Ice hockey; Wasps fall to flying Hawks

Humberside Hawks were the big winners in the Benson and Hedges Cup quarter- finals. Their three-goal winning margin, as they disposed of Durham Wasps 12-9 over two games, was the weekend's biggest.

It was also the one quarter-final in which a commanding lead was thrown away. Hawks stormed into a 3-0 advantage after just six minutes of the first match on their home ice. However, Wasps levelled halfway through the second period and went ahead, after Hawks' Scott Young was thrown out for colliding with referee John Moore, with two power-play goals.

Hawks refused to give in and two goals from Graham Garden and Mike Bishop tied the game at 5-5. Hawks looked dead in the second leg as Wasps ended the second period 4-1 up, 9-6 on aggregate. But then Wasps collapsed, conceding six goals without reply in the final period.

Cardiff Devils met the team they beat in last year's final, Sheffield Steelers. The first leg, in Cardiff, ended 7-3 to Steelers, who spent the first period containing the home side to 0-0 and the second and third winning the game,with the old Devil, Nicky Chinn, inspirational.

In the second leg, Charlie Colon dashed 180-miles to replace Cardiff's netminder, Martin McKay, who was rushed to hospital with appendicitis. He faced 44 shots at the expense of just four goals, but a pair by Steelers' Tony Hand settled the tie 9-7.

nA Swedish player, Bengt Akerblom, died after a freak accident in a training match when his throat was cut by a team-mate's blade on Sunday.