Sheffield Steelers bounce back from cup defeat to beat Fife Flyers in league clash

In a sometimes untidy game, played in a noticeably cooler Arena and watched by 5,641 fans, home netminder Matt Greenfield chalked up his fourth clean sheet in nine games.

It took a while to make the game safe, but Sheffield dominated most of the play.

Fife's defence has been leaky at times this season but they made life very difficult for Sheffield as they stonewalled them for large periods.

The Scots concentrated on breaking down attacks and clearing traffic in front of Shane Owen's net.

Robert Dowd apart, there wasn't much in front of Owen to concern him.

The best chance fell to Adam Raska, who tapped wide after a pass from Brandon McNally.

While Sheffield were initially a blunt instrument, Fife - who took league leaders Guildford Flames to overtime the night before - made occasional incursions.

Chris Gerrie sent a shot wide from a good position and Janne Kivilahti couldn't get the connection on the puck he needed from the top of the crease.

Sheffield, with Greenfield back between the pipes and Martin Latal and Sébastien Piché returning from a night off, needed the first interval to recalibrate their offensive edge.

The inspiration came from pocket dynamo Brett Neumann, who flew through the right circle and made it 1-0 at 23:24, assisted by Daniel Ciampini and Davey Phillips. It was Neumann's 20th point of the campaign.

The closest Steelers came to adding another in the period was when Martin Latal backhanded against the pipework.

Fife were looking to profit from some meager scraps at the other end, with Kivilahti hovering at the high slot looking for his chance.

But obvious chances were few and far between, Scott Allen cursing his luck when his stick snapped with the goal in shooting range.

Flyers, who had collapsed 6-0 in South Yorkshire in their last trip, went two behind at 45: 22.

Niklas Nevalainen motored into some open space but powered wide. However, on the same shift, he poked the puck to defensive partner Matt Petgrave who smashed it home.

The goal took some of the pressure off the home side and they could have had a third when Daniel Ciampini broke away on a short-handed play.

Greenfield made the points safe with a clean save from Christian Hausinger before Latal added a late third.

On Saturday, Steelers started with a British goalie for the first time this season, Jordan McLaughlin, 23, in for the rested Matt, at Manchester Storm. It was a baptism of fire in an explosive Bonfire Night which saw the home side come back from 2-0 to score five power play goals in a 6-4 win.

In the last dead rubber group game of the Challenge Cup, it was an uncomfortable night for Steelers, despite goals for Raska, Ciampini (two,) and Danny Kristo.

The intensity of some of the fights will doubtless remain in the players' memory - and sets up an interesting grudge match between the two on New Year's Eve.

Sheffield have a home league game against Coventry Blaze on Wednesday.