NEWCASTLE KBS Vipers shut out Coventry Blaze at the Telewest Arena tonight to win the Findus Cup in their first ever season, and secure the North-East's first ice hockey trophy since the demise of the Durham Wasps.

Netminder Pasi Raitanen stopped 28 shots over the 60 minutes to be named man of the match, while Mike Lankshear, Rob Wilson and Joel Irwin got the three unanswered Newcastle goals to leave the Vipers fans celebrating.

The final was a much more exciting affair than Saturday's semi-final, and both sides had their chances to take the lead in the early going, with Andreas Moberg and the industrious Martin Lapointe having chances saved in the early going.

The action was end to end stuff, and no sooner Joel Irwin skated through a crowd to have a chance at one end than Ashley Tait was troubling Raitanen in the Vipers net..

Another word to describe the game was "heated", Rob Trumbley and Simon Leach and Joel Poirier and Moberg the first to go at it, earning coincidental penalties on 4.19.

Lapointe missed a virtual open goal, having skated well with the puck and taken a return pass from Irwin to find himself in front of net with Coventry stopper Jody Lehman out of position on 5.30, but his shot went wide.

However, five seconds later Lankshear unleashed a blue line shot which deflected off Moberg's stick and bobbled past Lehman to make it 1-0 on 5.35, and the Newcastle fans, boosted by the majority of the neutral watchers, were ecstatic.

Ron Shudra had a shot saved before another bout of trouble. With a delayed penalty called on Mikko Koivunoro for holding, Hilton Ruggles slashed wildly and started a mini brawl, from which Lapointe was lucky to come away with only two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct, after he was seen to grab Poirier round the neck from behind on 10.25. All four offenders were ejected for two minutes each.

Coventry applied the pressure on Newcastle, looking for an equaliser, particularly with Rob Wilson in the box for holding, and the end to end hockey continued up until the first hooter with Newcastle holding onto their slim lead.

The second period started as heated as the first finished, and Newcastle stepped up their game to take control of the match.

Irwin had the first opportunity of the period when the puck ricocheted off his stick and went back between his legs, only to slide wide of the goal. Stephen Wallace, having an excellent game, was unlucky not to tuck away a rebound from a Lehman save, but the chances kept coming.

Wilson had a long range effort denied shortly before Lapointe put the Coventry defence in disarray with a wicked cross across the face of Lehman's goal, only for the defence to make a half clearance to Wilson who fired a blue line shot into the back of the net to make it 2-0 on 29.26, with the Vipers capitalising on a power play with Ashley Tait serving penance for slashing.

The enthusiastic Wallace went off injured as the home supporters celebrated their extended lead, but this did nothing to detract from the Vipers' efforts, as they continued to get the best chances in a spell which saw both goalies kept busy.

However, it was Irwin who made it 3-0 on 37.38, firing past Lehman despite being off balance and falling to the ground, having found space in the centre.

Wallace returned for the third period, as Coventry came out fighting, but the first real chance came for Trumbley, who came out of the penalty box to get on the end of a pass from defence and was unlucky to score. Leach got the rebound and the puck appeared to go into the roof of the net and the goal judge switched on the red light, but referee Dave Cloutman ruled otherwise.

Longstaff and Koivunoro went clear through on goal on 44.00, however, Cloutman pulled back play again with a dubious offside call from the linesman.

Newcastle pushed for a fourth, but Coventry were equally determined to pull back and the deciding factor was the form of Raitanen who put on the performance of the season so far to keep out the Blaze front line.

Shaun Johnson hit the post from long range with nine minutes to go, but Raitanen was the real hero as the Vipers grew in confidence and secured the cup with some excellent defence, driven by a desire to prove to the fans they mean business in the BNL.

Vipers: Irwin 1+2; Wilson, Lankshear 1+0; Longstaff 0+2; Koivunoro, Lapointe 0+1.