Sheffield Steelers coach Aaron Fox hails 'unreal' team after Challenge Cup triumph against Guildford Flames

The Steelers were made to work hard for their 3-1 triumph by Guildford Flames but, in the end, they were fully deserving of winning the trophy for just the second time in the Elite League era.

For Fox and a number of his players, it was a case of deja vu, having won the competition in March 2020.

On that occasion, they beat Cardiff Devils 4-3 in South Wales but, this time around, home advantage counted, the Steelers cheered on throughout by a raucous home crowd, who made up the vast majority of the sellout 9,100 attendance on Wednesday night.

MORE – Sheffield Steelers 3 Guildford Flames 1 - Steelers up and running as they secure first piece of silverware in Challenge Cup

MORE – Sheffield Steelers - Kevin Tansey insists nobody being taken lightly in pursuit of Elite League crown

First period strikes from Brien Diffley and Patrick Watling - the latter just 19 seconds before the break - sandwiched a bullet of an equaliser from Bradley Lalonde.

But a 25th-minute tip-in from Mitchell Balmas from Diffley’s shot put the Steelers in control and left the Flames with lots to do in order to get back in the game.

Paul Dixon’s team pushed hard in the third period, out-shooting the Steelers 18-1, but whenever the puck did get through, netminder Matt Greenfield held firm.

There was the occasional nerve-jangling moment - most notably when another shot from Lalonde took a deflection and trickled past Greenfield’s right-hand post - but, in the end, the Steelers were good value for their win.

For Fox and his players, the triumph marks the first step on their path to enjoying what they hope will be a treble, well-positioned in the regular season league title race and with the play-offs to follow after.

Sign up to Sports Editor's Team Talk newsletter today for the latest sporting news across Yorkshire

For a number of Steelers’ players, it was the first trophy of their careers, with their coach paying tribute to their character and commitment since the first puck dropped on the 2023-24 campaign back in September.

“It feels awesome,” said Fox. “We’ve been here before but it’s been a while and to do it in front of this home crowd … the atmosphere was electric and the guys played their hearts out.

“There are some guys in there who haven’t won trophies in their whole career and for them - the commitment and work ethic and some of the stuff we’ve gone through as a group this year as well, it hasn’t been easy - but they’ve persevered and they are an unreal group of guys.

“I felt like we played a really, really good first 40 minutes and then we absorbed some pressure in the third, we knew they were going to push.

“But Greener held firm. It was just a great 60-minute effort from the whole group.

“I love our group. They are a bunch of character guys in there, good people on and off the ice and I couldn’t be happier for them.”