IN A busy weekend at home, Blackburn Hawks took the vital league points in a hard-fought 9-7 win over rivals Altrincham Aces, and went down by the odd goal in seven to Whitley Warriors in a cup tie.

Unbeaten in three outings against the Aces so far this season, the Hawks were not short of confidence as they approached the top-of-the-table clash. The Aces were also disadvantaged through missing star players Simon Mills and Tim Dempsey. And when the Hawks hit two early goals, an easy victory looked on the cards.

It was not to be however, and though the Hawks led throughout, there was no question of resting on laurels.

Ex-Hawk Paul Fleury was outstanding as he led successive raids on the home net. Colin Downie withstood constant pressure as the visitors rained 64 shots on his goal. For their part, the Hawks hit just 29 at Rick Ashton.

Considering the rivalry between these teams, the game was not a physical encounter. The flow however, was undermined by some over-zealous rules interpretation with the Hawks incurring 48 minutes of penalties to the Aces' 16. With Bobby Haig directing the defence, it was a backs-to-the-wall performance as the Hawks played much of the game short-handed.

"We put ourselves under too much pressure, I thought we were a bit sloppy," said player-coach Haig. "It's a young team and we have to learn from this. At least we got the right result and we have a good chance of finishing second in the league now."

Player-coach Haig, Dan Mackriel and Gordon Whyte all scored twice, with single strikes added by West Barnett, Chris Cheadle and Craig Sharman. Whyte was elected man of the match.

Warriors win

ICE HOCKEY: Blackburn Hawks qualified for the next round of the cup, despite losing 4-3 to the Whitley Warriors on Sunday.

Craig Sharman scored twice before having to leave the ice through injury and man of the match Chris Cheadle got the third.

ICE HOCKEY: Blackburn Hawks took the vital league points in a hard-fought 9-7 win over rivals Altrincham Aces on Saturday.

Unbeaten in three outings against the Aces so far this season, the Hawks were not short of confidence as they approached the top-of-the-table clash.

But it was a backs-to-the-wall performance for the Hawks as the visitors rained 64 shots at netminder Colin Dowie, the Hawks hit just 29.

"We put ourselves under too much pressure," said player-coach Bobby Haig. "It's a young team and we have to learn from this. But we got the right result and we have a good chance of finishing second in the league now."

Haig, Dan Mackriel and Gordon Whyte all scored twice, with single strikes added by West Barnett, Chris Cheadle and Craig Sharman.

On Sunday, in an entertaining Anglo-Socttish Cup qualifier, the Hawks were beaten by a Warriors outfit from Whitley Bay. Both sides have already qualified for the next stage.

Craig Sharman scored twice before having to leave the ice through injury and man of the match Chris Cheadle got the third.