The Sheffield Spartans took another step towards cementing their place in the ENIHL North Playoffs this weekend with wins over Blackburn and Grimsby.

The Spartans traveled to Blackburn on Saturday to play against the Hawks. This would be a crucial game as the winner would be almost guaranteed a playoff place. The Spartans played a well disciplined, fast game. Taking advantage of powerplay opportunities and killing penalties well. The Spartans took the first period 1-0 with a powerlay goal from Matt Haywood. A further two goals in the second period extended the lead to 3-0, goals from Shaun Ashton and Nick Manning. The Spartans came under a lot of pressure in the third period after taking a number of penalties. The Hawks capitalized with a powerplay goal to make it 3-1. The Spartans replied with another goal from Matt Haywood before Blackburn got the last goal of the game with only minutes remaining.

Final score: Sheffield 4 – Blackburn 2

On Sunday the Grimsby Redwings traveled to iceSheffield to play a fixture that had been rearranged from earlier in the season. Sheffield played some good hockey, with a number of players getting on the scoresheet. Notably Man of the Match Joe Milllard got 4 goals, and youngster Mark Holland grabbed a hat trick.

Final score: Sheffield 18 – Grimsby 0

Sheffield now have only two regular season games remaining. A home win against Bradford this Saturday would secure a playoff place, and an away win at Nottingham on the Sunday would result in a third place finish.