Sheffield Steeldogs 7 Hull Seahawks 1: Steeldogs maintain derby hold over rivals to move up to second

It was a night to forget at Ice Sheffield for Matty Davies and his players, one that started badly when they went 2-0 down inside three minutes and got progressively worse before ending with captain Bobby Chamberlain being tossed from the game for unsportsmanlike conduct with just over five minutes remaining.

They had their fair share of scoring chances on the night, it’s just that the hosts were more clinical in front of the net, while their netminder Alex Oldale was in a miserly mood.

The Steeldogs overcame the Seahawks 5-3 on home ice on the opening weekend of the season and had doubled down when winning 5-4 in Hull just under two weeks ago.

Davies was keen to return the favour in South Yorkshire on Friday night, but his disjointed team struggled to impose themselves throughout.

It was Nathan Ripley who got the ball rolling for the hosts after just 96 seconds before Walker Sommer applied the finishing touch to a move involving Ivan Björkly-Nordström and Jonathan Phillips 63 seconds later.

It got worse for the visitors when Brady Doxey weaved his way through the Seahawks back line before producing a cool finish over Jordan McLaughlin's left shoulder at 8.42.

Jacob Brammer then found himself in the right place at the right time as the puck found him in front of the net to fire home at 16.48.

Slim hope arrived for Hull in the shape of a neat move involving Jason Hewitt and Johnny Corneil, who threaded a pass through traffic to Lee Bonner, who tapped home at the far post to make it 4-1 with just 30 seconds of the period remaining.

Dmitri Zimozdra replaced McLaughlin for the second period but any hope Hull entertained of making a comeback was quickly extinguished just 45 seconds in when Jonathan Phillips got the better of him..

Hull showed more resolve in the middle section, including killing off 80 seconds of a 5-on-3, but, at the other end, they could not find a way past Oldale.

Zimozdra was impressive at the other end against his former team but was beaten for a second time when Kyle Watson’s blast from the bottom of the left circle cannoned in off his right pad at 48.31.

A slashing call on Ethan Hehir brought another Steeldogs power play, one that was only 20 seconds old when Ripley’s second effort of the night crept over the goal-line at 50.30, inflicting Hull’s heaviest defeat of the season.

The win was enough to take the Steeldogs back above Leeds Knights into second in the standings, three points behind leaders Swindon Wildcats but having played two games more.

Swindon host Leeds on Saturday night, while the Steeldogs complete a home double against Romford Raiders (face-off 7pm).

Hull have time to lick their wounds and are not in action again until Sunday when they will look to bounce back at Solway Sharks.