Ethan Mayoh scored away at Nottingham and was MVP at home to Blackburn (Photo by Emilia Roberts Photography)
Saturday
7th February 2026 – NIHL Moralee Division: Nottingham Lions 0 - Deeside D1 Dragons 5
Sunday 8th February 2026 – NIHL Moralee Division: Deeside D1 Dragons 3 – Blackburn Hawks 5
The Deeside D1 Dragons had a mixed weekend in the
NIHL Moralee Division, winning 0-5 away at Nottingham Lions on Saturday and narrowly
losing to league leaders Blackburn Hawks 3-5 at Deeside Leisure Centre on
Sunday.
The Dragons had scored double figures in both their
home wins over the Lions this season but had yet to visit the imposing National
Ice Centre with its impressive 7.500 capacity arena.
They weren’t overly daunted, however, and goals
from Colin Cromie and Ross Kennedy saw them leading 0-2 at the first period
break.
A second goal from Cromie, one from Ethan Mayoh and
one from top scorer Jake Witkowsi gave the Dragons a 0-5 lead at the end of the
second period and they shut up shop in the third, obviously saving their energy
for the big game against Blackburn Hawks the next day.
Tyler de la Bertouche and Jace Gledhill played half
the game each in the Deeside goal, sharing a 24-shot shut-out, and Dan Fadejevs
was named MVP for the Dragons.
The home game between the league’s top two on
Sunday was a different matter all together and a short-benched Deeside team – missing
a number of regular players – knew they were in a contest right from the start.
The Hawks opened the scoring on 11 minutes and,
despite numerous chances for the Dragons, the score remained 0-1 at the first
period break.
Blackburn doubled their lead 56 seconds into the second
period but Deeside pulled a goal back through captain Jared Dickinson two minutes
later.
A powerplay goal saw Blackburn restore their 2-goal
cushion on 28 minutes but Matty Barlow narrowed the deficit once again 69 seconds
after that. However, the Hawks struck
again on 34 minutes and the score stood at 2-4 to the visitors at the second
interval.
A Jake Witkowski goal just 33 seconds into the
third period gave Deeside hope but they were unable to build on this any
further.
With less than 2 minutes to play and the score
still at a tantalisingly close 3-4, Deeside called a timeout and withdrew their
netminder in favour of an extra attacker.
Unfortunately, they got caught out while pressing forward
for a late equaliser and Blackburn fired in an empty net goal with 5 seconds left
on the clock to seal the 3-5 victory.
Following the weekend results across the league,
Deeside remain in second place in the Moralee Division table with 64 points
from 29 games – now seven points ahead of Telford in third following the Tigers’
5-2 defeat in Hull.
Blackburn Hawks still lead the table with 84 points
from 30 games, having also beaten Widnes Wild on Saturday, and are now 20
points ahead of the Dragons. They could secure the Moralee Division title as early
as next weekend if they win one of their two games.
The D1 Dragons, however, could have a hand in those
proceedings as they travel away to face Blackburn in East Lancashire on Sunday,
6pm face off.
They are next at home the following weekend, when they
take on Telford Tigers in the two legged Moralee Cup final, away on the
Saturday and at home on the Sunday. Both
games are already sold out.
