With Bacchas otherwise engaged, hockey’s PwC Mixed Premier League saw two fixtures played on Saturday, both of which were closer than expected.

Vikings got the two points they would have both needed and expected with a 2-1 win over Ramsey, but were made to work for them by a resurgent northern team who look to be no pushovers this season.

Despite the final scoreline of 7-2, it was only in the last 15 minutes of the game where Valkyrs really established their dominance against Harlequins - fitness finally winning through in a game which had been remarkably close until that point.

Only two teams of six scored any goals in Division One. A nil-nil scoreline between Celts and Cammags may be a moment Castletown live to regret in their attempts to return Celts to the Premier League. Celts were slightly stronger on the day - although not remarkably so - and the clean sheet for Cammags was in no small part down to a career-defining performance from James Cadamy in nets.

Both Vikings and Valkyrs’ second strings found themselves with convincing wins against weaker opponents, perhaps marking themselves out with Celts as the strength in the second tier this season.

Division Two saw a collection of one-sided ties.

Ramsey beat Valkyrs twice at different levels, although Valkyrs will be hopeful that their third team will prove stronger than Ramsey’s later in the fixture list.

Elsewhere age and experience triumphed over youth as Vikings C took a comfortable win in their season-opener against Bacchas Colts.

Division Three moved into the second week of competition and Vikings Colts find themselves at the top of the table after a strong victory against Saracens Sharks.

Harlequins Colts, unlikely not to win in the first week, proved their value in a double-figures win against Bacchas bottom-string, while Saracens Colts came back from behind to win comprehensively against Harlequins B and take second.

The Caley brothers continued their dominance at under-16s scoring five goals between them, proving slightly stronger against Saracens who scored three themselves.

This continued Vikings’ 100 per cent win record for the club across their five fixtures on the day.

Adding to his own goal tally for the day, Billy Cain at Harlequins was not quite enough to stop a strong Ramsey team who won comfortably, while Bern Ferns scored a hat-trick in Valkyrs’ 4-1 win over Bacchas - although 12-year-old Grace Templar scored her first goal for the Douglas team.

JAMES RUSSELL