The Coors Belfast Giants are looking to build on their franchise record 15 game winning streak on Thursday Night at the Odyssey Arena. The Giants are coming off another great winning weekend and are taking on the Hull Stingrays, the same team they beat on Sunday Night in Hull. A win on Thursday will see the Coors Giants go top of the league for the first time this season.

Player/Coach Ed Courtenay appeared very focused on Wednesday morning at training on the task at hand.

"Everyone keeps asking me about Saturday against Coventry but right now the biggest game for us is Thursday Night against Hull. We can't just show up on Thursday and expect to beat them, we have to bring our best game and play the way we have for the last 15 games. I will focus on Coventry on Friday morning, but not before then."

The Giants lead the season series over the Hull Stingrays with 4 wins and a single loss which was a 2-0 defeat way back in October. At that time, the Giants were at the bottom of the league and now they are going for first place. Courtenay added:

"I know we have played a few more games than some of the other teams but first place is first place and that is the position we want to be in. Teams with games in hand have to win those games and if we can win on Thursday we are top of the table. Once we get there, we will do everything we can to stay there."

The Coors Giants have no injuries to report and will be icing a full line-up against the Stingrays on Thursday Night. Face-off is at 7:30pm.

Chris Scannell scored both goals for Cliftonville against Portadown

Cliftonville's dramatic late win at Solitude means they are just one point behind Premier League leaders Linfield with a game in hand.

Portadown had taken the lead on 44 minutes when Gary Liggett scored after home keeper John Connolly had failed to hold Kevin Braniff's low free-kick.

Chris Scannell equalised 62 minutes after Keith O'Hara had fluffed his clearance from Mark Holland's cross.

Scannell scored again in the 90th minute to give Cliftonville victory.

But the Reds, the only undefeated side in the league, were hanging on for the win.

In the 93rd minute Braniff's shot hit a post and from the rebound Cahit Pasa saw his header cleared off the line by Mark Holland. In the first half Gareth McKeown had also hit the woodwork for the Ports after Wesley Boyle's corner eventually fell for him.

Hummingbird 'uses tail to chirp'

Hummingbird in flight

Hummingbird chirp

A species of hummingbird makes a chirping noise with its tail feathers, not its throat, a study using high-speed video has suggested.

The exact source of the noise from male Anna's hummingbirds has been the subject of debate among researchers.

By using specialised footage, a team of US scientists were able to show that male hummingbirds' tail feathers vibrated during high-speed dives.

The findings appear in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B journal.

The loud chirp sound is produced by male Anna's hummingbirds (Calypte anna) as the birds dive towards the ground at speeds that exceed 50mph (80km/h) during their displays for nearby females.

Hitting the right note

The researchers, Chris Clarke and Teresa Feo from the University of California, Berkeley, wrote in their paper that they had gathered evidence that put an end to the uncertainty surrounding the source of the sound.

Tracking a hummingbird's dive

Enlarge Image

"Production of the sound was originally attributed to the tail, but a more recent study argued that the sound was vocal.

"We use high-speed video of diving birds, experimental manipulation on wild birds and laboratory experiments on individual feathers to show that the dive sound is made by tail feathers," they explained.

The pair added that while bird vocalisation had received considerable attention, non-vocal or "mechanical" sounds had been "poorly described".

"A diverse array of birds apparently make mechanical sounds with their feathers. Few studies have established that these sounds are non-vocal, and the mechanics of how these sounds are produced remain poorly studied," the scientists wrote.

They said the footage revealed that the trailing vane of the birds' out-tail feathers fluttered rapidly to produce the sound.

The characteristic dive caused a subtle change in the shape of these feathers to produce a loud chirping sound, the researchers noted.

"Many kinds of birds are reported to create aerodynamic sounds with their wings or tail, and this model may explain a wide diversity of non-vocal sounds produced by birds," they concluded.

Quote

Marchers hold Bloody Sunday rally

Hundreds of people took part in the march through Glasgow

Hundreds of people have taken part in a parade in Glasgow to remember the victims of Bloody Sunday.

The Cairde Na hEireann (Friends of Ireland) procession also attracted more than 100 counter-demonstrators.

A Strathclyde Police spokeswoman said that five arrests had been made for breach of the peace, but there were no major problems.

It remembers 14 civilians who died after being shot by British troops at a march in Londonderry in January 1972.

Saturday's event saw about 350 people make their way from Blythswood Square to the city's Kelvingrove Park, where a rally was held.

Francis McAdam, a spokesman for the marchers, said the police had been wrong to refuse them permission to walk through the city centre.

"We're disappointed that Strathclyde Police have given in to mob rule," he said.

"We've got the right to march peacefully, the same as the Orange Order, the same as anyone.

