DEESIDE DRAGONS will be hoping to make it a terrific treble when they come up against Whitley Warriors this weekend.

The Dragons make the long trip up to the North East on Sunday, having already demonstrated the requisite Warrior spirit to defeat Whitley twice so far this season.

Those results came during a weekend double-header between the teams, with Deeside winning 6-4 in Whitley, before returning home the following day to record a 7-2 outcome.

“We worked so hard for both of those wins,” admitted Dragons’ assistant head coach Matt Compton.

“They are a good, physical side. We know what to expect going up there on Sunday.”

Results have been somewhat mixed of late for Deeside, who had sparked their season with eight triumphs on the bounce in all competitions.

Dragons managed to make the most of home comforts with a 4-0 triumph versus Solihull Barons on Sunday, but this followed a 9-6 defeat away to Hull Jets.

If there were defensive issues during the Hull match, that cannot be said of the Solihull contest and goaltender Matt Croyle was named MVP as Deeside managed to shut out their opponents.

Dragons had the lead with five minutes of the first period remaining via Jared Dickinson’s goal, before James Shaw doubled the tally close to the midway point of the match.

There was no final period fightback from the Barons and goals from Jakub Hajek and Marc Lovell marked a welcome return to winning ways for Deeside.

“We need to be better for another battle this week,” added Compton. “We have proven we can go there and get a result.

“Stay disciplined. Momentum in sport is a big thing. Try and build more momentum and confidence.”

Tomorrow: Billingham v Widnes; Hull v Nottingham; Sheffield v Solihull. Sunday: Billingham v Hull; Leeds v Nottingham; Solihull v Blackburn; Widnes v Sheffield.

Deeside Ducks have a home game against Division Two North title favourites Telford Tigers on Sunday.

Ducks are now a third of the way through their debut competitive season in the NIHL’s Laidler Division and certainly seem to be heading in the right direction.

From their eight league games to date, the Ducks have two wins and five defeats – with a question mark over the away game at Kingston in September that was abandoned due to safety concerns after a problem with the ice surface.

A decision regarding the outcome of that game is still awaited from the sport’s governing body.

Cody Ogden is the Ducks’ leading goalscorer so far this season with six strikes, including an impressive hat-trick at league leaders Telford Tigers.

Ducks’ head coach Gary Shaw said: “The players have a good base to work from and we just need them to play as a unit on the ice and play as a group of five and not individually.

“For the next few weeks we will be trying to get the players to be more aggressive in the plays that they are doing, to get the opponents to turn the puck over and create more scoring chances for us.

“With two wins this season already we have over-achieved, as some new teams that joined the league took two seasons to get the win. I was not expecting to win any games this season and focus on keeping the score as low as possible but, looking on what is happening in the league, I am expecting to win a few more.”

Tomorrow: Coventry v Kingston; Sutton v Billingham; Telford v Altrincham. Sunday: Altrincham v Bradford; Nottingham v Sutton; Sheffield v Billingham.