Review: NIHL North Play Off Weekend Highlights Package by Pyromedia

I have to say I am really pleased that the guys at Pyromedia - along with BASN and NIHL Radio - took the time to put this great highlights DVD together of the NIHL North play off weekend at iceSheffield.  I wasn’t able to go and, while I listened to all the games live on NIHL Radio and have seen all the photos posted on Facebook and elsewhere, it is really good to be able to see how the game splayed out.  Obviously if you were there for the weekend, it is also a nice souvenir of an eventful weekend.

Now, I know you can also get a digital download of the highlights package but I am writing about the DVD here as that is what I have got.  All six games of the weekend are featured here – that’s the two Laidler Conference semi-finals (Widnes Wild v Nottingham Lions and Deeside Dragons v Blackburn Eagles) and the two Moralee semi-finals (Blackburn Hawks v Solway Sharks and Whitley Warriors v Solihull Barons) - all of which were played on the Saturday and the two Conference finals (Deeside v Widnes and Solihull v Hawks) which were played on the Sunday.

To take some 20 or so hours of game footage, add in the interviews and edit it all together into a watchable package is no mean feat and I think the guys have done very well here.  Despite having been shot through safety netting, the main camera action is still very clear to watch and the whole thing gives a very good impression of what it must have been like to be in the stadium.

The commentators come across as very knowledgeable and help the viewer to follow the game and appreciate what is going on.

So, if you weren’t at the NIHL North play offs weekend and would like to see what you have missed – this highlights package is very good and if you WERE there and would like a special memento, then this is bound to bring back those memories again and again.

*****

Now: I have seen a bit of criticism from certain quarters about this highlights package so I thought I might put my thoughts on record. 

It is basically what it says on the box – video highlights of all 6 games from the play off weekend.  Some people are complaining that there are no slow motion replays etc. but there is only so much that you can do on limited resources on a narrow timescale.  To compare this to - for example - the Drop The Puck TV programme is a little unfair as Drop The Puck only film and show one game at a time whereas these people filmed SIX games in a single weekend and then managed to get all the edited footage ready to send out just a week or so later.   

I have videoed things before (not ice hockey games, I hasten to add…) and also have a lot of experience in audio sound editing and I can tell you that it takes hours and hours of editing the raw material after the event to come up with something that is watchable / listenable to and flows properly.

Add to that the fact that when you are videoing, photographing, commentating or even merely making notes for a written match report, you are unable to watch and enjoy the game properly like a “normal” fan, then I think it is very commendable that these guys have taken all this time and effort to put all this together for our benefit.

As far as I am concerned, anybody who puts themselves to cover and promote NIHL ice hockey deserves our support.   You can find out more about the Pyromedia play off highlights package here:  https://gumroad.com/l/nihlplayoffsvideo#

Women's Premier League Round Up - Whitley Squaws 2 - Widnes Wild Women's Team 10

Catherine Bowen Fell - photo by Steve Pollitt

Sunday 24^th April 2016
Whitley Squaws 2 – Widnes Wild Women’s Team 10

Period Scores: 1-3, 1-6, 0-1

Shots on Goal: Whitley 28 – Widnes 57
Penalties In Minutes: Whitley 6 – Widnes 6

Widnes Scoring: Catherine Bowen Fell 3+0, Katie Hills 2+5, Charlene Chapman 2+0, Leen De Decker 1+1, Lucy Kirkham 1+1, Emma Pearson 1+1, Madeleine Gustavsson 0+2, Beckie Elliott 0+1

The Widnes Wild women’s team took a step closer to securing the runners up spot in the English Women’s Premier League after a comprehensive 2-10 win away at Whitley Squaws.

With fellow contenders for second place Streatham Storm and Milton Keynes Falcons drawing 0-0 against each other, it means that the Wild women are now 1 point clear of both teams with games in hand and a game away at MK next Sunday.  If they win away at MK next week, the Wild women will be assured of second place.

In the bottom of the table clash, Nottingham Vipers beat Chelmsford Cobras 4-2  to leapfrog them off the bottom spot. 

Whitley actually scored first – after just 1.48 – in a first period that saw them heavily outshot by 6 to 20 and, once the Wild women got in their stride, there was no stopping them.  Emma Pearson opened the Widnes account with her first goal for the club on 3.28 and goals from Charlene Chapman and Catherine Bowen Fell gave them a 1-3 lead at the first break.

