Fife stunned by Blackburn's opening burst

Ice hockey

Ice hockey

The Benson and Hedges Cup has produced a few minor tremors but no major shocks until this weekend, when Blackburn Hawks met Fife Flyers, writes Steve Pinder.

Blackburn (won two, lost three) beat Fife (who had a 100 per cent record) with their first-period domination. The sides swapped goals and the score was 2-2 after 11 minutes, but then Blackburn streaked away with three goals in four minutes to end the period 5-2 up.

Paul Hand and Mark Morrison eased the pressure on Fife, only for Steve Chartrand to continue the damage with a minute of the second period left, making the score 6-4 to Blackburn.

The third period was littered with penalties. Chris Palmer managed to close the gap to 6-5, only for Chartrand and two goals from Oleg Sinkov to win the match 9-5 for Blackburn.

This leaves the group, which includes Murrayfield Royals, Paisley Pirates and Newcastle Warriors, open to any one of the four bar Murrayfield.

In the other groups, one place is still to be decided between the Slough Jets or Basingstoke Bison who drew 6-6 on Sunday.