Steelers capitalise in double triumph

Ben Simon's team scored for fun during Saturday night's 18-1 humiliation of a sorry Edinburgh Capitals at the Motorpoint Arena before heading to injury-riddled Coventry Blaze 24 hours later where they were made to work hard for both points in a 4-2 victory.

Neil Clark led the way against Edinburgh with five goals, while Tom Squires and Robert Dowd both picked up hat-tricks in a scoreline that further highlighted the plight of a Capitals team who have suffered from a mass exodus of their import players in recent weeks, shipping 55 goals in their last five games.

Ashley Tait, Rob Globke and Dowd (2) were on target for the Steelers in Coventry, while Edinburgh made it 11 defeats in a row with a 10-2 reverse at Hull Stingrays on Sunday.

Lee Esders and Jason Silverthorn scored two apiece, while 20-year-old forward Ben Lowe picked up his first professional goal.

"All we wanted to do was make sure we did a professional job and pick up the two points," said Hull player-coach Sylvain Cloutier, whose team are now just five points adrift of sixth-placed Coventry with two games in hand.

Matty Davies was missing from the Hull line-up against Edinburgh and it became clear why on Monday when the club confirmed he had left with immediate effect, following a "breach of club discipline."

It's believed the 20-year-old promising British forward's exit stems from a disagreement over how he was being used as a player.

"We both decided it was best to go our separate ways," said Cloutier in a short club statement on Monday morning.

"It's unfortunate but we move on."

Cardiff finally saw their 21-game unbeaten run in the league ended when they went down 2-1 on a shoot-out at Dundee Stars. They remain three points clear of second-placed Belfast Giants.

IN the EPL, Sheffield Steeldogs bounced back from a 3-2 home defeat to Peterborough Phantoms on Saturday by wining 5-4 in overtime at Bracknell Bees on Sunday.