 

A 1-6 second period put the game way beyond Whitley’s reach and Lucy Kirkham rounded off the scoring at 58. 43 to give the Wild a 2-10 win.   

Catherine Bowen Fell was Widnes’ top markswoman with 3 goals while Katie Hills weighed in with 2+5.

The Wild women are away at Milton Keynes next Sunday and then finish off their first ever Women’s  Premier League campaign with two successive home games – against  Whitley Squaws on Sunday 8^th May and Nottingham Vipers on Sunday 15^th May at Silver Blades Widnes.

Both games face off at 5.30pm and admission is free.  

WPL Match Report: Nottingham Vipers 6 - Widnes Wild 8

Megan Bowen Fell scored her first goal of the season
away at Nottingham on Sunday. (Photo by Steve Pollitt)

Sunday 17th April 2016 – 7.30pm Face Off
Nottingham Vipers 6 – Widnes Wild 8

Period Scores: 1-4, 0-4, 5-0

Shots on goal:  Nottingham 33 - Widnes 48
Penalties In Minutes: Nottingham 35 - Widnes 20

Widnes Scoring: Leen De Decker 2+0, Katie Hills 2+0, Megan Bowen Fell, 1+ 1, Amanda Williams 1+1, Abigail Culshaw 1+1, Vanessa Crickmore Clarke 0+1, Catherine Bowen Fell 1+0, Elizabeth Amy Wright 0+1, Charlene Chapman 0+1       

Nottingham Scoring: Robin Mullen 4+1, Megan Rathbone 1+1, Olivia Bennett 1+ 0, Rebecca Meats 0+1, Rachael Brown 0+1

Widnes remain in second place in the Women’s Premier League table after a sensation 6-8 victory away at Nottingham Vipers on Sunday evening.  Earlier in the day, fellow contenders for the runners-up spot Streatham Storm had beat Chelmsford Cobras 2-0 to move ahead on points so a win for vital for the Wild women to maintain their position.

Whitley Squaws beat Milton Keynes 3-1 in their first win since November meaning that the Falcons are now two points off the pace in 4^th  .

Despite an otherwise fairly evenly balanced first period, the Wild women scored three early goals and were leading 1-4 by the first break and then added a further 4 unanswered goals in the second period to go into the final third with a 1-8 advantage.

However, the Vipers upped their game for the final period.  A goal straight from the restart initiated a goal fest that saw them score 5 unanswered goals to pull the score back to 6-8, with team captain Robin Mullen scored 4 straight between 40.08 and 49.35.

The Widnes Wild women were kept goalless for almost the whole of the second half of the game but managed to hold on to register an important victory.

On Saturday, league leaders Swindon Topcats are away to Slough Phantoms while MK Falcons are at home to Nottingham Vipers.

On Sunday the Widnes Wild women are away to Whitley Squaws in a 4.30pm face off while 3rd place Streatham Storm entertain the MK Falcons.  Nottingham and Chelmsford meet at the National Ice Centre for a bottom of the table clash. 

The Widnes Wild women’s team are next at home on Sunday 8^th May when they entertain Whitley Squaws at Silver Blades Widnes in a 5.30pm face off.

NIHL North Promotion / Relegation Play Off Game

Blackburn Arena, Saturday 16^th April
Sheffield Spartans 5 – Widnes Wild 0

Period Scores: 2-0, 1-0, 2-0

Shots on Goal: Spartans 40 - Widnes 24
Penalties in Minutes: Spartans 14 – Widnes 20

Spartans Scoring:  Oliver Barron & Elliot Knell 1+1  Stuart Brittle, Shaun Wild, Ross Jordan all 1+0, Martin Finkes 0+2, Will Barron 0+2, Scott Morris 0+1

Match Officials: Steven Wardell – Referee, Lawson Glasby & David Emmerson (Linesmen)

Widnes Wild suffered heartbreak for the second season in a row as they once again failed to win promotion to the Moralee Conference via the promotion play off.

Instead of the two-legged home and away tie that had been played in previous years, this time – due to the unavailability of ice time  at iceSheffield, they met Sheffield Spartans – who had finished second from bottom in the higher division - in a one-off match at the neutral venue of Blackburn Arena.

This was the first time that a promotion playoff had ever been played as one-off game in this country and it attracted attention from across the ice hockey world with live coverage on NIHL Radio and lots of fans of other teams going to Blackburn to watch the game.

