Deeside Dragons Launch Women's Team

Deeside Dragons Coaches Emma Dutton, Phil Pearson, Emma Pearson and Josh Grocutt (Photo by Katy Lennon)

The Deeside Dragons club have announced the formation of a new senior women’s team.

The club has run an Under 16 girls team for the past two seasons and this latest decision follows two successful sessions at the North Wales rink that were well attended by girls and women players of varying ages and experience from across the region.

This won’t be the first time that Deeside has had a women’s ice hockey team as the previous Flintshire Furies club played league hockey at the venue from 2002 to 2010, winning two league championships during that period - and a number of former Furies players are still active with other clubs.

There are currently three other women’s league teams in the North West – at Altrincham, Blackburn and Widnes – so it will be interesting to see what happens when the new Dragons outfit joins the mix.

The overall lead for Deeside girl’s and women’s programme is Emma Pearson, who is currently head Coach of the U16 Girls team and has been involved with the Dragons juniors for a number of years.

Emma has a huge experience of women’s ice hockey having played some 250 competitive matches over a 20 year period, with spells at Altrincham Deeside, Kingston, Sheffield and Widnes, winning league titles with Flintshire in 2003, Manchester Phoenix in 2015 and the Widnes Wild Women in 2020.

Emma’s husband Phil Pearson will already be a familiar face to many at Deeside as he is a netminder for the senior Dragons NIHL team, however, he has also been heavily involved in coaching the Deeside juniors and girls and he will be the Head Coach for the new women’s team.  Phil already has a good record in women’s league hockey as he coached the Wild Women to the Division 1 North title back in the 2019/20 season, where Emma was team captain and top scorer.

Emma Dutton is another highly experienced women’s league player and joins the staff of the new women’s team as Assistant Player Coach. She is the all-time record appearance holder for the Flintshire Furies with 111 games over 8 seasons and also has three league titles under her belt – two with Flintshire and one the Manchester Phoenix.

She is a founder and head coach of the Deeside–based Connah Quay Cobras rec team and also played league hockey last season for the Widnes Wild Women.

The management team is completed by Katy Lennon as Team Manager, continuing the role that she has carried out so successfully with the Under 16 Girls team for the past two seasons.

Dragons Under 16 Girls at Play Offs

The Dragons Girls at the PLlay Offs in Sheffield (Photo by Katy Lennon)

Saturday 23^rd May 2026 – U16 Girls Play Off Semi Final: Ice Bees 1 – Deeside Dragons 0

The Deeside Dragons Under 16 Girls team put in a battling performance in their play-off semi final, narrowly losing out 1-0 to the Ice Bees in Sheffield on Saturday.

Having finished in second place in the North Division, the Dragons girls were paired up against the Slough-based Ice Bees, who finished first in the South Division and, as teams from the north and south don’t meet very often, it was impossible to predict what might happen.

As the score suggests, it was a very closely fought game with little to choose between the teams. The Bees took the lead in the first period and, while Deeside had their chances, they were unable to make any sort of breakthrough.

Violet Lennon put in a superb display in the Deeside goal and was named Player of the Game for the Dragons girls.

In the other semi-final  North champions Whitley Bay beat South runners up Chelmsford Rattlesnakes 4-2 and went on to beat the Ice Bees 3-0 in the National final on Sunday.

Dragonettes Head To Women's Play Offs

Dragonettes Head Coach
Emma Pearson

The Deeside Dragons Under 16 Girls team are heading back to Sheffield this weekend to take part in the Women’s Play Off Weekend for the first time, after finishing in second place in the league in just their second season of competition.

The Play Off Weekend is a huge jamboree that sees the top teams in the Women’s Elite League,  Division 1 North and South, Division 2 North and South – Elizabeth and Valerie sections - and the U16 Girls League North and South meet in semi finals and finals to decide overall national champions for each division.

It is a masterpiece of organisation as there are 15 games to fit in back to back over the three days from Saturday to Monday.

