Hull Seahawks coach Matty Davies's reaction to derby defeat to Sheffield Steeldogs

The 5-2 win sealed a much-welcome four-point weekend for Jason Hewitt’s team, following on from their 7-6 win at Solway Sharks the previous night.

But it left nothing but frustration on the East Coast for the hosts, for who the encounter was their only game of the weekend.

With Leeds Knights without a game on either night, it was also an opportunity missed by the Seahawks to close the gap on the NIHL National leaders and second-placed Milton Keynes Lightning, who enjoyed a four-point weekend to move level with Leeds.

Instead the Seahawks dropped two places to fifth in the standings with both Telford and Peterborough edging above them.

But it was the manner of Hull’s defeat which left head coach Davies most frustrated, coughing up a 2-1 lead that they had only established early in the third when Emil Svec pounced, Jonathan Phillips having equalised for the Steeldogs in the 32nd minute to cancel out Owen Bruton’s opener for the hosts at 6.39.

On a night when tempers flared regularly, however, the game swung back the other way quite quickly after Svec’s strike, Matt Bissonnette drawing the Steeldogs level quickly at 44.00 for the first of four goals in six minutes that decided the game.

Thomas Palmer put the visitors ahead for the first time before a brace from Cam Bronley made it 5-2 with just over 10 minutes left.

“It’s probably the worst 15 minutes I’ve seen all year from us,” said Davies. “We just turned it in and we didn’t want to do the things that make us successful.

“We got the lead and then we just thought it was going to be easy and we could roll over and beat them.

“It’s two points completely given away. We cannot afford to do that. We keep saying we’ve got games in hand but they mean nothing if you don’t win them.

"I didn’t feel at any point in the game – even when it was just 1-1 – that we were going to lose that game because I think we were the better team pretty much all night, but for those 15 minutes at the end.”