Lancashire Hawks 1 Peterborough Pirates 10

JIM Pennycook had the last word last night to prevent his luckless ice hockey side from being re-named Blank-ashire Hawks.

Less than three minutes remained when player-coach Pennycook put Hawks on the scoresheet for the first time in their penultimate home game. There have been many pointless exercises, but to go the full hour without so much as a goal to cheer would have represented a real low point.

Thanks to a well-taken effort from Pennycook, that particular catastrophe was avoided. Otherwise a night of little success with Hawks again second best in all departments.

Mathematically - thanks to the fact that the game-that-will-never-be at Cardiff has handed two "free" points - Hawks still have a chance of qualifying for the final stages of the play-offs. Realistically there is no hope.

Fife Flyers and Telford Tigers already look to have the two top spots sewn up - two of the Hawks final three matches come against the Flyers and the Tigers. Hawks put up a spirited effort early on, but visibly tired and would have lost by an even more emphatic margin but for the excellence of netminder Barry Hollyhead. Despite no worthwhile protection he continued to thwart the eager Pirates who sensed a goals bonanza.

Period scores: 0-1, 0-4, 1-5.

Scoresheet: Jim Pennycook 1+0, Jeff Daniels 0+1, Bobby Haig 0+1.

Neil Abel won't figure until the final fixture against Fife next Sunday. The veteran defenceman, who unwittingly struck an official in a heated exchange with an opponent during the home match with Cardiff, has been slapped with a four-match suspension and warned as to his future conduct. Any other "gross misconduct" penalties before the end of 1998 will add an extra couple of games to the ban.

Hawks play the return play-off fixture at Peterborough this Wednesday night.

The club's under 19s team won their league championship last night after earning a draw at Deeside.

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