NOT SO much a Storm - more a whirlwind as Hawks were blown out of sight.

This was the long-awaited ice hockey showdown, the head-to-head, the clash of the giants. But, in truth, last night's expected close encounter just didn't happen.

Storm ran away with a victory that to all intents and purposes hands them the First Division crown.

Hawks had to win to maintain a realistic chance of catching their nearest and fiercest rivals.

The close to sell out 3,000-plus Arena crowd, including a vociferous Manchester contingent - and Rovers star Colin Hendry - watched a frantic nip and tuck opening end with John Haig drawing first blood.

That was on 10 minutes. Haig scored his and Hawks second on 54 minutes - trouble was, Storm had smashed nine goals in the meantime.

Storm, who took the first period 2-1, were irresistible in period two, winning 7-0 and it could have been more.

Let's be honest, Hawks were not at their best or, perhaps, not allowed to be at their best.

But one of the biggest stumbling blocks centered around their failure to make the most of player advantage in powerplay situations.

Haig gave Hawks the perfect start, linking beautifully with Steve Chartrand and Oleg Sinkov to score a quality goal.

But Storm, superbly served by Shaun Byram and Hilton Ruggles, were sharper and quicker.

The Hawks spark usually provided by ace goal twins Sinkov and Chartrand, was missing and the home side found Storm's tough tackling approach just a little too much to cope with.

Haig had the personal satisfaction of notching a hat-trick, but there was little else in the way of consolation with Hawks now trailing Storm by six points and having played one game more into the bargain.

Scoresheet: John Haig 3 + 0, Steve Chartrnad 0 + 3, Oleg Sinkov 0 + 2, Ryan Kummu 0 + 1.

On Saturday, at Peterborough, Hawks ran out convincing victors thanks to a power show from Steve Chartrand who clocked a hat-trick inside the first quarter-of-an-hour and eventually ran in five goals.

Hawks took the first period 4-0, lost the second 2-3 and claimed the third 3-1.

Scoresheet: Steve Chartrand 5 + 2, Ryan Kummu 2 + 2, John Haig 1 + 6, Simon Mills 1 + 0, Malcolm Bell 0 + 1, Jim Pennycook 0 + 1, Oleg Sinkov 0 + 1.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.