HAWKS hopes of landing the British Ice Hockey League's First Division title may well have vanished into thin air - but the Premier League still beckons.

Hawks bounced back from last week's shocker to win a tough contest in Edinburgh last night and maintain their surge towards the promotion play-offs.

There was no sign of a hangover from the mauling received at the hands of runaway leaders Manchester Storm last weekend, although it started decidedly grimly for Ryan Kummu's men.

Bobby Haig, brother of Blackburn skipper John, scored twice as the home side raced into a 3-1 lead. Hawks cause wasn't helped by a game penalty handed out to Simon Mills for fighting and the visitors were already without chickenpox victim Lee Cowmeadow.

But Hawks roared back in style led by the impressive Steve Chartrand to take periods two and three by an identical 3-1 scoreline. Hawks maintained their record of not losing two games in a row this season and that fact alone gave encouragement to manager Mike Cockayne who said: "Everyone knows we put up a poor display against Storm and it was important that we got back on track straight away.

"It wasn't a fluent game or a particularly fluent performance, but it proves that we have dogged determination and a united resilience throughout the side. The main thing was we picked up a win."

Scoresheet: Steve Chartrand 4 + 1, Oleg Sinkov 1 + 5, John Haig 0 + 3, Ryan Kummu 1 + 3, Jon Cotton 1 + 0.

Saturday's scheduled home game with Solihull Barons fell victim to the icy weather, officials at both clubs agreeing on a postponement early on Saturday morning.

A spokesman at the Arena said: "Travelling conditions were not good and the forecast didn't offer much hope. In view of the travelling of both the visiting team, and many of our players not to mention the supporters, it was decided the sensible thing was a postponement."

Hawks will be featured in a special Granada TV report on North West ice hockey on February 8.

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