Under-18s claim title

Lee Valley Lions under-18s won the club’s first ever league title after a 6-2 win at the Romford Hurricanes on the final weekend of the season.

The win means the team finished ahead of Cardiff in top spot, bringing the championship to the club which first took to the ice in 1984.

Following a nervy 3-3 draw at Invicta the previous week the Lions needed to win their final game of the season at Romford.

The Hackney side had the best of the early play and Josh Irish netted after five minutes after a pass from Janus Hutcheon. Michael Crosse added a second before the end of the first period and Irish shot in his second from the left hand side to start the second period.

However, the physical Romford side began to get into the game and grabbed a goal back before the end of the second session and put considerable pressure on Alex Prince in the Lions net.

Romford’s discipline let them down as the game wore on and after both Nathan Smith and Max Falzon were ejected for fighting, the Lions skated away with victory.

Further goals for Crosse and Kyle Manning, finishing a pass from Jordan Jones, made it five, before Crosse completed his hat-trick and reached 50 points for the season by tipping in Alex Burr’s long range shot as Lions were crowned champions.

“It’s a magnificent achievement and you couldn’t have done it with a better group” said coach Ray Abrahams.