As things turned out, fortune favoured the Moralee Conference side as the Spartans took the lead as early as the 3^rd minute and never really looked like losing after that. They outshot the Laidler Conference runners up by 40 to 24 and picked up what was their first win swine the middle of January.

Widnes – despite having prepared well for the tie with recent NIHL North Cup games against Moralee opposition in the shape of Blackburn Hawks, Solway Sharks and Billingham Stars – were unable to make any impression on a stubborn Spartans defence and endured their only competitive shut-out of the season.   

NIHL South Division 1 Play Off Final - Chieftains to meet Raiders

Chelmsford Chieftains are on course for a quadruple haul this season after they won through to the final of the South 1 Play offs. They beat Streatham Redskins 10-6 over 2 legs, winning 6-2 at home after having lost 4-4 away in South London the previous evening.  

In the final they will meet last year’s Play Off winners Wightlink Raiders who bear league runners up Invicta Dynamos 7-2 at home and then featured in a highly rare 0-0 draw in Kent 24 hours later.

The final will be played over two legs this weekend. 

Chelmsford Warriors Win South 2 Cup

The Chelmsford Warriors made it a league and cup double with a victory over Peterborough Islanders in the final of the South 2 Cup at Alexandra Palace.

The Warriors beat their South 2 Eastern Conference rivals 3-2 with a powerplay goal in the 58^th minute, after having trailed for much of the game.

The South 2 Cup Finals weekend was hosted by the Haringey Racers team even though they failed to win through from the group stage.

In the first semi-final, the Warriors beat Bristol Pitbulls 6-5 while the Peterborough Islanders beat Swindon Wildcats 6-4 in the later game.

Blackburn Hawks Win Moralee Play Off Final

Blackburn Hawks celebrate their play off victory
(Photo by Steve Pollitt)

Blackburn Hawks won their second play off title in a row - and third overall following a 7-3 victory over Solihull Barons in the play-off final at iceSheffield.

The Hawks beat Solway Sharks – who had finished 4th in the league - 5-2 in the first semi-final on the Saturday afternoon while the Barons – who finished third in their first season back in the top flight – battled hard to overcome league runners up Whitley Warriors 5-3  in the second semi-final.

A DVD containing highlights of all 6 games (4 semi finals and 2 finals) from the play off weekend is available to order now from Pyromedia

Deeside Dragons Win Laidler Conference Play Off Final At iceSheffield

Photo by Peter Sheffield - www.psd-images.com

The Dragons topped of their league title season over the weekend by making it a double celebration when they won the playoff tournament at iceSheffield.

The top four teams in the league competed for honours over two days of hard hitting hockey

Saturday saw Deeside take on Blackburn Eagles in the first semi final and both teams started slowly and the nerves were showing. The Dragons ran out eventual winners 9-5 to book a place in the final on Sunday against the winners of Nottingham v Widnes.

Widnes dispatched Nottingham in the second semi final to set up a mouthwatering final winner takes all game with two teams that have history of  explosive matches as the last game against these two teams ended up being abandoned due to fighting.

The Dragons took an early two goal lead to settle the nerves and seemed to be dominating the game but Widnes stepped it up a gear and two quick goals levelled the game at the end of the first period.

The Second period was a much closer affair with both teams have lots of shots on goal and both netminders pulled out some brilliant saves to keep the game close but it was the Dragons that took the initiative  and two goal from Adrian Palak  restored Deeside two goal advantage going into the last period.

Widnes came out flying in the last period and seemed to have the upper hand but failed to break the Dragons defence until late in the game when they pulled a goal back to make it 4-3 with three minutes left in the game

Widnes tried everything to level the game and force overtime and the Dragons were under pressure but did not buckle and with a minute left in the game Widnes pulled their netminder to gain an extra attacker to try and level it  but a shot at Deeside goal went wide and it was picked up by Adrian Palak who skated free and scored into an empty Widnes goal to put the game beyond them and the score finished 5-3 to the Dragons to make it a memorable league and cup wining double season.

WPL Match Report: Widnes Wild Women's Team 5 - Chelmsford Cobras 4

Sunday 10^th April 2016 – 7.30pm Face Off

Widnes Wild Women 5 - Chelmsford Cobras  4

Period Scores: 2-0, 1-1, 2-3

Shots on goal:  Widnes 42 - Chelmsford 35

Penalties In Minutes: Widnes 8 - Chelmsford  4

The Widnes Wild women’s team moved up to second place in the Women’s Premier League table after a hard fought 5-4 win at home to Chelmsford Cobras on Sunday night.

