ROCKY Saganiuk, the Murrayfield Racers coach, made a shock return to

ice hockey last night and helped the Edinburgh side beat Whitley

Warriors 11-10 in England.

Saganiuk, who hung up his skates after having received a back injury

several seasons ago, replaced injured Canadian Frank Morris in the

Scottish club's line-up, and apart from playing well, Saganiuk claimed

an assist on one goal.

Club captain Tony Hand was in inspirational form, scoring four goals

and recording five assists. He was backed up by Canadian Chris Palmer

with a hat trick and four assists, while his line mate, French Canadian

Richard Laplant, had a double and also helped with three other goals.

Racers staged a remarkable recovery after having been 7-3 down after

26 minutes. Six minutes later the scores were level and Racers never

looked back.

Great Britain internationalist Scott Morrison returned after injury

for Whitley to claim four goals and captain Mike Rowe scored a hat

trick, but it was not enough.

Fife Flyers were beaten 7-4 defeat by lowly Peterborough. Four

unanswered goals between the first and second periods put Pirates 5-1

ahead after 36 minutes but Flyers fought back to be just one behind nine

minutes later, but then thay hit penalty trouble. Pirates teenage

goal-minder Simon Wren was in brilliant form.

There was disappointment in Division 1 where Scotland's two

representatives, Dumfries Vikings and Paisley Pirates, suffered home

defeats.

Paisley's Canadian forward Pete Buckeridge scored his 100th goal of

the season but Telford Tigers defeated them 9-6, with four of their

goals coming in the second period. The first session had been shared

4-4. Results:

Premier division -- Humberside 7, Cardiff 14; Peterborough 7, Fife 4;

Whitley 10, Murrayfield 11; Basingstoke 4, Durham 10; Cardiff 10,

Murrayfield 7; Nottingham 11, Humberside 3; Billingham 10, Peterborough

6; Bracknell 4, Fife 5.

Division 1 -- Blackburn 13, Lee Valley 1; Dumfries 3, Telford 14;

Paisley 6, Milton Keynes 10; Slough 9, Chelmsford 4; Swindon 3, Romford

5; Chelsmford 2, Romford 11; Dumfries 4, Milton Keynes 11; Guildford 7,

Slough 15; Medway 11, Swindon 5; Oxford 2, Blackburn 19, Paisley 6,

Telford 9; Streatham 15, Solihull 8; Trafford 18 Lee Valley 7.