A MIXED weekend for Deeside Dragons saw a battling victory at Coventry Blaze followed by a home defeat to the same opposition a day later.

The Flintshire club remain mired in mid-table of the Laidler Conference and are now 14 points adrift of leaders Widnes Wild.

Player-coach Marc Lovell was left to rue the inconsistencies between the two performances, blaming defensive lapses for Sunday’s loss.

He said: “It’s frustrating.

“After playing really well at Coventry and getting a deserved victory, we’ve let ourselves down in the home fixture.

“Both games were tight, but we’ve switched off in the home game and in a three-minute spell in the second period they’ve scored three times.

“That took all the momentum away from us and handed the game to the opposition.

“We know that you can’t lose concentration in games as we did, even if it was only briefly. Teams will punish you, and that’s exactly what Coventry did to us at home.

“It’s not the first time we’ve seen it this season and we really need to stop this happening in games because it’s costing us points.

“This is a really competitive division and to be successful you need your home form to be strong.

“Unfortunately we haven’t been able to find that consistency yet.”

After Matthew Wainwright had fired Dragons into an early lead in Saturday night’s clash at Coventry, the hosts hit back through Robert Perks and and Kyle Nash to lead 2-1 at the end of the first period.

The visitors replied early in the second as Geoff Wigglesworth slotted home a leveller, before Dragons skipper Parsons rifled home to put his side ahead.

The remainder of the period ebbed and flowed as Blaze forward Daniel Mulcahy dispatched a power play, before in-form Dragons forward Simon Furnival scored to make it 4-3.

Jekabs Bisnieks restored parity with a cool finish early in the third, before three strikes in quick succession from Wigglesworth, Sam Krempasky and Furnival made it 7-4.

Blaze netted a consolation, but could not muster a late fightback as the Dragons triumphed 7-5.

And Gary Shaw’s side looked set for a double-header victory on Sunday when James Parsons fired them into a sixth minute lead.

But Blaze hit back minutes later through Arthur Brookes, before Furnival continued his scoring hot streak by converting from Gavin Austin’s assist.

That lead was shortlived, however, as Sam Chandler drew Blaze level after 14 minutes when he rifled the puck beyond Dragons netminder Dominic Jolly.

And from there the Blaze seized control of the contest with Ryan James, Brookes and Bisneks all on target in a dominant second period to move 5-2 ahead in the contest.

The visitors then showed their defensive resilience in the third, with netminder Graham Laverick producing 13 saves without conceding to ensure his side took the spoils.

Widnes remain in fine form this season following a 6-3 triumph at Altrincham Aces.

Meanwhile Telford Tigers impressed by following up a convincing 9-1 win at Blackburn Hawks with a 13-4 home success over Senators.