Steelers faced with uphill struggle

The South Yorkshire club have already been beaten to the regular season Elite League title by their arch-rivals and were hoping to salvage their season by winning the cup and play-off trophies.

But it would seem their hopes for silverware may now solely lie in the post season following last night’s disappointing defeat in front of their own fans.

It wasn’t until the 18th minute that the deadlock was broken when Panthers’ Bruce Graham edged the visitors ahead on the powerplay with Drew Fata sitting for a tripping penalty.

Just over a minute later, Jordan Fox made it 2-0 to give the holders further momentum going into the first period break.

It got worse for Ryan Finnerty’s team at 26.41 when Robert Lachowicz stretched Nottingham’s lead to three goals.

Less than a minute into the third period, Lachowicz grabbed his second of the night to increase the agony for the home fans.

Jeff Legue salvaged something for the Steelers when he made it 4-1 at 43.45, but it will require a superlative performance to turn the tie around when the two teams meet in Nottingham for the second leg on Tuesday, April 2.

The result will have been the worst possible outcome for head coach Finnerty, whose future at the club has come under inceasing speculation in recent days.

But Finnerty - much like owner Tony Smith - was pleased with the effort shown by his players and hasn’t ruled out a comeback in the second leg in two weeks’ time.

“We perhaps lost our way at the end, but that was more out of trying so hard to get back into the game, then frustration took over,” said Finnerty.

“Everyone in the room was drained at the end, words were few and the disappoint and frustration on both their faces and mine told the story.”