Penalties galore as Giants stamp on Vipers

BELFAST Giants drew first blood in back-to-back games against Newcastle, seeing off the Vipers 4-1 to move second in a fiery encounter at the Odyessey Arena.

Defender Tyler Howells, Mike Burgoyne, Steve Thornton and Andrew Martin all did the damage for the Giants as referee Moray Hanson dished out 155 penalty minutes.

Chris McAllister netted Newcastle's only goal but it was Belfast's new-signing Jason Rushton and Vipers forward Andrew Payette who hogged the headlines, squaring off three times.

Rushton - who joined the Giants two weeks ago in a bid to bolster their physicality- racked up 63 penalty minutes before being thrown out of the game late on, along with Newcastle duo Dean Holland and Derek Campbell.

It took less than four minutes for Canadian Rushton and Payette to trade blows for the first time before

Howells gave the Giants the lead in the eighth minute with his 12th goal of the season.

Burgoyne doubled the advantage with a powerplay strike three minutes later and player-coach Thornton added a third minutes after the start of the second period.

McAllister pulled one back for Newcastle in the 47th minute, in between another Rushton-Payette fight, only for Martin to seal the Vipers fate ahead of Saturday's clash four minutes later.

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