Scims facing difficult weekend

The win on home ice over Swindon was Scimitars' first in seven games and although followed by a 4-1 defeat at Basingstoke on Sunday was nonetheless encouraging.

First up this weekend for Jon Rowbotham's young side are Guildford Flames, who arrive at Ice Sheffield on the back of an impressive run of 15 wins in 18 games, lifting them to third in the table.

The Flames warmed up for their trip to South Yorkshire in impressive style last weekend, following up a 7-1 home win over local rivals Romford Raiders, before heading to Altrincham to inflict a heavy 6-2 defeat on former Elite League regulars, Manchester Phoenix.

Previous meetings between Sheffield and Guildford see the Flames with a slight advantage, 3-1 up in the series so far, their last success coming at Ice Sheffield over Christmas when they shutout the Scimitars in a 4-0 victory.

On Sunday, Scimitars travel to league leaders Milton Keynes, who will be playing their third match in four days following Saturday's trip to Romford and Thursday night's EPL Cup semi-final clash in Manchester.

Again, Scimitars are 3-1 down in the head-to-head series, winning 4-2 in Buckinghamshire in October before narrowly losing out 3-2 on their last visit there in November.

Since then, Lightning have won twice at Ice Sheffield, though by just a one goal margin, and, thanks to an 11-game winning streak, MK are now eight points clear of second-placed Slough Jets. Last weekend saw them follow up a 4-2 home win over Bracknell Bees with a 5-3 success at second-bottom Swindon.

Tickets for the Guildford game are available on match night and are priced at: Adult 8.50 Child 4.00 Concession 6.00 Family 20.00.