THE DRAGONS suffered another heavy defeat as they went down 11-4 against Whitley Warriors.

Scott McKenzie’s Deesiders were back at Chester Road after three consecutive defeats on the road, but this was another night to forgot at the Deeside Ice Rink as Whitley were by far the better of the two teams.

David Longstaff had Whitley 2-0 ahead in the early exchanges before Alex Parry hit back for Deeside.

James Parsons then levelled up at 2-2 after being laid on by Markus Kankaanranta. However, the visitors really stretched clear in the next 20 minutes as Andre Payette, Daniel Paye and a hat-trick from in-form attacker Shaun Kippin all got themselves on the scoresheet.

Finish import Kankaanranta got The Dragons back into it with a brace within three minutes during the final third, but the Warriors sealed victory late on with goals from Lawson Glasby, Dean Holland and two from Callum Watson increasing the margin to seven goals at full-time.

Deeside dropped to sixth in the standings after their fourth loss on the spin, while Billingham Stars recorded back-to-back wins with a 9-4 victory at Telford Tigers before winning 7-5 at Blackburn Hawks.

Sutton Sting also go above Deeside having seen off Solihull Barons 3-2.

“I’m not going to pull any punches, we’re going down without any fight at the moment and the manner of the defeat is what is most disappointing,” head coach McKenzie said.

“Whitley were the better side, they dominated from the start and even going in at 2-2 we were lucky as we’d scored from two powerplays. But you’re still in the game at that stage, so to then concede four times in quick succession is frustrating. We were deflated at that point and struggled to recover. It’s another big loss but we have to recover.” 

McKenzie has moved to increase the quality of his roster with the signing of former EPL forward Jacob Corson-Heron.

The forward joins from Manchester Phoenix and could make his debut when Deeside face Solway Sharks at home on Sunday.

“After our defeat to Sutton a few weeks back I was very disheartened with our performance, but following the game I had a message from Jacob asking if I would have a spot for him,” McKenzie explained.

“Naturally I jumped at the chance to get a player of his quality. We have had a few tough games recently so to be able to bring a player like Jacob in at this part of the season definitely gives us a lift as a hockey club.

“It’s the little things like professionalism and doing the little things right that will help us right now, that leadership quality that Jacob has will be great for us moving forward.”

“It’s great to have signed for The Dragons,” Corson-Heron added.

“I initially agreed to play for Blackburn this year but due to work commitments it was unpractical for me. The Dragons play their home games on a Sunday which suits my work life a lot better.

“I have known Scott for a few years now. I look forward to helping the Dragons as much as I can and can’t wait to get started against Solway.”