Lightning scored twice in the first six minutes as they destroyed Chelmsford Chieftains 7-2 at Planet Ice on Saturday while on Sunday they took a three goal lead at fellow title contenders Sheffield Scimitars before eventually winning 5-3.

Grant McPherson set up Michael Wales for goal number one against Chelmsford after just 2mins 57secs with Adam Carr, supplied by Matt Towalski, making it 2-0 on 5mins 18secs.

The lead was stretched to 3-0 before the second break thanks to a goal from Ales Parez with the assist going to Toni Alasaarela.

Lightning carried on where they left off in the second session although it was not until just after the halfway mark that they found the net again. This time it was Gary Clarke who got a one on one break away while the hosts were shorthanded with Alasaarela in the sin bin for interference.

Any lingering hopes Chieftains had of getting something from the game were well and truly snuffed out when Clarke netted for a second time on 34mins 18secs, Parez the supplier.

As the clocked counted down for the second break Chieftains finally got on the scoresheet with former Lightning player Bari McKenzie firing past Barry Hollyhead at 39mins 44secs.

Parez bagged his second of the game at 48mins 17secs to make it 6-1 before a tremendous goal from McPherson sent the home fans wild at 49mins 46secs.

A second goal for Chieftains came from Scott McKenzie on 54mins 6secs but it was too late to have any effect on the result.

The following day Lightning made the journey to Yorkshire seeking revenge for the 5-3 loss to Sheffield at Planet Ice three weeks ago. And this time the scores were reversed with Lightning coming out on top.

Captain Clarke put the visitors in front on 5mins 34secs - and that's the way the score remained at the first break.

Clarke then got Lightning off to a super start in the second period with a goal after just 45 seconds while a powerplay goal from Adam Carr took the tally to three on 23mins 17secs.

Sheffield were presented with a powerplay chance as the mid point of the game approached and they took it with Oliver Barron netting at 29mins 45secs.

The Scimitars fightback continued with a second powerplay goal – this time from Robert Farmer at 35mins 27secs to give a 3-2 score at the next interval.

Once again though it was Clarke who put Lightning's minds at ease with his team's fourth on 43mins 16secs to complete his hat-trick.

But Scimitars refused to give in and a second Farmer goal on 46mins drew them closer.

The goal to seal the points came after Parez was upended as he was clear on goal – referee Dave Goodwin awarding a penalty shot which Alasaarela had no hesitation in planting in the back of the net at 46mins 45secs to make it 5-3.

Lightning v Chemsford statistics:

Lightning scorers: Gary Clarke 2+1, Ales Parez 2+1, Grant McPherson 1+1, Michael Wales 1+0, Adam Carr 1+0, Chris McEwen 0+2, Toni Alasaarela 0+2, Kurt Irvine 0+1, Matt Towalski 0+1, Mikko Skinnari 0+1.

Shots on goal: On Barry Hollyhead 27/2.
On Andy Moffat 43/7.
On Mike Robnsinon 5/0.