A weekend of firsts for York Whitehawks Inline Hockey Club began when two U15s players lined up for the BIPHA North East side in its inaugural game in the Inline Puck League.

IN THE RINK: From left, Lee Dilsworth, Andy Hancock and John Sheeran practice at Sheffield Arena

Kyle Botterill, 14, and Andy Hancock, 15, played for the North East against Norton Cyclones at the purpose-built roller hockey arena in Sheffield.

The Superleague combines teams from differing disciplines to play under joint laws, and this was the first time the BIPHA team have played under full contact rules.

Many players viewed the match with trepidation, especially York netminder Hancock, who was selected to play outfield.

The Cyclones built up a 4-1 lead, but the North East came back and, with Botterill scoring, soon reduced Norton's lead to 6-4. However, the Cyclones pulled away again to win 11-5.

Bipha North East squad return to Sheffield next week.

The Whitehawks' fine weekend continued on the Sunday as the club's new senior team enjoyed an inaugural victory, in a friendly with the Scunthorpe Eagles.

Danny Wilson opened the scoring as York took the upper hand, and Paul Hancock made it two after excellent passing.

Scunthorpe came back with three goals, but Jim Quinn netted twice as the York side battled back to win 4-3.

The Whitehawk Pee Wees (U14s) also enjoyed a first North East Viking League victory, thrashing Scunthorpe 8-1 at Oaklands Sports Centre.

Captain Kyle Botterill crowned his excellent individual weekend by scoring the first and last goals of the game, and by setting up 10-year-old brother Joe to score as well.

It was David Close, though, who top scored with a fine hat-trick, while Ross Beavers netted twice.

The Whitehawks U18s had a worse time of it, however, being surprisingly beaten 10-6 by Scunthorpe Eagles U18s in the league.

York scored through Ashley Smith, Sam Dyer (2), Danny Wilson (2) and a curious bobbling, much-deflected effort, while Andy Hancock had a fine game in nets to keep the Scunthorpe score down.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.