Falcons are fantastic

Billingham Falcons were winners of the Paisley U14 tournament at the weekend defeating Sheffield Stormers after a penalty shoot-out.

Following two periods of 15 minutes running time failed to produce a goal, went to five minutes of sudden death overtime.

This also did not produce a goal and went to penalty shots. Falcons went first which Robert Dowd scored firing into the top corner. Sheffield's Ben O'Connor stepped up and his shot was saved by netminder James Flavell.

A fine victory for Billingham as the South Yorkshire club are national champions at U14 level. They were 4-2 winners over Guildford at Nottingham two weeks ago.

Sheffield won the U14 North A League with a 100 per cent record conceding only six goals from 14 games.

Falcons began the three-day tournament by drawing 1-1 with Dutch side Den Haag. A 0-3 loss to Sheffield and a 0-0 draw against Kingston Aeros ended the first day. A 2-0 victory over Guildford began day two for Falcons and wins against Paisley (3-0) and Nottingham (16-0) put them well on course for a top two finish and a place in the final. Their last match in the round robin phase was against Kilmarnock on day three. A 5-0 win was enough to give Falcons second place and the match against Sheffield.

None of the Falcons players made it into the all-star team.

Billingham Bears were also in Paisley for the U16 event. They got off to a good start unbeaten in their first three games but defeats in the following three pulled out a top three finish.

Guildford (3-1), Grimsby (8-0), Kungalv Sweden (1-1) brought Bears a good return at the beginning. Defeats at the hands of Kingston (0-3), Kilmarnock (1-2) and Nottingham (2-3). A major penalty for Peter Rix against Kilmarnock saw him take no further part in the games and Liam Telfer also fell foul of the referee.

Paisley were Bears' final opponents on Sunday which was edged 2-1 by the Teessiders. Bears finished on seven points, the same as Kilmarnock and Paisley and were handed fifth place ahead of Paisley and behind Kilmarnock.

Under-16 national champions Kingston Crunch had a 2-1 victory over Kungalv Sweden to win the U16 title.

Sunderland Scorpions are women's premier league play-off winners after a 2-1 win over Guildford Lightning at Hull Ice Arena. Victory was sweet for Scorpions at Guildford had won the league title ahead of Sunderland by three points.

Sunderland went a goal behind against Guildford in the 25th minute. Helen Stowe and Teresa Lewis put Scorpions in front with two goals in a three-minute spell in the final period. It was an advantage they kept until the final whistle to receive the Chairman's Cup.

To reach the final stage Scorpions had a 4-2 victory over Cardiff Comets. It was a much more comfortable win than the scoreline suggested. Lewis (2), Jane Price and Lynsey Emmerson had given Scorpions a 4-0 lead two minutes into the final period.

Cardiff scored twice in quick succession only for Sunderland to remain two goals ahead and ease into the final.

Scorpions (v Cardiff): Teresa Lewis 2+0, Lynsey Emmerson 1+1, Jane Price 1+0, Helen Stowe 0+1. (v Guildford): Lewis 1+1, Stowe 1+0, Emmerson 0+1.

Whitley Bay Squaws lost 7-2 to Sheffield Shadows at Hull in the women's division one North/South Trophy final. Sheffield went ahead in the second minute and extended their advantage to 5-0 after two periods.

Shadows netted a sixth before Claire Oldfield scored two short-handed goals at 38.30 and 41.30 to reduce the deficit. A minute later Sheffield completed the scoring. Squaws reached the final by defeating Basingstoke Lady Bison 4-2. Sara Christie and Sara Smith scored in the 17th minute to set Whitley on their way. Oldfield increased the lead before Basingstoke cut the deficit with two goals in the 39th minute.

Oldfield's second at 43.11 secured Whitley's victory.

Sheffield had to rely on penalty shots to defeat Romford Nighthawks 6-4 in their semi-final after a 3-3 scoreline in normal time.

Whitley Bay (v Basingstoke): Claire Oldfield 2+0, Sara Christie, Sara Smith 1+0. (v Sheffield): Oldfield 2+0.

Sunderland Commanches completed their English U14 North Promotion/Relegation play-off fixtures with three points out of four at the weekend. Altrincham Tomahawks were at Hillsheads and surprised Commanches by taking a 2-0 lead after only eight minutes.

Richard Westgarth reduced the deficit four minutes later on the powerplay. Commanches went into a 3-2 lead at 27.54 thanks to a brace in five minutes from David Holland.

Altrincham's James Pirie received a match penalty for head butting plus two gross misconducts for abuse of an official and Sunderland's Karl Nelson took five plus game misconduct for roughing at 34.55.

In the final minute Altrincham's Sean Day also received five plus game misconduct for roughing, Commanches holding on for a 3-2 victory.

The following day Telford Tiger-Cubs were visitors to Hillheads and they shared the spoils from a 2-2 draw. Holland put the Wearsiders ahead after four minutes and Westgarth doubled the lead 39 seconds into the final period.

Telford pulled a goal back in the 30th minute and equalised at 36.24.

Prior to the matches Commanches had retained North A League status for next season.

Commanches (v Altrincham): David Holland 2+0, Richard Westgarth 1+0, James Moutrey, Karl Nelson, Daniel Pye 0+1. (v Telford): Westgarth 1+1, Holland 1+0.

Sunderland Cherokees played hosts to Telford Terrahawks in the English U12 Promotion/Relegation play-offs at Hillheads and won a thrilling encounter 5-4. Cherokees were 3-0 ahead at 04.31 with a brace from Nathan Salem and a Ross Cameron strike.

Telford replied with two goals in the 12th minute and two goals early in the final period gave them a 4-3 lead at 22.31.

Cherokees equalised a minute later with Salem's hat-trick marker and Richard Emerson secured the victory after 31 minutes.

Like Commanches, Cherokees had retained North A League status before the weekend.

Cherokees: Nathan Salem 3+0, Richard Emerson, Ross Cameron 1+0, Grant Sharp, Daniel Coffey, Daniel Pye, Matthew Williamson, Callum Davies 0+1.

Whitley Tomahawks have retained English U16 North A League position for next season after defeating Blackburn Eagles 8-0 in North Promotion/Relegation play-offs. Ian Emerson hit the first of his three goals after just 11 seconds after two period. Emerson and a Shaun Kippin double had extended Whitley's lead to 4-0.

Emerson registered his hat-trick marker at 31.08 and David Barrett, Andrew Wile and Paul Shreeve completed the scoring.

Tomahawks: Ian Emerson 3+1, Shaun Kippin 2+0, Paul Shreeve 1+1, Andrew Wile, David Barrett 1+0, Philip Atherton 0+3, Simon Day 0+2, Ben Campbell, Lee Davis, Michael Hoult 0+1.