ICE HOCKEY:

Belfast moved up to third in the Elite League after they won 3-1 in Guildford and JJ Piccinich netted a hat-trick in their 5-2 win at second-placed Coventry Blaze, which ended the Midlanders’ unbeaten start to the season.

Elsewhere, Dundee recovered from a 6-1 midweek mauling at Sheffield to edge Nottingham 2-1 and Coventry romped to a 6-2 win at Manchester. Despite not being in league action, Cardiff still top the table.

MEN’S RUGBY LEAGUE:

Welsh hopes of reaching the 2026 World Cup finals in Australia were snuffed out after France ran in nine tries to stuff them 48-6 in Perpignan.

The French will now face Jamaica, South Africa and the Cook Islands in the final qualification tournament to decide which two teams will make it through.

Only 10 teams will contest the 2026 finals, down from 16 when it was last held in 2021.

SPEEDWAY:

Belle Vue’s Dan Bewley was named British Speedway’s supporters’ rider of the season after he finished 2 per cent ahead of team-mate Brady Kurtz, with Ipswich’s Emil Sayfutdinov third in the online poll.

Birmingham’s Tom Brennan picked up the most improved rider, Dan Thompson, from the Ipswich Witches won the Rising Star award and King’s Lynn’s Jan Kvech was voted the best signing of the year.

WOMEN’S FOOTBALL:

Wales are 2-1 down when they kick off the second leg of their Euros first round play-off qualifier with Slovakia in Cardiff tomorrow evening.

The winners are likely to face the Republic of Ireland for a place at next year’s finals in Switzerland, as the Irish already hold a 6-0 advantage over Georgia.

Northern Ireland are level at 1-1 with Croatia before their match at Windsor Park and Scotland lead Hungary 1-0.