Having finished in second place in the U16 North Division, the Dragonettes will play the Slough-based Ice Bees - who finished top of the South Division – in their semi-final facing off at 10.45 on Saturday.

North champions Whitley Bay will play South runners up Chelmsford Rattlesnakes in the early start game at 9am and the two winners will meet in the final at 12.30 on Sunday.

Talking about the Dragonettes achievements this year, Head Coach Emma Pearson said:

“We are incredibly proud of the girls and the season they’ve had. We knew it was always going to be tough to beat Whitley, but to only lose two games all season — both against them — is a massive achievement and really shows how far this group has come. It’s a relatively young team, and the development and commitment they’ve shown throughout the year has been outstanding.

“Looking ahead to the playoffs, we know it’ll be a tough game against the Ice Bees after they finished top of the southern division, but the team will do everything we can to go out there, compete, and see where it takes us.”

The full schedule for the WNIHL Play Offs is as follows:

Saturday 23^rd May

• 9am - U16 SF1: Whitley v Chelmsford
• 10.45am - U16 SF2: Ice Bees v Deeside
• 12.30pm - Elite SF1: Queen Bees v Whitley
• 2.45pm – Elite SF2: Guildford v Solihull
• 5pm - D1 SF1:Kingston v Fire Bees
• 7.15pm - D1 SF2:  Swindon v Caledonia

Sunday 24^th May

• 8.30am - D2V SF1: Kingston v Slough
• 10.30am - D2V SF2: Haringey v Whitley
• 12.30pm - U16 Final
• 2.15pm - Elite Final
• 4.30pm - D1 Final
• 6.45pm - D2E SF1: Caledonia v Coventry
• 8.45pm - D2E SF2: Invicta v Manchester

Monday 25^th May

• 10am - D2V Final
• 12.15pm - D2E Final

To find out about tickets for the WNIHL Finals Weekend - and also the livestreaming option - in check out the EIH(A) ticketing portal HERE

Dragons Under 14s Win Treble at Play Offs

Poppy Ward and Harrison Ward
with the National Championship
trophy (Photo by Katy Lennon)

The Deeside Dragons Under 14 team scooped an impressive trio of trophies for the season after winning two more titles at the National Play Offs at Sheffield at the weekend. 

Having already won the North West league title, they played North East champions Billingham on Saturday to decide an overall North Champion.

They had to fight back after going 2-0 down early on to eventually win 4-2 with goals coming from Poppy Ward (2), Harrison Ward and Ruben Batho.

This result saw the Dragons pitted against South champions Slough on Sunday for the National title.

That game was just as closely contested with Deeside opening up an early lead with two goals from Poppy Ward before Slough pegged them back to 2-2.

Harrison Ward edged the young Dragons back in front and they had to endure a tense last few minutes as Slough took off their netminder in favour of an extra attacker to try and force a late equaliser. 

The Deeside defence managed to keep them at bay, however, with Violet Lennon performing heroics in the Dragons net to secure the 3-2 victory and the National Division 2 Championship.

Match Report: Manchester Mayhem 2 - Cardiff Huskies 0 (BPIHL 2026 Match #1)

Anthony Booth was that Mayhem MVP against Cardiff (Photo by Roksana Oniszczuk)

Saturday 16^th May 2026 – BPIHL Match #1: Mayhem 2- Cardiff Huskies 0

The Mayhem sledge team enjoyed a winning start to the new 2026 British Para Ice Hockey League season with a 2-0 home victory over Cardiff Huskies at Planet Ice Widnes on Saturday.

Both teams had some regular players missing from their line-ups and both also had a number of new players on the ice who were playing their first ever game – so it was anybody’s guess as to how this match might pan out.

The Mayhem handed debuts to Annie Arnill, Maddy Howard, Josh Stodel and Craig Riley and also unveiled their smart new purple playing shirts.

The game was played at a tremendous pace throughout with very few stoppages and plenty of end to end hockey.  Both teams were quite evenly matched but the Mayhem had the edge in their attacking plays and took the lead with a goal from team captain Mark Colquitt on 12 minutes.

