Penguin carried off the men's Championship 1 title when they defeated Sheffield 13-9 in a winner-takes-all finale to an exciting weekend at East Manchester.
Sheffield had travelled to East Manchester knowing they could steal the trophy if they won both their matches against Watford and Penguin, the teams that began on day one in the top two places.
Watford were beaten. But the double was a tall order - Penguin proved too great a challenge, taking charge during the third period when goals by Andre Savic and Albie Duffy improved a tenuous 6-5 lead to 8-5. The points were virtually assured once Dennis van der Line and Savic added further strikes at the start of the last to make it 10-6.
Consolation for Sheffield is that they return to Division 1 next season in the company of Penguin and Watford while Portobello, City of Bristol, Exeter, Lancaster and Caledonia join the top three from Championship 2 - Sedgefield, Invicta and Worthing - in Division 2.
There were tight finishes in other games. Dan Brussow scored five seconds from the final whistle to earn a 14-13 victory for Bristol over Caledonia. There were only four seconds left when Kameron Powell netted the goal that brought Exeter a 12-11 success against Portobello.
PENALTY KING!: Is this a record? Watford goalie Karan Basu (Photo: Trevor Hyde) is the penalty specialist that teams just can't beat! At Manchester, he completed a remarkable run in which he saved EIGHT Championship 1 penalties in a row - three against Portobello, three more against Sheffield, then two today against Lancaster.
Sheffield had travelled to East Manchester knowing they could steal the trophy if they won both their matches against Watford and Penguin, the teams that began on day one in the top two places.
Watford were beaten. But the double was a tall order - Penguin proved too great a challenge, taking charge during the third period when goals by Andre Savic and Albie Duffy improved a tenuous 6-5 lead to 8-5. The points were virtually assured once Dennis van der Line and Savic added further strikes at the start of the last to make it 10-6.
Consolation for Sheffield is that they return to Division 1 next season in the company of Penguin and Watford while Portobello, City of Bristol, Exeter, Lancaster and Caledonia join the top three from Championship 2 - Sedgefield, Invicta and Worthing - in Division 2.
There were tight finishes in other games. Dan Brussow scored five seconds from the final whistle to earn a 14-13 victory for Bristol over Caledonia. There were only four seconds left when Kameron Powell netted the goal that brought Exeter a 12-11 success against Portobello.
PENALTY KING!: Is this a record? Watford goalie Karan Basu (Photo: Trevor Hyde) is the penalty specialist that teams just can't beat! At Manchester, he completed a remarkable run in which he saved EIGHT Championship 1 penalties in a row - three against Portobello, three more against Sheffield, then two today against Lancaster.
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