BLACKBURN Hawks defeated arch-rivals Altrincham Aces last week in a dramatic and full-blooded English Cup tie at the Arena.

Bobby Haig's side were keen to avenge a heavy cup defeat by the Aces and were first out of the blocks, racing into a 5-2 lead in the first period. And despite a real comeback from the high-flying Aces, testing the home side's resolve to the limit, the Hawks held their own and came out worthy winners.

"It was a fantastic game," said a jubilant Hawks coach Bobby Haig.

"They dug in and gave a real gutsy performance, I'm proud of the lads.

"I know it was only a cup game and we can't qualify, but it shows what we can do when we put our minds to it. Altrincham still have a good chance of taking the league and we more than matched them. The guys were really happy!"

Tonight it is league action at the Arena as the Hawks take on the Grimsby Buffaloes for the first time this season, before travelling to face Bradford 24 hours later.

And Bobby Haig wants nothing less than four points.

"We really need to beat Grimsby tonight, they are a point behind us in the league and have played two games more than us - a win would allow us the breakaway we need.

"We meet them again next Saturday, this time away from home, so giving them a sound beating tonight will give us better odds for next week. I'm not too worried about Sunday, Bradford are at the bottom of the league and we gave them a good thrashing back in January.

"Hopefully we can get our heads down and get two points from each of our remaining four league games - that way we might finish the season on a high in third or fourth place."

The Arena doors open at 5.15pm tonight for the 6pm face off against the Grimsby Buffaloes.