A RUN of five unbeaten English National Ice Hockey League games came to an end for Blackburn Hawks as Billingham Eagles stole the points at the Arena on Sunday.

For defending champions Billingham, the 6-3 scoreline represents their first win of the season, but it wasn't as comfortable as it suggests.

Indeed, if the Hawks had taken just a few of the early string of chances created, they could have been out of sight before the Eagles had landed.

As the game wore on, the visitors, who have lost several players to rival clubs during the summer, grew in confidence and capitalised on some defensive lapses.

Mark McDonald opened the scoring for the Hawks, with player-coach Bobby Haig providing the assist. The Eagles grabbed two before Haig himself scored a short-handed goal with Gordon Whyte assisting.

As the Hawks chased the game in the later stages, Neal Haworth collected the third, following good work from Haig and Chris Cheadle, but the visitors were clear leaders by this point.

In a brave last-ditch ploy when trailing 3-5, Haig pulled the goalminder. Despite increased pressure, the Hawks failed to capitalise.

The move eventually backfired as a Billingham defender revealed his experience in lobbing the puck over the Hawks' backline and into an empty net for the visitors' sixth goal.

Hawks' manager Keith Greenhalgh said: "It is disappointing, but I suppose you have to have a poor game somewhere in the season. For the first 10 minutes we were all over them, but they fought back well.

"We know we can play a lot better, we'll have to put this behind us and get on with it."

Having completed seven games, four wins, two defeats and a draw, Blackburn Hawks have nine points and are joint third with Kingston in their division. Altrincham Aces are second with 11 points and Whitley Warriors top the charts with 13.

Weekend results: Altrincham 9 Kingston 4; Blackburn 3 Billingham 6; Bradford 1 Whitley 14