and keep up with lots more NIHL North news - on the NIHL North Updates Facebook page HERE

Coach Clancy Gets GB Silver Medal

Deeside Dragons coach Dave Clancy with the GB Women's Silver Trophy at the World Championships  (Photo by Great Britain Ice Hockey)  

Deeside Dragons’ coach Dave Clancy has helped to guide the Great Britain women’s team to the silver medal at the IIHF World Championships in Spain.

Clancy has been an assistant coach with the GB women’s team for a number of years and was joined on the back room staff by Robyn Crebbin, who is the Dragons’ Sports Therapist.

The GB team beat the host nation 3-2, Korea 3-2 in overtime, Kazakhstan 3-1 and eventual tournament winners the Netherlands 1-0 in a thrilling penalty shoot out.  Their only defeat came at the hands of Latvia, to whom they lost 4-3 in overtime.

Team GB finished in 2^nd place in the overall table with 11 points from their 5 games, 2 points behind gold medal winners Netherlands, who actually won the same amount of matches but got extra points for regulation time victories.

The full GB Women’s World Championship Schedule was:

IIHF Women’s World Championship – Div I Group B – Puigcerda, Spain

• 12th April: Korea 2 – Great Britain 3
• 13th April: Great Britain 3 – Spain 2
• 15th April:  Latvia 4 – Great Britain 3
• 17th April: Great Britain 1 - Netherlands 0
• 18th April: Great Britain 3 - Kazakhstan 1

You can see all the results, game reports and player stats from the Women’s World Championships in Spain on the IIHF website HERE

Match Report: Kingston Diamonds 11 Widnes Wild Women 0 (WNIHL Division 1 North)

Wild netminder Stephanie Drinkwater makes one of her many saves away to Kingston (Photo by Lois Tomlinson)

Sunday 19^th April 2026 – WNIHL Division 1 North: Kingston Diamonds 11 Widnes Wild Women 0

The Widnes Wild Women went to Hull and Back on Sunday, suffering an 11-0 defeat at the hands of league title favourites Kingston Diamonds.

The Wild Women had lost 16-0 on their last visit to Humberside back in February and also lost the two home fixtures 0-18 and 0-7 earlier in the season so, even with best will in the world, this latest encounter was only ever likely to go one way.

Kingston opened the scoring after just 60 seconds but Widnes actually put in a pretty solid performance in the first period and the score remained at 1-0 at the first break.

The hosts scored again on 23 minutes but the Wild Women still held firm and it wasn’t until two more quick goals went in within 15 seconds of each other on 28 minutes that they began to wobble.

Dee Vause was the Wild Women's
MVP away at Kingston
(Photo by Lois Tomlinson)

Another goal followed and the score stood at 5-0 at the second interval and 6 further unanswered strikes came in the third period which didn’t really do justice to the battling performance that the Wild Women had put in.

Netminder Stephanie Drinkwater actually turned away 62 of the 73 shots that she faced and, were it not for her heroics, in the Widnes goal, the score would undoubtedly have been much higher.

Ice hockey trivia fans might be interested to note that this was the Wild Women’s fourth shut-out of the season against the Kingston Diamonds – which may well be some sort of unwanted record.

The Wild Women have another difficult away trip ahead of them this Saturday 25^th April when they travel north of the border to face the league’s second place team, the Caledonia Steel Queens, in Edinburgh - 12.15 (noon..) face off .

They are next at home on Sunday 3^rd May when they take on Nottingham Vipers in their last game of the season at Planet Ice Widnes, 4.25pm face off.

Match Report: Deeside Dragons U16G 7 – Sheffield U16G 4 (WNIHL Under 16 Girls North)

Dragons' celebrations after the win over Sheffield (Photo by Rachael Feather)

Sunday 19^th April 2026 – WNIHL Under 16 Girls North: Deeside Dragons U16G 7 – Sheffield U16G 4

The Deeside Dragons Under 16 Girls team remain level on points with league leaders Whitley Bay after a 7-4 win over the Sheffield Shadows at Deeside Leisure Centre on Sunday.

Lana Botes opened the scoring for the Dragons just 85 seconds into the game but Sheffield equalised on 5 minutes.

Deeside hit straight back with three quick goals within 90 seconds of each other – from Poppy Ward, Botes again and Hallie Morgan – around the 6 minute mark to put some daylight between the two teams but Sheffield scored again on 10 minutes to leave the score standing at 4-2 at the first period break.

Sheffield pulled another goal back 3 minutes into the second period but a second goal of the game for Ward on 23 minutes re-established the two goal cushion for 5-3 at the second interval.

