Steelers' run ends but Simon remains positive

SHEFFIELD STEELERS' player-coach Ben Simon remained in positive mood despite seeing his side's unbeaten start to their Elite League campaign ended by Belfast Giants.

The South Yorkshire club had been the only side able to boast a 100 per cent record going into the two-game weekend and were halfway to maintaining that statistic when they came back from fierce rivals Nottingham Panthers with a 4-1 road win on Saturday night.

But, with several key players missing last night – including import forwards Rob Globke and Derek Campbell – Doug Christiansen's league leaders edged a nail-biting duel at Sheffield Arena 6-5 and extended their lead at the top of the league table to three points.

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"We just came up short against Belfast," said Simon. "With another five minutes on the clock I would have fancied our chances but we just ran out of time.

"I can't fault the effort of our players because they gave it everything and we were pretty short-handed.

"Yes, it's disappointing to lose our unbeaten record in the league but I'm happy with where we are right now.

"We're not going to win every game and we got beat by a very good Belfast side.

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"Against Nottingham I felt we played smart and didn't let emotions get the better of us. It was a cracking atmosphere and was fun to play in."

It was Steelers' powerplay which did the damage on Saturday at the NIC, with their first three goals coming with the man advantage with Ashley Tait (2) and Jeff Legue finding the target before Neil Clark completed the scoring in the 49the minute.

Tait, Robert Dowd, Simon, Legue and Rod Sarich found the net against Belfast last night but the Steelers left themselves with too much to do after going behind 3-1 in the first period.

Hull Stingrays chalked up their first league win of the campaign to defeat Edinburgh Capitals 4-3 at Murrayfield last night.

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The victory – courtesy of goals from Kurtis Dulle, Matti Uusivirta, Andrew Coburn and Jereme Tendler – made up for Saturday night's 6-2 reverse at Glasgow-based Braehead Clan when Konstantin Kalmikov and Ryan Lake were on the scoresheet.

"After our frustration on Saturday, it was really pleasing to see the guys get the win in Edinburgh," said Stingrays' player-coach Sylvain Cloutier.

"It was a great game, the guys never panicked and we managed to see it out. We didn't have a good record on the road last season so at least we are up and running.

"It was also good to see Coburn and Tendler score their first goals for us."

IN the EPL, Sheffield Steeldogs dropped to second-bottom in the table after following up a 3-0 defeat at Swindon Wildcatss with a 7-4 reverse at Bracknell Bees.