In a quiet week for local hockey, postponed fixtures between Vikings and Valkyrs took place midweek, with victory going to Vikings in both.

On a cold Tuesday evening, Vikings’ women extended their championship-winning run, claiming a second sizeable win over Valkyrs to secure the title.

Already on a remarkable streak, which has also earned them accolades at an English national level, Vikings have now stretched their domestic dominance to 11 consecutive titles and a quite remarkable 101 consecutive league games without defeat.

Team captain Kim Carney expressed great pleasure at the victory, noting that it was a great game to be part of.

It was the second time in 10 days that Vikings had put double figures past their closest championship rivals, this 10-0 victory following an 11-1 win in the cup.

Valkyrs will be very disappointed by the two results, but will take some consolation from the fact that they’ve finished a comfortable second in the league, currently five points clear of third with one game to go.

Vikings led from the early stages, and were 4-0 up by half-time. Sarah Blackman scored a hat-trick during the match, with skipper Carney scoring a further two goals, alongside Georgia Foxton, with Dani Coombes, Zoe Crowe and Katie Errock also netting.

Carney has all-but-mathematically secured the lead goalscorers’ title, with almost twice as many as her nearest rival, Karmina Kovanda of Valkyrs.

While this may not have been the most enjoyable for her, Kovanda is a long-established face in Manx hockey playing her final match before leaving this summer for New Zealand. After a long playing career with Valkyrs and Ramsey, the hockey fraternity wishes her well.

contentious

The men’s game between the two sides proved more contentious.

Vikings again emerged as victors with a 4-1 victory on Good Friday afternoon. A win for Vikings is what was required to keep them in the title race, securing at least second place and potentially leading to a nail-biting conclusion against Bacchas for the title in three weeks’ time.

While Chris Killey netted for Valkyrs, it was brothers Nathan and Tom Evans - playing together in senior hockey for the first time - who scored two each for Vikings.

The inclusion of Tom Evans within the squad has proved somewhat contentious, as the match was rescheduled from February 3, requiring a ruling to be made by the local association regarding whether he was eligible to play in the match in the first place.

Whilst the ruling is awaited, the Manx All-Blacks look forward to a final showdown fixture with interest.

In addition to beating Bacchas, they’d also need to improve their goal difference over the two remaining fixtures by nine over a Bacchas side which, by coincidence, has only conceded a total of nine goals all season.

james russell