They are one of 4 teams tied on 12 points but, because of a superior playing record against 3^rd place Streatham, they currently occupy the runner’s up slot – albeit a fairly distant 8 points adrift of leaders Slough Topcats – who won 1-7 away at Whitley Bay.   

The game against Chelmsford was a gritty affair – and a complete contrast to the game away in Essex 7 days earlier that the Wild had won at a romp.

The Cobras had much of the play in the first period and spent most of their time camped in the Widnes end with the Wild attack consisting mainly of brief counters out of defence.  The first goal of the game came when Katie Hills – who had scored 5 away in the last game - got on the end of a Leen de Decker clearance and slotted home on 15.12 to give the Wild a fortunate lead.

Then, in the dying seconds of the period, Abigail Culshaw, taking advantage of a hooking penalty fired in a power play goal (19.06 – asst Hills & Madeleine Gustavsson) to give Widnes a 2 goal cushion at the first break.

The second period saw more one-way traffic as the visitors outshot their hosts by 19 to 6.  Stephanie Drinkwater performed heroically in the Widnes net and kept everything out until she was beaten for the first time at 25.30, however the Cobras’ goal was disallowed as the referee had been in the process of blowing for a high sticks penalty against Chelmsford’s Lucy Jarvis on the edge of the blue zone at the moment the goal went in.

The Cobras’ breakthrough did, eventually come 4 minutes later with a well worked unassisted goal from Tereza Plankova on 29.24.

Just 3 minutes later, it looked as if Chelmsford might score again but the attacking player was adjudged to have been brought down unfairly and a penalty shot was awarded.  Netminder Drinkwater stood her ground, however, and saved the penalty and the score remained a narrow 2-1 in favour of the Wild.   

The Widnes team managed to give themselves a little breathing space at the end of the period as Katie Hills scored her second goal of the game (39.55 asst Amanda Williams) and the Wild women went into the second break with a 3-1 lead.

When Abi Culshaw added a fourth goal at 41.07 (unassisted) you might have thought that the game was pretty much over but that was far from the case. The plucky Cobras continued to push forward and a second goal for Plankova (43.12 asst Law) put them right back into it again.

Enter Bethany Hill – just back from winning a bronze medal with the GB team at the World Championships in Slovenia -  with two stunning goals on 48.17 (unassisted) and 51.31 (asst Plankova) and the scene was set for a nail biting finale. 

The Cobras seemed to have the initiative and it could only be matter of time before they scored again to take the lead but the Widnes women dug deep and managed to keep them at bay.  Just when it looked as if the match was heading for a draw – which would have been the Wild’s third in a row at home – team captain Charlene Chapman put them back in front (54.36 assist Lucy Kirkham) with what would turn out to be the game winning goal.

The last few minutes involved more hard defending as the Cobras surged forward in search of a late equaliser.  However, despite several icing calls that took play back into the Wild zone in the last minute, they did not pull their netminder in favour of an extra attacker and the clock slowly ticked down to a Widnes victory.

The Widnes Wild women’s team now have three games away in a row - at Nottingham Vipers (17^th April), Whitley Squaws (24^th April) and Milton Keynes Falcons (1^st May). 

They are next at home on Sunday 8^th May when they will face Whitley Squaws in a 5.30pm face off at Silver Blades Widnes.

The week after on Sunday 15^th May they entertain Nottingham Vipers in their last home game of the season.

Admission is free – so what not come along and support the North West’s only Women’s Premier League team…? 

NIHL North Play Off Weekend Updates.

Laidler Play Off Final - 2pm Sunday:  Widnes Wild v Deeside Dragons

Moralee Play Off Final - 5pm Sunday:  Blackburn Hawks v Solihull Barons


Moralee Conference 2nd Semi Final
Whitley Warriors 3 - Solihull Barons 5

Laidler Conference Second Semi Final:
Deeside Dragons 9 - Blackburn Eagles 5
details to follow....