Lana Botes was the Dragons
MVP against Sheffield
(photo by Katy Lennon)

Deeside edged further ahead again with a goal from Grace Taylor on 32 minutes, only for Sheffield to pull another goal back 8 minutes later. A hat-trick goal for Poppy Ward in the dying seconds of the game rounded of the scoring for a 7-4 win for the Dragons.

With league leaders Whitley Bay having beaten Kingston Diamonds 22-0 on Humberside on Saturday, the Dragons remain tied on points with them at the top of the league table, although they have played a game more. 

The Deeside girls are away to Whitley this Saturday 25^th April for a crunch 1^st v 2^nd encounter and then travel to Sheffield on Saturday 9^th May to round off the regular season.

Dragons' Malone Gets GB Bronze In World Championships

The Great Britain Under 18 team celebrate their bronze medal at the World Championships in Romania (Photo by Great Britain Ice Hockey Facebook Page)

Deeside Dragons’ Theo Malone missed the play off weekend at Sheffield but he had a good excuse as he was away on international duty playing for the Great Britain Under 18 team at the World Championships in Romania.

The GB team beat the host nation 5-4 and Spain 4-1 but narrowly lost 0-1 against China, 3-2 to Croatia and 4-3 to Japan in the 6-team group.

Malone scored 1 goal in the win over Spain, got two assists each in the games against Romania and Croatia and one in the final game against eventual group winners Japan.

Team GB finished in 3rd place in the overall table – winning the bronze medal - with 6 points from their two wins, 6 points behind runners up China and 9 behind gold medal winners Japan, who won all 5 of their matches.

The full GB schedule was:

IIHF Under 18 World Championship - Div II Group A - Targu Secuiesc, Romania

• Sunday 12th April: Great Britain 5 – Romania 4
• Monday 13th April: Great Britain 0 - China 1
• Wednesday 15th April: Great Britain 4 – Spain 1
• Thursday 16th April: Croatia 3 - Great Britain 2
• Saturday 18th April: Japan 4 - Great Britain 3

You can see all the results, game reports and player stats from the Under 18 World Championships in Romania on the IIHF website HERE

Deeside Players To Take Part In Rob Craig Memorial Game

Dragons' Ethan Mayoh will be playing the Rob Craig Memorial game in aid of the Calm Zone mental health charity (Photo by Emilia Roberts Photography)

A number of Deeside players are to take part in this year’s Rob Craig Memorial charity game, which will be played at Blackburn on 26^th April.

The game is played every year in memory of former Blackburn recreational player Rob Craig who took his own life in 2017 and aims to raise funds and awareness for mental health charities.  

The Deeside contingent at this year’s game will include current D1 Dragons player Ethan Mayoh, along with long-term Dragons favourites James Parsons - who is now player coach with the D2 Dragons team - and Marc Lovell, who mainly coaches juniors nowadays but also made a few guest appearances for the D1 Dragons last season.

The memorial event is now in its 7th year, having been first staged in 2018 as a friendly match between groups of Craig’s former team mates, and it has become bigger every year as more people have wanted to become involved.

As the profile of the event has grown, more companies and sponsors have come on board and the game has been able to attract bigger player names to boost the team rosters.

Other notable players who will be involved this year include:

• Canadian-born Manchester Storm and GB international defenceman Dallas Erhardt
• Former Manchester Storm and GB international player Cameron Critchlow
• GB women’s player CJ Ashton
• Plus Adam Barnes, Jacob Lutwyche, James Riddoch and Aaron Davies from Blackburn Hawks.

More players will be added to the line up in the run up to the event and they will be spread across two teams to ensure an entertaining and competitive game.

Marc Lovell (Photo by
Keith & Jenny Davies)

Talking about taking part in the Rob Craig Memorial game this season, Marc Lovell sais:

“I am really looking forward to being part of this event. There are some great names involved and it will be fun to get out on the ice together, hopefully we will raise a good amount of money and awareness for a very worthy cause.”

The beneficiary of the 2026 Rob Craig Memorial game will be the CALM Zone (Campaign Against Living Miserably), a suicide prevention charity on a mission to help people end their misery, not their lives.

You can find out more about the Calm Zone via their website https://www.thecalmzone.net

Advance tickets for the game on 26^th April are now on sale via the Planet Ice Blackburn ticketing website at £5 for adults  and £3 for Under 16s HERE – or you can pay on the door.  

