The BIG Time
The WNIR was abuzz on October 14th 1989 for the Devils’ first ever home Premier Division contest. The classy visitors from Murrayfield boasted a host of big names – Tony Hand, Scott Neil, Martin McKay, Chris Kelland. However, with Moria, Lawless, Hope, the Cooper brothers and new signing Doug McEwen the Devils had their own star power.
The Racers arrived in Cardiff proclaiming that Moria would not repeat his exploits of the previous week when he scored 6+2 in Scotland, but their boasts were short lived. The scene was set and the Devils – and Moria delivered. In a staggering 11-6 win, with Moria notching 8+1 – air horns (by this stage banned at WNIR) were not needed, the noise was deafening!
The Durham Wasps were already big rivals by virtue of the Devils pinching the Cooper brothers from their team. To add spice to the mixture, the Wasps had put the Devils out of the Autumn Cup before playing their first Premier Division contest in Wales on November 25th 1989. The Wasps were the reigning league champions, but the Devils were poised to take over.
It was a dream result. The Wasps were sent home with a 10-0 thrashing! It was the first Premier Division shut out in just over two years, the first time in Heineken League history that the Wasps had failed to trouble the scoreboard and it was almost three years since Devils first home game against Ashfield.
Of course, Durham would get their chance for revenge and three years later they dealt the Devils a 13-0 hammering at the WNIR. Still, in 1989 it was the Devils making all the noise.
The Peterborough Pirates happened to be the visitors to the WNIR when the Devils needed just one point to secure the Heineken Premier Division title at the first time of asking. The Pirates had lost seven times already to Cardiff during the season and duly went down to the eighth by a 14-7 score to trigger scenes of great jubilation throughout the building. The Devils had to wait nearly two weeks to get their trophy however, and on Friday 18th March 1990 they got their chance to touch the silverware.
In a televised home game against Murrayfield, the Devils refused to be intimidated or riled and simply kept scoring. Despite the physical approach from the Scottish team the Devils lit up the scoreboard with nine powerplay goals en route to a 12-4 win. The night also featured 3+3 for the much targeted Ian Cooper and the first competitive goal for home grown forward Nicky Chinn. Just three years after hockey had arrived at WNIR, the club was beginning to produce talent from its own back yard.
A few weeks later, of course, there was more drama – arguably the greatest of all. At the playoff finals in Wembley the Devils overcame Murrayfield 6-5 on penalties having never led the contest proper. Doug McEwen scored the decisive penalty and Jeff Smith famously denied Tony Hand. Not only had the Devils won the Premier Division title at their first attempt, they had also won the playoff title, a remarkable double success in their short history.
The Devils were dethroned in 1990/91 by a Durham Wasps side featuring star forward Rick Brebant and the Cooper brothers, who had returned to their home town. The Wasps repeated their success in 1991/92 but the pendulum swung back to the Devils when the Cooper brothers returned to South Wales to join new Devils Hilton Ruggles and Steve Cadieux before the 1992/93 season.