Two minutes later, the score was 2-0 to the Mayhem, courtesy of a goal from Anthony Booth and they looked to be flying.

Cardiff successfully regrouped, however, and the score remained 2-0 at the first period break.

Mayhem debutant Maddy Howard
wearing the new playing shirt
(Photo by Dino)

The game continued at the same furious pace but, despite numerous chances for both teams, the remaining two periods played out goal-less.

The Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards went to Arran Flay – who was playing his first game – for Cardiff and Anthony Booth for the Mayhem.  Dan Hartshorn also receives credit for his 13-shot shut-out in the Mayhem goal.

After the game, Mayhem Head Coach Peter Hagan said:

“It was a great team effort, with 2-3 players missing and several debuts, there was not much more we could have asked for in our first game.”

“Both goalies were in great form & both teams could have had a few more goals had it not been for some great saves at both ends.”

“It was great to see Cardiff with several new players too, which, hopefully, shows that the sport is growing across the country.”

The 2-0 win means that the Mayhem top the league table at this very early stage of the season as all the other teams are yet to play.

They are next in action away to Cardiff on Saturday 30^th May down in the Welsh capital.  Sheffield Steelstings and Peterborough Phantoms meet in their first game of the season on the same day.

The Mayhem and Huskies teams after the opening match of the 2026 BPIHL season (Photo by Roksana Oniszczuk)

Sledge Hockey 2026: Round-Up #1

The 2026 British Para Ice Hockey League season got under way at the weekend with Manchester Mayhem beating Cardiff Huskies 2-0 in a highly entertaining and closely fought match.

The only goals in the game came in the first period, courtesy of Mark Colquitt and Anthony Booth, and Mayhem netminder Dan Hartshorn picked up a 13-shot shut-out.

There are no BPIHL games this coming weekend but the Saturday after – 30^th May - sees Cardiff and Manchester play the return game down in the Welsh capital (6.30pm face off) and Sheffield Steelstings and Peterborough Phantoms meet in their first game of the season at ice Sheffield (6.20pm start).

You can see more detailed reports - with photos - of the Mayhem v Huskies game on the highly informative Ice Hockey Review grassroots news website HERE

 And the Manchester Mayhem official website HERE 

Dragons Juniors Win League Title

Deeside Dragons Under 14s celebrate winning the league championship (Photo by Junior Dragons IHC)

The Deeside Dragons Under 14 second team received the league trophy after winning the North West Division 2 title.

The award was presented after their last game of the season which was at home to Telford, where a huge crowd cheered them on to an 8-2 victory at Deeside Leisure Centre on Sunday.

They finished the season with an impressive 17 wins from their 20 league games, 6 points clear of second place Solihull Junior Barons, and have qualified for the national finals this weekend in Sheffield.

The Under 14s first team didn’t fare so well as they lost 1-7 to champions Nottingham on Sunday and finish in 5^th place in the Division 1 league table with 7 wins from their 18 matches.

The Deeside Dragons Junior club has teams competing at all age levels from Under 10s to Under 19s.

The Under 10s don’t play in a league as such but take part in regular mini tournaments where the players can develop basic skills in a fun environment.

The Under 12s have finished 6^th in the U12 Division 2 North with 7 wins from 18 games after losing their last game of the season 7-3 away in Hull on Saturday.

The Under 16s will finish in 8^th place in the U16 Division 1 North but have the chance to finish the season on a winning note when they take on bottom team Bradford at Deeside Leisure Centre this Saturday, 4.30pm face off.

The Under 19s look likely to finish 4th in U19 Division 2 North and have their last game of the season this at home to Coventry on Saturday.

Admission to Deeside junior games is free of charge and supporters are encouraged to go along and cheer on the Dragons stars of the future.

Dragons Players At Bradford Charity Game

Matty Barlow, Damarni James and Rhys Edwards at the Bradford charity game (Photo by David Edwards)

Dragons senior players Matty Barlow, Rhys Edwards and Damarni James took part in a charity match at Bradford in aid of Blood Cancer UK.