Match Report: Deeside Dragons Under 16 Girls 2 – Caledonia Iron Maidens 0 (WNIHL Under 16 Girls North)

Deeside Dragons U16 Girls at home to Caledonia (Photo by Rachael Feather)

Sunday 12^th April 2026 – WNIHL Under 16 Girls North: Deeside Dragons Under 16 Girls 2 – Caledonia Iron Maidens 0

The Deeside Dragons Under 16 Girls team moved level on points with league leaders Whitley Bay after a 2-0 home shut out of the Caledonia Iron Maidens at Deeside Leisure Centre on Sunday.

The Deeside girls had trounced the Iron Maidens 1-13 when the two teams met up in Scotland back in December but this was a much closer, tenser game.

The first period played out goal-less but Deeside eventually opened the scoring on 18 minutes when Emmie Lauder fired in a shorthanded goal.

The lead was doubled seven minutes later when Poppy Ward scored a powerplay goal and the score remained at 2-0 at the second period break.

Caledonia had chances of their own and actually out-shot Deeside by almost 2 to 1 over the course of the game but were unable to make the most of their opportunities on goal.

The third period also passed without a goal being scored, meaning that Deeside netminder Violet Lennon was able to record a 27-shot shut out. 

Rambo was the Deeside girls'
MVP against Caledonia
(Photo by Rachael Feather)

The Dragons girls team are in their second season of competition and have made remarkable progress in such a short time.  In their first season, they finished 4^th out of 7 teams with 3 wins from the 11 league games that they played. This season they are in second place in the league table, having won 12 out of their 13 games so far, and have already qualified for the end of season play offs.

They are currently level on points with league leaders Whitley Bay – the only team to have beaten the Dragons this season – although they have played a game more.  The two top teams have to meet again this season up in the north east, so the Dragons girls are still in with a mathematical chance of winning the league title.

They are at home again this Sunday 19^th April when they take on the Sheffield Shadows in their last home fixture of the season at Deeside Leisure Centre, 4.30pm face off.

They then play away in Whitley next Saturday 25^th April for a crunch encounter and then travel to Sheffield on Saturday 9^th May to round off the regular season.

*****

The Deeside Dragons club have announced an initial trial for the new women’s team that they plan to operate next season.

The one-hour trial session will take place at Deeside Leisure Centre on Monday 20th April from 7.15 to 8.15pm and will cost £10.00 per person. Interested parties must complete and submit the “Expression Of Interest” form HERE before attending.

Match Report: Blackburn Hawks 4 - Deeside D1 Dragons 3 (Moralee Play Off Final)

Jake Witkowski opened the scoring for the Dragons in the Play Off final at Sheffield (Photo by RDG Digital)

Saturday 11^th April 2026 – Play Off Final (at Sheffield): Blackburn Hawks 4 - Deeside D1 Dragons 3

The Deeside D1 Dragons’ otherwise highly successful season finished on a slightly disappointing note after they narrowly lost out 4-3 to Blackburn Hawks in the Moralee Division play off final at Sheffield  on Saturday.

As the score suggests, this was a very tight game, played between two very closely matched teams at a breakneck pace throughout. The result was in doubt until the very last second and it was a superb advert for NIHL ice hockey.

Deeside took the lead with a Jake Witkowski goal in the 5th minute but Blackburn eventually equalised with a hotly debated goal on 16 minutes to leave the score at 1-1 at the first period break.

The second period saw an incredible 4 goals scored within 80 seconds of each other, with Blackburn taking the lead on 27 minutes, Ross Kennedy firing the Dragons level 41 seconds later and Rhys Edwards putting Deeside back into the lead 30 seconds after that. This frantic phase was rounded off with another Blackburn goal straight from the restart to level the score at 3-3 at the midway point of the game.

The score was still 3-3 with the clock ticking down to the last minute of the period but a goal from former Dragons import Jakub Hajek with just 32 seconds left handed the Hawks a narrow 4-3 lead with 20 minutes left to play.

The third period played out goal-less, despite numerous chances for both teams, and Blackburn were able to hang on to secure the play off title to go with their league championship crown.

The Dragons did come home with one trophy, however, as top scorer Jake Witkowksi was named Moralee Division Player of the Season in the official NIHL league awards.

Despite Saturday’s defeat, the Dragons still have plenty to be pleased about this season.  It was their first appearance in a play off final for 10 years - and their most successful league campaign since 2016 was rewarded with the runners up position in the Moralee Division.

They also won the Moralee Cup for the first time and the Welsh Cup for the second year in a row, making plenty of new friends along the way.

Match Report: Sutton Sting 9 - Deeside D2 Dragons 0 (Laidler Play Off Final)

D2 Dragons' James Parsons in action in the Play Off final at Sheffield (Photo by RDG Digital)

Saturday 11^th April 2026 – Play Off Final (at Sheffield): Sutton Sting 9 - Deeside D2 Dragons 0

The Deeside D2 Dragons put in a plucky performance in the Laidler Division play off final at Sheffield on Saturday but slumped to a 9-0 defeat at the hands of league champions Sutton Sting.

