A THREE-point weekend has secured our play-off place. One more point will mean securing second spot in the Moralee Conference.

But there won’t be any celebrations until we win something.

We won’t be taking our foot off the gas either.

While a draw at Whitley Warriors was enough to guarantee our season will be extended, we were disappointed that we missed out on a four-point weekend because of a last minute – almost last second – equaliser, finishing 4-4.

It’s the second time this season we’ve been up there and not come away with the win, as we should have.

A play-off place was some consolation, I must admit, but it was still tough to take.

Sunday’s game was much more of a battle than Saturday’s home game with Telford Titans.

But they still turned up at the arena wanting to get a result and made it tough for us, particularly in the first period and a half.

I think our class showed in the end, as the 8-1 scoreline would suggest.

Sunday at Whitley Bay was one of the toughest games we’ve faced this season – it was a hard fight with both teams wanting to win – and there will be a few bumps and bruises to show for it.

We were a bit short on bodies and they came out to rough us up at the beginning.

We didn’t bite to it. We soaked it up instead and took our chances on the power play. But we let ourselves down again at the death.

We worked so hard for 50-55 minutes and had it in the bag, but a couple of lapses in concentration let them back into it.

A point was enough to secure the play-offs, and I suppose on reflection it wasn’t a bad result. But we go into every game wanting to win.

That won’t change now that we’ve got the chance to retain our play-off crown.

Another plus is that Billingham can’t catch us after they lost on Sunday night, so it’s good to get the upper hand on them this season.

And perhaps now that we’re there the pressure’s off and we can play with a bit more freedom, try a few things and just enjoy it a bit more – of course with the ultimate aim of getting the best result.

We want to finish as high up the league as we can, with the most points possible.

In terms of play-off opposition, it doesn’t make a great deal of difference to us who we face. If we want to win them we’re going to have to beat the best in it.

But it would be good to take momentum into the play-offs to try to win it again.