A rightly emotional Storm Shelter played host a hugely entertaining Challenge Cup encounter – with the visiting Steelers taking the two points with a 4-1 victory.

The in-form Storm netminder, Weninger, was called into action early and pulled off a remarkable blocker save in the fifth minute. The pressing visiting Steelers eventually broke, in the 8th minute, as Watling found himself in plenty of space before firing neatly into the roof of the Manchester net. The scores were levelled just before the first intermission break after a calamitous error made by the Steelers netminder afforded Martan a completely open goal to tie the game.

The middle stanza was one to forget for the hosts, as Sheffield were able to take the lead just three minutes into that period, curtesy of Robert Dowd’s effort from near the face-off dot. Five minutes later, this advantage would double through Vallerand’s classy snipe on the powerplay.

A terrific team effort by the Storm, in the final twenty, unfortunately was negated by some solid netminding from Morrone. Multiple good looks and shots were created by the Storm forward lines throughout the third, until a breakaway finish from Ciampini but the game to bed with a little over five minutes remaining.