Cardiff Fire are turning on the style to show their National Ice Hockey League credentials.
Captain Alan Armour and his team have earned three successive wins, bouncing back strongly after losing their opening two fixtures.
Now the task for Fire is to show there is real substance to their recovery when they play Slough Jets away on Saturday and Lee Valley Lions at home the following evening.
Jets won 7-2 at Ice Arena Wales in Cardiff Bay and Fire were bitterly disappointed with their performance and they will relish the chance to have another go at their rivals.
Former Bracknell Bees head coach Lukas Smital, from the Czech Republic, is in charge of Slough and Joe Ciccarello his assistant.
Highly experienced players Armour and Phil Manny, Fire’s player/assistant coach, are working alongside coach Chris Douglas to try and ensure the Cardiff team build towards a play-off challenge.
Fire’s latest win came when they defeated Bristol Pitbulls 5-2 at their temporary home in Oxford with Jackson Price (17-52), Sam Bryant (PP, 18-09), Jordan Powell (24-31), Lewis Stevens (34-12) and Tom Smith (45-00).
Now they are focused on those NIHL tests against Slough Jets away and Lee Valley at home this weekend.
Hosts Pitbulls included Cardiff-born netminder Ross Miller and skater Giacomo Raffaelli and are fourth in the table, but Fire produced a hard-working team display to win.
Match stats: Bristol Pitbulls 2, Cardiff Fire 5
Shots on goal: Pitbulls (on Lewis Davies) 15+19+24=58, Fire (on Ross Miller) 19+15+33=67.
Penalties in minutes: Pitbulls 6+18+22=46, Fire 2+22+6=30.
Scorers, Pitbulls: Sam Shone 1+0, Richard Hargreaves 1+0, Giacomo Raffaelli 0+1, Steven Osman 0+1.
Fire: Jackson Price 1+1, Tom Smith 1+0, Jordan Powell 1+0, Lewis Stevens 1+0, Sam Bryant 1+0, Ross Wilkinson 0+1, Tamas Elias 0+1, Alan Armour 0+1, Ben Smith 0+1, Ricky Deacon 0+1, Ross Wilkinsin 0+1, Chris Fox 0+1, Elis Sheppard 0+1,
Referee: Kevin Biggs.
NIHL South fixtures:
Saturday, October 27: Invicta v Swindon Wildcats (5.15pm), Raiders Juniors v Guildford (5.15pm), Lee Valley Lions v Chelmsford Chieftains (5.30pm), Slough Jets v Cardiff Fire (5.45pm), Bracknell Hornets v Bristol Pitbulls (6pm).
Sunday, October 28: Peterborough Phantoms v Solent Devils (5.30pm), Cardiff Fire v Lee Valley Lions (6pm), Cardiff Fire v Slough
National Ice Hockey League South
| P | W | OW | OL | L | PIM | F | A | Pts | |||||||||||||
| 1 | Chelmsford Chieftains | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 284 | 87 | 17 | 18 | |||||||||||
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| 2 | Oxford City Stars | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 84 | 50 | 19 | 12 | |||||||||||
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| 3 | Slough Jets | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 126 | 52 | 30 | 10 | |||||||||||
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| 4 | Bristol Pitbulls | 7 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 128 | 29 | 28 | 9 | |||||||||||
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| 5 | Bracknell Hornets | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 158 | 31 | 23 | 7 | |||||||||||
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| 6 | Solent Devils | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 128 | 40 | 15 | 6 | |||||||||||
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| 7 | Raiders Junior S2 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 201 | 24 | 20 | 6 | |||||||||||
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| 8 | Cardiff Fire | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 157 | 24 | 24 | 6 | |||||||||||
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| 9 | Guildford | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 98 | 15 | 15 | 6 | |||||||||||
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| 10 | Peterborough Phantoms | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 72 | 32 | 31 | 4 | |||||||||||
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| 11 | Haringey Huskies | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 399 | 26 | 46 | 4 | |||||||||||
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| 12 | Invicta | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 76 | 21 | 35 | 2 | |||||||||||
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| 13 | Basingstoke Buffalo | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 98 | 9 | 26 | 2 | |||||||||||
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| 14 | Swindon Wildcats 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 78 | 8 | 48 | 0 | |||||||||||
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| 15 | Lee Valley Lions | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 125 | 8 | 79 | 0 | |||||||||||