Moralee Conference 1st Semi Final:

Blackburn Hawks 5 – Solway Sharks 2
Period Scores: 0-1, 4-1, 1-0
Shots on Goal: Blackburn 31 – Solway 28
Penalties In Minutes: Blackburn 2 – Solway 0

Blackburn Scoring: Bentham 2+1, King 1+1, Simister & Davies 1+0, Arnone  0+2, Viney, Mackriel, Pollitt all 0+1

Solway Scoring: Senko & Cingel both 1+0, Fowley, Tonnar, Moore, Coulter all 0+1

Match officials: Roy Hamilton (Referee)  Harvey Otter & Lawson Glasby (Linesmen)

Laidler Conference First Semi Final:

Widnes Wild 3 – Nottingham Lions 1

Period Scores: 0-1, 1-0, 2-0
Shots on Goal: Widnes 39 – Nottingham 19
Penalties In Minutes: Widnes 29 – Nottingham 31

Widnes Scoring: Fico: 1+1, Wigglesworth 1+0. McKenzie 1+0, Dippnall 0+2

Nottm Scoring: Perks 1+0, Glossop 0+1

Match officials: Mitchell Kempster (Referee)  Scott Ellis & Stuart Smith           (Linesmen)

GB Women Win Bronze Medal at World Championships

Match action from PR Korea 0 v Team GB 7
Photo by www.cveto.si

The GB women’s team had to make do with a bronze medal from their Division 2 Group A campaign at the World Championships in Slovenia.

Despite having the best playing record in the competition and actually being the only team to beat eventual winners Poland, the GB women had to settle for third place behind Poland and Korea due to the rules that separate teams that finish on the same number of points.

They beat Croatia 19-1 in their opening game of the 6 team round robin group and then lost 0-1 to Korea for their only reverse of the tournament. Two shut outs – 6-0 against Slovenia and 7-0 against North Korea contributed to Nicole Jackson (Bradford Bulldogs) being named as netminder of the tournament and the 2-1 win over Poland gave the GB women bragging rights over the group winners, if not the sole promotion place.      

Leanne Ganney (Bracknell) and Katie Henry (Solihull) were GB’s top scorers with 10 points each, finishing 4th and 5th in the scoring table behind 3 Polish players.   Henry had Team GB’s most shots on goal of the tournament with 27 in 5 games.

Poland win promotion to Division 1 Group B for next year’s World Championships and bottom team Croatia are relegated to Division 2 Group B

The GB women’s team will be hoping that they can go step further next year when they compete again in Division 2 Group A which will be held in Korea.  

WPL Match Report: Chelmsford Cobras 2 - Widnes Wild Women's Team 10

Katie Hills scored 5 goals for Widnes away at Chelmsford
Photo by Perry Tomlinson Photography

Saturday 3^rd April 2016 – 12.30pm Face Off
Chelmsford Cobras  2 - Widnes Wild Women’s Team 10

Period Scores: 1-3, 1-5, 0-2

Shots on goal:  Chelmsford 15 - Widnes 38
Penalties In Minutes: Chelmsford  2 -  Widnes 2

Scoring: Widnes – Katie Hills 5+0, Abigail Culshaw 1+2, Leen de Decker & Amanda Williams 1+1, Lucy Kirkham & Beckie Elliott 1+0, Charlene Chapman & Elizabeth Wright 0+1

Chelmsford  – Jennifer Bolton & Tereza Plankova 1+0, Nicola Hull Tara North & Zara Scott all 0+1

MVPs:  Chelmsford tba – Widnes tba

Referee: Nick Stephenson     Linesmen: Oliver Baldock / Charles Ascott

The Widnes Wild women’s team moved up to third place in the Women’s Premier League after a comprehensive 2-10 win away at Chelmsford Cobras.

They join Streatham Storm and Slough Phantoms on 10 points but have a superior playing record and games in hand over both teams. 

The Wild took control of the game from the start outshooting their hosts 12 to 2 in the toping period but it wasn’t until the 9^th minute that they scored the first goal of the game through Lucy Kirkham (8.48, asst Charlene Chapman).

Two more quick goals came from Katie Hills (10.03 unassisted) and Beckie Elliot (11.58 no asst) before the Cobras finally pulled a goal back after 17 minutes through Tereza Plankova (asst Tara North & Nicola Hull) to end the first period 1-3 down.

Chelmsford scored first in the second period through Jennifer Bolton (asst Zara Scott) to narrow the margin to just one goal but a quick brace from Katie Hills ( 25.18 & 27.58) and powerplay goal from Leen de Decker (37.23 assists Amanda Williams and Abigail Culshaw) put the Wild well and truly back in the driving seat.

Two more unassisted goals from Culshaw ( 38.22) and Hills (39.50) before the end of the second period pretty much put the game out of reach of the Cobras and Katie Hills scored again after the restart (42.47 - asst Elizabeth Wright) to bring her personal tally to five for the game.