The game was part of Bradford Ice Rink’s 60th anniversary celebrations and featured 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.

The game was played in front of a capacity crowd and a number of Deeside fans travelled to support the event and cheer on their Dragons heroes.

Damarni’s “White” team beat Matty and Rhys’ “Blue” team 11-8 but more important was the fact that over £2.000 was raised for the charity - and a good time was had by all.

You can see lots of great photos from the match - and also a link to a video of the whole game – on the Bulldogs Facebook page HERE

Blood Cancer UK website HERE

Mayhem Start New Para Season This Saturday

Manchester Mayhem Para Ice Hockey Team (Photo by Roksana Oniszczuk)

The Mayhem sledge hockey team are back in action this Saturday 16th May when they take on Cardiff Huskies in their opening match of the 2026 British Para Ice Hockey League season at Planet Ice Widnes, 6.10pm face off.

There are 5 teams in the league again this season with Cardiff Huskies, Peterborough Phantoms and two teams from Sheffield – the Steelkings and the Steelstings – making up the Mayhem’s opposition. Each team plays the others once at home and once away and the top four finishers also qualify for the end of season play offs.

Looking ahead to the new season, Head Coach Peter Hagan said:

“We are excited to get back to league action in 2026, after a strong finish in 2025 and we are hoping to build on that this year. We have grown both on and off the ice as we have several new faces who have joined the team, so we’ll hopefully see a few debuts this season as well, which is great for the team and the sport as a whole.”

“We have managed to attract a few new sponsors, which really helps the club’s stability, and we are always happy to chat to anyone interested in getting involved on or off ice.”

“Hopefully, with the Winter Paralympics having recently been on, we can attract more fans league wide to “discover" para ice hockey on their doorstep, and get more people involved and grow the sport.

“Every team has improved and it will be a tough season this year, possibly the toughest so far - which can only benefit the sport and the GB teams. So, as difficult as it will be for the teams, it's a bright future for the sport as a whole.”

The full list of Mayhem fixtures for the 2026 BPIHL season is:

• 16th May:  Home v Cardiff Huskies
• 30th May: Away @ Cardiff Huskies
• 7th June: Home v Sheffield Steelkings
• 20th June:  Home v Peterborough Phantoms
• 27th June: Away @ Sheffield Steelkings
• 4th July: Away @ Sheffield Steelstings
• 25th July: Home v Sheffield Steelstings
• 30th August: Away @ Peterborough Phantoms

Home games at Widnes faceoff at the later time of 5.10pm this season. Admission is free for all spectators.

The opening game against Cardiff this Saturday starts at 6.10pm as there is a figure skating competition on at the Planet Ice rink beforehand.

Find out more about the Mayhem Para Ice Hockey Team on their official website HERE

Match Report: Sheffield Shadows 1 - Deeside Dragons U16 Girls 3 (WNIHL Under 16 Girls North)

The Dragonettes team away at Sheffield (Photo by Kate Foster-Noble)

Saturday 9^th May 2026 – WNIHL Under 16 Girls Nth: Sheffield Shadows 1 - Deeside Dragons U16G 3

The Deeside Dragons Under 16 girls team rounded off their regular season schedule with a closely-contested 1-3 victory away at Sheffield Shadows on Saturday.

The Dragonettes took a narrow 1-goal lead into the first break after a 7^th minute goal from top scorer Poppy Ward and the same player doubled the advantage 5 minutes into the second period.

Emmie Lauder put Deeside 0-3 ahead on 26 minutes and that remained the score at the second interval.  Sheffield pulled a goal back with 5 minutes left to play and that set up a nail-biting finale as they removed their netminder in favour of an extra attacker in the closing minutes in an attempt to stage a late rally.

They put the Deeside goal under immense pressure but the Dragonettes defence held firm and almost scored again themselves with a couple of long clearances towards the empty Shadows net, with Hallie Morgan coming the closest when she hit the post with a shot from behind her own goal line.

The Dragonettes finish the season second in the league table, 4 points behind champions Whitley who finished with a 100% record.

