No poetry today, I'm afraid. Well...a strengthened Sheffield side travelled to the NIC on Sunday. Following league rules, Sheffield B team were able to field some players, who despite being under 18, usually play for Sheffield's premier division team. Vipers didn't let this bother them, as they started the match as a team that was full of confidence. They had a strong first period, outshooting the visitors 17 goals to 6, but could only manage to take a 1-0 lead going into the break. Emma French scored from close range after some good work from Lucy Ebinger and Laura Porter. They would go on to rue these missed chances later on.

The second period started poorly for the Vipers, as Sheffield scored at 21:34. Vipers maintained their cool and matched the Sheffield side for shots on goal. Lucy Ebinger found herself on the break-away, and regained the 1-goal advantage at 28:31. Sheffield's Georgina Farman scored the first of her hat-trick to tie the game at 34:41. Helen Moss then found herself on a break-away, but the back-checking player managed to (somewhat illegally) hook Helen and prevent her from taking her shot. Although the penalty was called, Laura Urquhart instructed (fairly vocally) her Captain to argue the penalty shot shout; and the referee decided that as a result Urquhart deserved a 10 minute misconduct penalty. A decision that didn't go down well! Vipers still maintained their pressure and Rebecca Cooke scored just before the second interval, to again give Vipers the advantage.

The third period, like the first, was very much one of missed chances by one side, and chances well taken by the other. In the first 7 minutes of the final period, Sheffield scored 3 goals (2 by Farman and 1 by Rowland). Farman's pace continued to pose threats as she carved her way from goal line to goal line. Vipers went down to 2 lines in an attempt to try and even things up, but they still couldn't manage to rescue the game. Final shots on goal were 47 to 24 in favour of the home team, but the Vipers were on the wrong side of a 5-3 game.

It was a disappointing result, from which Vipers will have to bounce back very quickly in order to avoid throwing away the league title as they take on a travelling Blackburn side next weekend. However, it was a competitive game, and one which will hopefully make the team a stronger and more determined side as they head to the play-offs in a fortnight's time.