Amanda Williams rounded off the scoring for the Wild at 44.08 to bring the two points home to Merseyside. 

The Widnes Wild women’s team are at home to Chelmsford Cobras next Sunday 10^th April at the Silver Blades ice rink in Widnes.  The face-off is 7.30pm and admission is free.  

NIHL North Play Off DVD - Pre Order Now!

For fans who are unable to get to the NIHL North play off weekend at iceSheffield – or for those who are going and would like a great souvenir of the occasion - Pyro Media will be filming all games on the Saturday and Sunday in both the Moralee and Laidler conference in partnership with NIHL Radio and BASN - British American Sports Network.

Highlights for each game, exclusive interviews with players, coaches and officials will be compiled on a special exclusive HIGHLIGHTS DVD which will also be available in a digital format.

WHEN ORDERING - Please note the team you support in the box provided. This allows Pyro Media to direct part of the money from each sale directly to that team.

PRE-ORDER NOW: www.nihl.pyromedia.co

NIHL South 1 Play Off Update

Photo by Steve Sutherland - www.icecoldphoto.co.uk

The quarter finals of the NIHL South 1 Play Offs saw three of the top four teams win through to the semi-finals. The only upset came as 4^th place Oxford City Stars lost out to 5^th place Streatham Redskins by one goal in a 4-3 aggregate defeat, having won their home leg 2-0.

League champions Chelmsford Chieftains disposed of 8^th place London Raiders 9-2 over two legs, Wightlink Raiders beat Solent Devils 10-4 and Invicta Dynamos overcame Milton Keynes Thunder 7-4 after having lost 4-3 in the away leg.

The two semi-finals take place this weekend with home and away legs being played on 9^th and 10^th April.  Chelmsford meet Streatham – who they have already beaten in the NIHL South Cup final and Invicta play Wightlink in a repeat of last season’s play off final.

 

 

Billingham Stars Win NIHL North Cup

Billingham Stars secured the NIHL North Cup after 2 victories at the weekend which lifted  them above Blackburn Hawks in the final group table.

With both Stars and Hawks winning home and away against Solway Sharks in the competition earlier in the season – and the 4^th team, Widnes Wild, really only taking part to gain experience rather than having any real hope of winning silverware  -  it all came down to the two cup encounters between the top two in the group.

Hawks won 1-2 away in Billingham after a 1-1 draw was decided in overtime – the first time that an overtime win was used in NIHL competitions.  That gave Blackburn 2 points from the game and Billingham one point for an “overtime loss”. Then in Blackburn’s last home game of their Moralee Conference winning season, Billingham shocked the new champions with a 2-6 victory to put them well and truly in the driving seat.  Two points from a win at Widnes the following evening would suffice to put them clear at the top of the group and the ensuing 1-7 win meant that Billingham were able to celebrate their first trophy since winning the ENL North title in 2012.

Story to follow....

LMC Statement re Deeside Dragons v Widnes Wild Match

Photo by British American Sports Network

The NIHL North League Management Committee have made an announcement regarding the Laidler Conference game between Deeside v Widnes on 26th March which came to a premature end.

The announcement is as follows:

"This was an incident on the ice that has been reviewed with on-ice officials a"nd the Secretary of NIHL Discipline who was present at this match.

This match had 3 experienced referees who had control of the match.

The incident involving Lee Kemp and Alex Roberts was observed by the referees who were in, immediately after it occurred.

A check to the head by Roberts, was a forearm to the helmet, which forced Kemp to the ice. His injury was caused by his head making contact with the ice.  At this point, the Widnes Coach decided to remove his team from the competition. This action was confirmed when the referee went to the Widnes dressing room where the Widnes Coach refused to return his team to the competition.

No reference was made to the Discipline Secretary, who was present at the match, nor was any League Management Committee Member contacted to request the match be suspended.

Decision:

The score stands. 3-1 to Deeside.

The 2 + 10 misconduct penalty to Alex Roberts has been reviewed and increased to a 5+ Match for ‘Check to the Head’, and he is suspended for 3 games.

The Deeside Team is warned to their future conduct.

The Widnes Team is fined £500 (suspended) for removing the team from the competition and warned to their future conduct.

The Widnes Coach is instructed to review the Disciplinary Document.

Both Teams will have supervision reviewing matches in upcoming play-offs."