They will next play the champions of the Under 16 Girls South Division in the national semi final at the Women’s Play Offs at Sheffield in two weeks time.

Hartshorn Named Mayhem Player Of The Year

Dan Hartshorn with the
Mayhem Player of the Year Award
(Photo by Mayhem PIHC)

Daniel Hartshorn has been named as the Mayhem Player Of The Year for 2025 after a poll among his fellow players and team staff.

Hartshorn heroically took over as the team’s netminder for the 2025 season, despite never having played in goal before, after regular netminder Darren Pomfret was ruled out through injury.

Talking about switching roles he said:

“As a defender, I was focused on pushing myself physically and doing everything I could to reduce chances. Moving into goal, I realised very quickly how much of it is mental. You have to read the game, manage your emotions, pick up on patterns and player tendencies, it’s constant.”

“ Early on it felt overwhelming, but now, when I get it right, it almost becomes second nature. I’ve also been surprised by just how physical the role is, despite all the padding, some of those hits really hurt!”

Reacting to the Player award, Hartshorn added:

“I’m incredibly proud, but honestly my first reaction was pure embarrassment and shock. We were in the changing rooms after training when it was announced, and I just remember thinking, “There are so many people here who’ve achieved so much more than me.”

“As it’s sunk in, though, I’ve started to appreciate what it represents. I’ve worked really hard this year, not just on my own game, but trying to support others where I can, and to be nominated and recognised by the team means a lot.”

The full list of Mayhem Players Of The Year since the award was introduced in 2017 is as follows:

• 2017:  Anthony Booth
• 2018: Karl Nicholson
• 2019: Darren Pomfret
• 2022: Mark Colquitt
• 2023: Felicity Gregory
• 2024: Felicity Gregory
• 2025: Dan Hartshorn

You can read more about the Manchester Mayhem sledge hockey team on their official website HERE

Widnes Wild Women 2025/26 Season Review

The Widnes Wild Women had a highly eventful season playing at the higher Division 1 level for the first time since 2021/22, having been promoted after winning the Division 2 North title last year.

A number of new faces joined the Wild Women during the summer either as regular signings or on 2 way arrangements with other clubs – and many made their debuts at Division 1 North (previously known as Women’s Premier League) level.

The season was pretty hard going – as it had been expected to be - with a 20-match schedule playing 5 other teams twice home and twice away.  It wasn’t really a level playing field either as some of the opposing teams had current or former GB players on their rosters and also a number of players who regularly played up at Elite League level.

It took a while for the new-look Wild squad to gel and this was reflected in their early season results.

The campaign started off with a 2-16 defeat at home to Sheffield Shadows and a similar pattern of lucky battling performances followed where the Wild Women did well but were often beaten by a significant margin.

They lost all four games against eventual league champions Kingston Diamonds without scoring a single goal but eventually managed two wins – 3-1 over Nottingham Vipers and 8-7 against Solway Sharks - to finish the season on 4 points.

Two wins from 20 games may not sound like much but the win over Nottingham in January was 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.

Leen de Decker was the top goalscorer for the season with 8 goals and 2 assists from 17 games.  Lise Gillen joined her on 10 points, having scored 5 goals and 5 assists and former GB player Lydia Lutwyche gave an impressive cameo performance with 5+2 in only 4 games after joining the Wild Women just before the signing deadline.

Tayla Huxley-Richards impressed in her first season of senior women’s hockey with 5 goals from her 14 starts, while another breakout player, Ilyssa Flemington, also managed 2 goals and 3 assists for 5 points.

Maggie Whitmore, Jenny Hickey, Dee Vause, Ellen Tyrer, Emma Dutton, Karyn Cooper and Victoria Connelly all contributed goals during the season and Nicola Wallace, Catherine Fell, Eleanor Johnson, Abigail Aldred, Laura Bibby and Elizabeth Bird all got on the scoresheet with assists.

