Hull edge Flyers to take leadership of division

It continues a welcome transformation in terms of results for the East Yorkshire club who, after going eight games without a win, now boast four wins in five.

With a line-up containing two-way signing Tom Squires for a second successive game, Hull again went behind first, trailing to a 33rd-minute strike by Jeff Caister.

Fife’s lead didn’t last long, however, with Dominic Osman grabbing his eighth of the season two minutes later.

Two goals in three third-period minutes determined the result, however.

Janis Ozolins – who has made the transformation from the English Premier League to the Elite League appear simple – scored his 11th of the season at 49.05 before, for the second week running, player-coach Sylvain Cloutier scored the game-winning goal against the same opponents, firing home while his team were short-handed at 52.41.

Jason Pitton did make it a one-goal game again at 56.39, but Hull hung on to move ahead of Braehead Clan in the conference standings.

While Squires was helping Stingrays to a third straight win, his team-mates at Sheffield Steeldogs endured a nightmare evening in the EPL when they went down 9-1 at fierce rivals Manchester Phoenix.

Joachim Flaten and Ciaran Long led the way for a rampant Manchester with two goals apiece, with Steve Duncombe netting Sheffield’s solitary reply.

The shock scoreline came 24 hours after Andre Payette’s team looked to have turned a corner after their 4-2 home win over Peterborough Phantoms snapped a four-game losing streak.

Lloyd Gibson, Edgar Bebris (2) and Greg Wood scored the goals which sank John Kynaston‘s team.