THE new ice hockey season got underway with a real bang last weekend in front of a large and enthusiastic at Altrincham Ice Rink, as the Altrincham Aces opened their account with a splendid victory in the Annual Bank Holiday Monday Tournament.

In recording their third success in the competition in the last four years, the Aces powered past local rivals the Bradford Bulldgos in the final after previously seeing off the challenge of the defending champion Telford Tiger Royals and the Grimsby Buffaloes to regain their crown.

The Pack began their assault on the title against their old rivals the Bulldogs, but any fears of early season rustiness were soon dispelled by a Ged Smith goal inside the first minute of play, which ultimately led to an important 4-2 victory in a tight contest.

After Telford had easily dispatched Grimsby by the score of 7-0, it was the turn of the Aces to face the Tiger Royals team who defeated them twice in the 1997 tournament, and between them the two teams produced the game of the day.

In a dramatic and sometimes hostile fixture, Telford scored with an early strike before Altrincham rallied to take a 2-1 lead .

With time running out though the Royals fought back, and after one goal had already been controversially disallowed, Jared Owen nailed an equaliser in the dying seconds to force a 2-2 draw.

Bradford then defeated Grimsby 3-2 in a lacklustre game before the Aces booked their place in the final in style with an emphatic 7-1 win over the new-boy Buffaloes.

With the champions only needing a draw, Telford were the team most fancied to progress, but Bradford came out of the blocks the faster and with ten minutes to play had opened up a surprise 3-1 lead.

The Royal's aggression got the better of them as two players were ejected in an explosive second period which ultimately cost them both the match and their expected place in the final.

Waiting in the wings of course were the Aces with their expectant supporters right behind them, and they certainly did not disappoint as in an electrifying period of play shell-shocked.

Although the Yorkshiremen never gave up, the contest turned into one-way traffic from there on with the Pack eventually romping to a 6-0 win, with praise going to Alan Gemmell and Raphael Vincent who recorded their first goal and first shut-out for the club respectively.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.