As with previous seasons playing at this higher WPL level, Stephanie Drinkwater was, again, the most over-worked netminder in the Division.  In the 19 games that she played in, she faced an eye-watering 1334 shots, She did however, save a very impressive 1145 of them, finishing up with a Save Percentage of 85.83.

Isabel Bateson – who usually plays university hockey – got herself a WNIHL Division 1 debut by filling in for the first game away to Caledonia Steel Queens and Maggie Whitmore bravely put in a 20 minute spell between the pipes in the away game at Nottingham after Drinkwater sustained an injury – even though she had never played in goal before.

There was a 4-way tie at the top of the “Bad Girl” stakes for penalty minutes with Nicola Wallace, Catherine Fell, Victoria Connelly and Maggie Whitmore all picking up 12 minutes over the course of the season - and 11 other players also paying a visit to the sin bin at some point.

Looking back over the season, Wild Women General Manager Karyn Cooper said:  

"We knew it was going to be a tough season but I couldn't be prouder of all the team for how they've applied themselves, and everyone has improved from the start of the season to the end." 

"There have been some tough results but the way the players have responded and kept morale levels high on the bench has been really commendable. I'd also like to give thanks to anyone who's helped with volunteering to support us this year, we couldn't do it without the help they give."

While the regular WNIHL season may now be over, there is still work to be done as the Wild Women prepare to take part in the Bristol Tournament over the weekend of 21st/22nd June

This annual end of season jamboree is a fairly unique competition as it involves teams from the different EIHA divisions – Elite League, Divisions 1 and 2 North & South - all playing against each other in one big qualifying group.

Particular spice will be added to this year’s tournament as the new Blackburn Hawks women’s team are also taking part. They have a number of former Wild Women players in their ranks and the group stage encounter will be the first time that the two north-west sides have met in a competitive game.

Match Report: Connah’s Quay Cobras 21 – Riverside Raiders 9 (Challenge Match)

Former Dragons player Sam Krempasky scored a hat-trick against the Raiders (Photo by RDG Digital)

Sunday 3rd May 2026 - Challenge Match: Connah’s Quay Cobras 21 – Riverside Raiders 9

The Connah’s Quay Cobras took part in a remarkable THIRTY goal thriller, beating local rivals Riverside Raiders 21-9 at Deeside Leisure Centre on Sunday.

Games between Deeside and Widnes based clubs are always keenly contested, passionate affairs due to the relative proximity of the two venues and a regular migration of players over the years in both directions, are rarely dull – and this was no exception.

The visiting Raiders were only able to muster a small squad for this game – 10 skaters and 1 netminder – as opposed to the Cobras’ 16+2 – so it was always likely that Connah’s Quay would have the advantage.

It actually took until the 12^th minute for the Cobras to open the scoring – with a goal from Slavomir Sykora – but, once they had made the initial breakthrough, more goals quickly followed.

Former Deeside Dragons league player Sam Krempasky scored the Cobras’ second goal just 21 seconds later and added a third 32 seconds after that.  He rounded off a straight hat-trick on 17 minutes and a goal from Martin Stolicny saw Connah’s Quay leading 5-0 at the first period break.

The Raiders scored a goal of their own 28 seconds into the second period but a flurry of goals for the Cobras – from Stolicny again, Karl Jones, Libor Krempasky, player coach Emma Dutton and Mark Stringfellow within a 4 minute spell put the game well beyond the reach of the Raiders.

The visitors did manage two more goals in the second period but yet more strikes - from former Raider Sam Plant (2), George Spofforth (2), Ellis Flanagan and a hat-trick marker for Stolicny rounded off an incredible 14-goal period, leaving the score standing at 16-3 at the second interval.

The Raiders actually had the better of the third period by a narrow margin, scoring 6 goals to help make the score look a bit more respectable, but 5 more for the Cobras – from former Deeside Duck Louis Ellwood, another former Raider Mike Filek, Brad Bannon, a second for Dutton and a hat-trick goal for Sam Plant saw the Cobras cruise to victory.

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 

UPDATE (7th May) Prebooked tickets have now sold out and only a few tickets will be available at the box office on the day.

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