BOBBY HAIG'S hopes of closing the gap between the Hawks and third place Kingston were demolished this weekend after the Hawks were defeated in an important ENH League clash.

And only 24 hours later Blackburn made certain they were out of the running for the Premier Cup -- staying at the bottom of the table with just one point.

Saturday night saw the Hawks take on Sheffield at the Arena and only a point above them, it was vital that they should at least tie to sustain their position.

But the Scimitars had other ideas, and despite a valiant effort by Blackburn's team-coach Haig and his men the visitors came out winners, leaving the Hawks a place down in the table and down in spirit.

"We are just as good as Sheffield but on the night it just wasn't to be," said Haig. "We were really disappointed with the result, we know we can beat them -- we defeated them 4-1 away from home in October - and it was an important game for us.

"We were hoping to finish in the top four of the table - we are not too far behind Kingston in third place - but the defeat has made it harder for us. We are now in sixth place whilst Sheffield have moved up to fourth, which has increased the gap."

The weekend went from bad to worse for the Hawks when they travelled to the Midlands only to face a second Cup thrashing this season from Premier side Solihull.

Although the Hawks have no chance of securing the Premier Cup, they were all out to seek revenge after a 16-1 thrashing last time. But instead they faced an almost repeat performance.

"It was disappointing to say the least, even though Solihull are in the league above us. We could have done with a confidence booster this weekend but we got exactly the opposite.

"We all just have to get our heads down now and try to win as many of our remaining games as we can."

This Saturday the Hawks play host to arch rivals Altrincham Aces in an English Cup tie, before heading off to face Kingston Jets in the same competition 24 hours later. The Arena doors open at 5.15pm on Saturday for the 6pm face off.

BLACKBURN HAWKS...5

SHEFF SCIMITARS...10

SOLIHULL BARONS...15

BLACKBURN HAWKS...2