David Meikle scored a hat-trick as Blackburn Hawks put in a professional performance to see off Solihull Barons 11-5 in the English Cup.

Following last Sunday’s superb victory over league leaders Sheffield Spartans, it is the first time that Hawks have recorded back-to-back wins this season.

Hawks are now just four points behind their Yorkshire rivals in the North Cup table and the two teams go head-to-head at the Arena this weekend.

Assistant coach Gary Buckman said: “We made hard work of it, but I was pleased with the win. They are a Division 2 side, but they threw everything at us in the first period.

“We scored really early on and I thought it would be a breeze for us, but I was shocked by the way they came back.

“Every time we scored, they seemed to score. So I gave the lads a good ear-bashing at the first interval and that seemed to settle us down.

“You can’t ever get complacent against lower league teams, because things can happen. Thankfully I saw it coming, I made them aware of it and they knew not to get embarrassed.”

Before making the trip to the West Midlands, Hawks were dealt a blow with the news that Carl Slater and Chad Briggs would be unavailable through illness and injury.

Despite the setback, Hawks came flying out of the traps, with Meikle finding the back of the net inside the opening 20 seconds.

Meikle added his second on a powerplay after nine minutes and then set up Karl Downey for Hawks’ third, but the opening period ended with the scores tied at three-apiece. Buckman’s team-talk appeared to have the desired effect, as four unanswered goals effectively put the tie to bed. Meikle completed his hat-trick, whilst Aaron Davies bagged a brace and Rick Hughes scored on a powerplay.

Solihull did reply with two goals of their own in the final period, but Hawks again scored four – with Rick Bentham, Wayne Slater, Craig Rogers and Sam Dunford all adding their names to the scoresheet to complete the rout.