Paisley Pirates 10 Lancashire Hawks 6 ; Lancashire Hawks 4 Slough Jets 10

JIM Pennycook needed hospital treatment as the problems piled up for Lancashire Hawks.

The player-coach suffered a nasty injury in Scotland on Saturday but, after lengthy treatment, was able to watch on from the sidelines last night.

Apart from Pennycook's setback Hawks played both games - successive defeats against Paisley Pirates and Slough Jets, without the services of their main points scorer Adrian Lomonaco.

A hip injury is Lomonaco's handicap and, like Pennycook, the Canadian is unsure how long he faces out of action.

Considering such misfortune and the strength and the class of the opposition the weekend report reads "much improved."

Forget that Hawks lost both - the days when fans expected victories have long gone - 11 losses on the bounce emphasises that particular point.

But the faithful do expect effort and fight and commitment. Hawks have been guilty of failing on all three counts - but the spirit was back for both matches.

A trip to tackle Northern League top dogs Paisley on their own pad was always a daunting prospect and when Hawks slumped to 1-5 by the end of the second period a battering looked likely.

But, points for resilience. Hawks dragged themselves up by the bootlaces to 4-6 and 5-7 in an action-packed final countdown in which they shared 10 goals with the Pirates. Consistent marksman Ryan Smith did the damage with five goals and two assists, but there was a gallant effort from Hawks netminder Colin Downie who toiled manfully in the face of 58 shots - that's just short of one every minute.

Back at the Arena last night Hawks again slipped to 1-5 down against Slough Jets in a National League fixture.

They again showed the ability to graft when the chips are down and emerged with credit, a late goals flurry giving the scoreline a balance which didn't really reflect the way of things.

The Jets deserved to win, but only just and there was another fine individual display from Alan Hough, surely a main contender for the Hawk's player of the season award.

Saturday details - Period scores: 2-1, 3-0, 5-5.

Scoresheet: Neil Abel 0+2, Jeff Daniels 2+2, Tim Dempsey 1+1, Tom Burridge 1+0, Ismo Rokala 0+1, Alan Hough 1+1, Billy Price 1+0.

Sunday details - Period scores: 1-5, 1-2, 2-3.

Scoresheet: Jeff Daniels 1+3, Bobby Haig 1+0, Alan Hough 1+2, Tom Burridge 1+0, Simon Mills 0+2.

Jeff Daniels' four points at Paisley took the Canadian through the 100 points barrier for the season.

Hawks have rearranged two matches. They will visit Kingston on Wednesday, February 4 and entertain Paisley on Tuesday, February 17 (face off 8pm).

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