The win on Saturday moved the Hawks up into 2nd place in the table overnight but they were then displaced by both Billingham Stars and Sutton Sting who picked up wins over Whitley Warriors and Telford Titans respectively on Sunday evening.
Billingham's 6-2 win in the North East derby will have been especially welcome to their fans as it brought to an end a terrible run of results where they lost 4 games in a row, scoring only 4 goals in the process.
Solway Sharks remain top of the Moralee Conference with a 3 point cushion over the Stars. They also have three games in hand, having played no league games this weekend.
In the Laidler Conference (North 2), 2nd placed Deeside Dragons closed the gap with leaders Solihull Barons to 3 points with a 2-1 win at home to Nottingham Lions on Sunday night. They missed the chance to move to within 1 point of top spot as they lost their game on Saturday 3-2 away to Sheffield Senators.
Lions are now level on points with Coventry Blaze in what looks as if it will be a two horse battle for 3rd place.
In the other games of the weekend, Widnes Wild won 1-5 away to Blackburn Eagles and then lost 3-5 at home to Sheffield Senators.
Photo: Outstanding young Blackburn player James Riddoch was voted MVP for his performance for the Hawks against Manchester on Sunday. James had previously been playing for Blackburn Eagles in the Laidler Conference and has only just stepped up to play for the N1 side. (Photo by John Milton - www.togger.co.uk)
