Fife let chance slip

Fife Flyers pulled within three points of the Premier Division leaders, Nottingham Panthers, with an 11-1 win over Peterborough Pirates. But then, with Nottingham inactive, Fife wasted a chance to close the gap further when they went down 4-0 to S heffield Steelers. Panthers now have four games in hand.

After an easy victory over Peterborough, Fife should have kept something in reserve for the visit to Sheffield. The first period finished goalless, but a short-handed goal from Steve Nemeth broke the stalemate half-way through the match. Les Millie scored Sheffield's second, and Chris Kelland and Ken Murchison scored in the third period. Martin McKay skated off having faced 32 shots without conceding a goal.

Edinburgh Racers suffered their biggest defeat, 16-5 at the hands of Cardiff Devils. Edinburgh must have found the six goals from Hilton Ruggles, a former Racer, particularly galling.

Cardiff continued their winning streak the next day against Bracknell Bees, coming from behind twice to win 14-8.