The Sheffield Spartans finished second in the ENL North playoff group after a home win over local rivals and league winners the Nottingham Lions.

Although Whitley had already booked their ticket to Coventry by winning all of their playoff games, Sheffield turned out a good performance and finally beat the Lions for the first time this season.

The Spartans started well with an early goal from Will Barron. But Nottingham took advantage of a powerplay shortly after with a well worked goal from point. Nottingham then took the lead with an opportunistic shorthanded goal that ended the scoring in the first period with the Spartans trailing 2-1.

The Spartans put pressure on Nottingham in the second period with a number of goal scoring opportunities, but Nottingham’s tactic of leaving a player on the far blue line almost caught Sheffield out a couple of times. A number of fine saves from Jonathon Tindall kept the Lions score at 2, however Joe Millard jammed a shot home from a tight angle to tie the game 2-2.

The third period saw more of the same end to end hockey, with chances created at both ends of the ice. Mark Holland gave the Spartans the 3-2 lead with a shot from the blue line that found the net through the legs of Nottingham’s netminder. With only 17 seconds remaining, the Lions had a two man advantage with a powerplay and an empty net. However the Spartans won the last face off of the game and cleared the zone for the win.

Final score: Sheffield 3 – Nottingham 2

Man of the Match: Jonathon Tindall