Sheffield sweep on

ICE HOCKEY

ICE HOCKEY

BY STEVE PINDER

Sheffield Steelers and Nottingham Panthers reached this weekend's Premier Division championship at Wembley, where they will meet Cardiff Devils and Edinburgh Racers respectively in the semi-finals.

Sheffield, Nottingham, Humberside Hawks and Fife Flyers all went into their last two matches with four points. Sheffield made it look easy, sweeping aside Fife 6-0 and beating Humberside 9-2.

Fife welcomed Nottingham, who had already beaten Humberside 7-3, knowing that not only a win but a hatful of goals were needed. Fife led 3-0 at the end of the first period, but their search for goals let Nottingham recover to 4-3. Fife won 5-3, but it was not enough and they ended up third in the league.

In the promotion-relegation play-offs, Slough Jets, so often the end- of-season bridesmaids, finally made the altar at the expense of Paisley Pirates. The two sides, level on points, met with goal difference the vital factor. There were 15 seconds left when Darrin Zinger scored for Slough to give them a 14-5 victory and promotion by one goal.