Colin Cromie scored 5 goals over the weekend against Hull (Photo by Angel Devlin)
Saturday
4th April 2026 – Play Off S/Final (1): Hull Jets 2 - Deeside D1 Dragons 6
Sunday 5th April 2026 – Play Off S/Final (2): Deeside D1 Dragons 6 – Hull Jets 5
Deeside win 12-7 on aggregate
The Deeside D1 Dragons won through to their first
play off final for 10 years after beating Hull Jets 12 –7 on aggregate over two
legs in the semi final at the weekend.
They won 2-6 away in Humberside on Saturday and
then narrowly edged a much closer game 6-5 at Deeside Leisure Centre on Sunday.
In the away game on Saturday, after a tense opening
phase, Colin Cromie gave Deeside the lead on 14 minutes and Ross Kennedy
doubled the advantage just 36 seconds later.
Cromie edged the Dragons further ahead 58 seconds
into the second period and a goal from Theo Malone and hat-trick strike from Cromie
saw them leading 0-5 before the first Hull goal came on 35 minutes.
Hull scored again 79 seconds into the third period
but that was it in terms of a Jets revival and a second goal of the night for
Malone rounded off the scoring for the game 2 minutes later.
The first period had been penalty-free but things
got more tetchy as the game went on and tensions came to a head with a mass
altercation on 50 minutes that saw 3 players from each team sent to the penalty
box. Luckily, this had no bearing on the
final result and the Dragons came home with a 2-6 advantage to take into the
second leg.
Sunday’s home game also started well for the
Dragons with goals from Matty Barlow on 8
minutes – his first since his return from injury - and Jake Witkowski on 14 minutes
giving them a 2-0 lead. Hull pulled a
goal back 60 seconds later and the score stood at 2-1 at the first period
break.
The visitors were the quickest out of the blocks in
the second period and equalised on 24 minutes before taking the lead just 38 seconds
after that. Colin Cromie levelled the
score for Deeside with 57 seconds left in the period and the match remained
balanced on a knife edge at 3-3 at the second interval.
Ross Kennedy fired the Dragons back in front 16 seconds
from the puck drop and Cromie doubled the advantage on 44 minutes.
There seemed little likelihood of Hull overturning
the aggregate deficit by this point but they didn’t give up and two more goals
saw them draw level once again, setting up a dramatic last 10 minutes.
Jake Witkowski scored the game winning goal on 56 minutes
and the Dragons were able to round off their home games for the season with a
6-5 victory on the night and a 12-7 overall aggregate victory.
The Dragons will now meet league champions Blackburn
Hawks – who beat Billingham Stars 11–6 in the other semi final – in the single
game play off final this Saturday 11th April at iceSheffield.
The match is part of the annual Sheffield Showdown
play off weekend which sees all four regional division finals being played on the Saturday and then north v
south finals at division 1 and division 2 level on Sunday to decide overall
national champions.
The full weekend programme is as follows:
Saturday 11th April
10.15: Laidler (N2) Play Off
Final
13.15: Wilkinson (S2) Play Off
Final
16.15: Moralee (N1) Play Off
Final
19.15: Britton (S1) Play Off
Final
Sunday 12th April
13.00: National
Champions Div 2 Final
16.30:
National Champions Div 1 Final
Advance tickets for the play off weekend can be
purchased via the England Ice Hockey website here:
https://eih.ticketco.events/uk/en/e/steel_city_showdown_2026
For any Deeside fans not going to Sheffield at the
weekend, the Dragons Under 16 girls team are at home on Sunday to Caledonia
Iron Maidens in their penultimate home game of the season at Deeside Leisure
Centre, 4.30pm face off.
