Sheffield Steelers stay 'solid' to keep Elite League grand slam hopes alive

And after seeing out a testing first 10 minutes of their quarter-final second leg against Fife Flyers, head coach Aaron Fox was left praising a “solid” if unspectacular performance which produced a 4-1 victory and a 13-5 overall aggregate triumph.

It means they will now begin preparations for the first semi-final at Nottingham’s National Ice Centre this Saturday against Guildford Flames.

Two more wins in a campaign littered with them, will deliver the Steelers a third grand slam.

The Flames booked their passage to the East Midlands with a similarly comfortable two-leg triumph over Manchester Storm, following up Saturday’s 5-1 win in Altrincham with a formulaic 4-0 win on home ice 24 hours later.

They and the Steelers will be fighting for the right to face-off in Sunday’s final against Cardiff Devils or Belfast Giants.

The teams finishing second and third in the regular season standings - some distance from the Steelers - were made to work harder for their spot at the end-of-season showpiece event, Cardiff seeing off Dundee Stars 7-4 overall, with Belfast edging out Coventry Blaze 3-2, having won the first leg 2-1 on home ice.

The Steelers were without Patrick Watling, Mark Simpson and captain Robert Dowd in Fife. It is hoped all three will be available to face the Flames.

If not, the Steelers will still expect to find a way to win their third trophy of the campaign. They have found a way all season, a season that has seen them be relentless from start to finish - much like they were against the Flyers at the weekend.

“I thought Fife pushed really hard in the first seven or eight minutes and they put us under a ton of pressure,” said Fox after the win in Scotland.

“Tony (Morrone) made a couple of huge saves which was crucial because if Fife had scored early it could have turned the tide and momentum is always huge in that building.

“But I felt like after the 10-minute mark that we really turned our game around and started moving our feet and playing the right way.

“I think we took over that game after that and got that first goal which is huge and makes it harder for them to come back and then we just closed it down really well - it was a really good weekend for us. Solid.

After weathering the expected early storm from a Flyers team desperate for an early breakthrough as they trailed by five goals after their trip to South Yorkshire to help overturn the five-goal deficit from the first leg, it was the Steelers - almost predictably - that made the breakthrough.

Kevin Tansey, a man-mountain all season for the league and Challenge Cup champions, was man responsible with 13.44 on the clock, Mikko Juusola doubling the advantage on the night just 16 seconds before the period ended.

Marc-Olivier Vallerand heaped on the agony for the Flyers just before the halfway point, the hosts deservedly getting on the board through Colin Shirley in the 55th minute before Brett Neumann rounded off the scoring in the final minute.