IT’S now “do-or-die” as far as the Deeside Dragons are concerned.

There’s been a promising end to the NIHL Division One North season for Deeside, but it’s all about what they manage to do from here on in.

This weekend sees the start of what promises to be a hugely competitive play-offs and the Dragons have been paired with Whitley Warriors.

“Hopefully we will put six periods together this week,” said Deeside assistant head coach Matt Compton.

“It’s more than an achievement for us. It’s a different mindset for us. It’s do-or-die.

“If we don’t do it, the season’s over. We all want to get to Sheffield.

“It’s going to be a difficult task.”

Deeside Dragons couldn’t really be in better form as they head into the most crucial portion of the campaign.

They brought the curtain down on the regular season with a 6-1 victory at home to Widnes Wild, which makes it a run of seven consecutive triumphs.

In front of a crowd in excess of 800, the hosts were 2-0 up by the end of the first period.

James Shaw set up captain James Parsons for the opener and this was followed by Ross Kennedy’s goal.

Dragons extended their advantage to 5-0 by the end of the second period.

Kennedy was the creator as Brodie Jesson bagged the third goal and he added the final goal of the period, after Shaw had etched his name on the scoresheet.

Widnes did manage to pull one back in the closing period, but the final word belonged to Deeside, with good work from Jesson and Cade King setting up Jakub Hajek for the concluding goal.

“Whitley Bay’s always a hard place to go,” added Compton, who says Dragons are hoping to be close to full strength for this weekend’s double-header.

“We’ve got to give a really good account of ourselves on Saturday and take our game into Whitley Bay.

“We have got to take it one game at a time. We’ve got to make sure we make use of home advantage on Saturday.

“Our ice surface is bigger than Whitley Bay and, hopefully, we should build off the crowd on Saturday.”

It was Whitley who ended Deeside’s season in the play-offs last year and Compton added: “It’s exciting as well. It’s good to play these types of games.”

League champions Billingham Stars will be favourites to progress from their meeting with Nottingham Lions.

The other quarter-finals see Solihull Barons up against Widnes Wild and Blackburn Hawks taking on Hull Jets.

Ice Sheffield will be the venue for the NIHL Division One North play-off finals, which will be held on the weekend of April 6 and 7.