Jason Rushton took just seconds to fulfil his promise to the Belfast Giants fans.

After predicting that there would be a fight in Saturday night’s contest with the Basingstoke Bison, the Giants new-boy dropped his gloves almost as quickly as referee Andy Carson dropped the puck.

Everything pointed to a pre-arranged bout between him and Bison hardman Jeremy Cornish as both were on the ice from the start of the game and they went toe-to-toe with just two seconds on the clock.

Lasting over a minute, very few blows were actually landed before the officials decided enough was enough.

That didn’t stop the pair going for it again last night when the teams met again in Basingstoke and with the Newcastle Vipers coming to Belfast for a double-

header this weekend Rushton is sure to have another couple of battles to really get his Giants career going.

He showed last night that he can use his stick as well as his fists though, scoring his first goal for the club as the Giants hammered Basingstoke 7-1 to give them a full four-point haul from the weekend.

The Sheffield Steelers maintained their lead at the top of the table as they too secured maximum points from their two games, as did defending champions Coventry Blaze, whose victory

over the Nottingham Panthers has shaken up the chasing pack.

Both the Giants and Blaze are 10 points adrift of the Steelers with two games in hand, while Nottingham are a further point back with just a single game in hand.

Six different men found the net for the Giants last night, with three others scoring during Saturday evening’s 5-4 overtime win in Belfast.

Colin Shields grabbed a brace before Steve Thornton and Shane Johnson scored in regulation time and George Awada secured the win in the extra five minutes.

Mike Burgoyne and Bobby Robins has the Giants 2-0 up last night before Cornish pulled one back for Bison.

An Evan Cheverie double then stretched the Giants lead before goals from Rushton, David Phillips and Shields made it a rout for the Belfast men.