The Sting opened the scoring on 5 minutes and led 3-0 by the first period break. The score was 5-0 at the second break and four more goals were added in the third period.

Despite the one-sided look to the score, the Dragons players’ heads did not drop and they gave a good account of themselves but, unfortunately, weren’t able to make the most of their chances in front of goal.

Even getting to the final was quite an achievement for the D2 Dragons, who are only in their second season of competition and have a squad composed of mainly young and less experienced players. They only finished 6^th in the final league table yet went on to exceed most people’s expectations by beating higher placed teams in the quarter final and semi final to win through to the Sheffield showdown.

They will have gained a lot from their experiences this season and will, undoubtedly, come back stronger and wiser next time around.

Match Report: Widnes Wild Women 2 – Sheffield Shadows 10 (WNIHL Division 1 North)

Laura Bibby was the Wild Women's MVP against Sheffield (Photo by Paul Breeze)

Sunday 12th April 2026 – WNIHL Division 1 North: Widnes Wild Women 2 – Sheffield Shadows 10

The Widnes Wild Women got off to a good start in their latest WNIHL Division 1 North game at home to Sheffield Shadows before eventually losing out 2-10 at Planet Ice Widnes on Sunday.

The game was quite even in its early stages, with the Wild Women giving as good as they got. However, disaster struck in the 8th minute when there was a mix up in defence and the puck somehow trickled over the goal line to hand Sheffield the lead. 

While this was technically an “own goal”, you don’t have own goals in ice hockey and the goal was credited to the last Shadows player to have touched the puck before it went in the net.

The Wild Women quickly recovered from this early setback and Tayla Huxley-Richards fired in a superb equalising goal on 11 minutes, and the score remained 1-1 at the first period break.

Widnes actually went ahead on 23 minutes with a superb goal from Jennifer Hickey but the lead only lasted 87 seconds before Sheffield equalised. They then edged back in front on 26 minutes and added another goal just 58 seconds after that to lead 2-4 at the halfway stage of the game.

Things got worse for the Wild Women in what was left of the second period as Sheffield scored 5 unanswered goals to lead 2-9 at the second break.

The Widnes ship was steadied in the third period, however, and, while they were unable to make anything from their own chances in front of goal, they did - at least - manage to restrict the visitors to just one goal for a final score of 2-10.

Overworked netminder Stephanie Drinkwater put in her habitual heroic performance in the Widnes goals, turning away an impressive 77 of the 87 shots that she faced.

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 the goal judge Lynda Bird and went to Charley Farr for Sheffield and Laura Bibby for Widnes.

The Wild Women are away to Kingston Diamonds in Hull this Sunday 19th April and then have a trip north of the border to face the Caledonia Steel Queens in Edinburgh the Saturday after.

They are next at home on Sunday 3rd May when they take on Nottingham Vipers in their last game of the season at Planet Ice Widnes, 4.25pm face off.

Dragons Under 16 Girls At Home On Sunday

The Deeside Dragons Under 16 Girls team celebrate their recent 0-9 win away at Nottingham (Photo by Rachel Feather)

For any Deeside fans who are not travelling to Sheffield for the NIHL play offs this weekend, but who still fancy watching some live ice hockey, why not go and cheer on the Dragons Under 16s girls team who are playing the Caledonia Iron Maidens – from Edinburgh – this Sunday 12th April at Deeside Leisure Centre – 4.30pm face off.

The Dragons girls team are in their second season of competition and have made remarkable progress in such a short time.  In their first season, they finished 4th out of 7 teams with 3 wins from the 11 league games that they played.  This season they are in second place in the league table, having won 11 out of their 12 games, and have already qualified for the end of season play offs.

They are currently 2 points behind league leaders Whitley Bay – the only team to have beaten the Dragons this season – and a win on Sunday would see them draw level, albeit having played one game more.  The two top teams have yet to meet again this season up in the north east, so the Dragons girls are still in with a mathematical chance of winning the league title.

Their remaining matches this season are:

• 12th April: home v Caledonia Iron Maidens
• 19th April:  home v Sheffield Shadows
• 25th April: away @ Whitley Bay Beacons
• 9th May: away @ Sheffield Shadows

The Deeside Dragons club have announced an initial trial for the new women’s team that they plan to operate next season.

The one-hour trial session will take place at Deeside Leisure Centre on Monday 20^th April and will cost £10.00 per person.

Interested parties must complete and submit the “Expression Of Interest” form HERE before attending.