"Cairde Na hEireann will be applying for that same route again in the future - every other organisation is allowed to march through Glasgow city centre apart from ourselves - and we see that as anti-Irish racism."

Last year's parade went ahead peacefully, but in 2006 protesters tried to clash with those taking part.

The last round has been played this sunday, so we now know who is the winner of this years Corus Chess tournament. First here are the results:

Ivantsjuk (UKR) - Van Wely (NL) 1/2 - 1/2
Polgar (HUN) - Aronian (ARM) 1/2 - 1/2
Topalov (BUL) - Adams (ENG) 1/2 - 1/2
Gelfand (PAL) - Eljanov (UKR) 1-0
Leko (HUN) - Mamedjarov (AZ) 1-0
Carlsen (NOR) - Radjabov (AZ) 1/2 - 1/2
Anand (IND) - Kramnik (RUS) 1/2 - 1/2

This leads to the following final standing:

         K R M E A A I P T G L C A W Tot
Kramnik  X d d 1 d 1 d d 0 d d 0 d d 6,5
Radjab.  d X d 1 d 0 d d d 1 d d 1 d 7,5
Mamedj.  d d X d d d d d d d 0 0 d 1  6
Eljanov  0 0 d X d d 0 1 1 0 d 0 d d  5
Adams    d d d d X d d 0 d d d d d 1 6,5
Aronian  0 1 d d d X d d 1 1 d d d 1  8
Ivants.  d d d 1 d d X d d d d d d d  7
Polgar   d d d 0 1 d d X d 1 d 0 0 d  6
Topalov  1 d d 0 d 0 d d X 1 1 d 0 0  6
Gelfand  d 0 d 1 d 0 d 0 0 X d d d d  5
Leko     d d 1 d d d d d 0 d X 1 d d  7
Carlsen  1 d 1 1 d d d 1 d d 0 X 0 1  8
Anand    d 0 d d d d d 1 1 d d 1 X d 7,5
v.Wely   d d 0 d 0 0 d d 1 d d 0 d X  5

Total 60 draws in 91 games, percentage: 65,9%

22:39 The MOM awards go to Pete Campbell for the Giants and Riddle for Hull.

Thanks to everyone who bothered to watch me try to not mess this up. Special thanks to fish and paddy who are chanting "15 in row" down the phone to me.

22:34 Well that is the game over and I'm just going to wait to see if the guys send me the MOM awards.

22:31 GOOOOOOOAAAALLLLLLLL GIANTS
Carlyle Lewis secures a 15 in a row winning streak!! Assist coming from Scotty Cameron.

22:31 Just to add to the drama my phone flashes "low battery".

22:29 40 seconds! Surely we have this one.

22:27 2:30 left on the clock!

22:25 Our penalty killing has been great tonight as the Wally pen has been killed.

22:25 Carson is the Ref tonight and is being very picky about the game. Resetting a face off because he was displeased. Not even sure if that's a word, I'm sure my old English teacher won't be reading this anyway.

22:23 AND AGAIN with 6 minutes left Wally goes off for hooking. When will it end?

22:22 Another photo for you lot as it has all gone a little too quiet on my phone.

22:19 A few more penalties for good measure. Shane is off for a delay of game and its 5 on 3 against us.

22:18 Is this the calm before the storm? not much noise coming from the boys in Hull at the moment. It has me on the edge of my seat.

22:15 Yet MORE penalties! This time it is Campbell off for slashing.

22:13 Wardy gets in touch again to comment on Fish

I used to babysit the Fishmeister .....oh my God he could throw up for fun ....lol

22:12 Penalty is over and as that happens Scotty Cameron goes towards the Hull net with a shot, but its saved by Kuds in an open handed glove save.

22:11 Our powerplay leaves alot to be desired as the only word from Paddy is, and I quote.... "RUBBISH"

22:09 Oh The 3rd period is underway and Ladygin gets 2 minutes for interference.

22:09 Well this is all going slightly better than I expected. I thought I would have crashed this website by now and screwed my poor wee laptop, but all seems hunky dory so far.

22:07 Just checking the emails again and I see there is one from a certain Miss McDonald.

How can Fish be sobering up when he has a beer in his hand?! He better not be sick in my spare bedroom tonight!

Fish will be alright, all that refreshing Hull air will sober him up once he gets outside.

22:03 The musical intervals in the most versatile arena seems to be the best of ROCK! No dance tunes there to really give it some Fist in the stand.

22:00 An email from Wardy

Has Fish bought a drink yet??"
I very much doubt it Wardy. I'd go as far as to say he repossessed that pint in his hand from Paddy.

21:56 As we can see from the photo to the right, there is a media tart in the most versatile arena. Fish, who are you saluting?

21:52 Yet another text to my phone from Vickymac that says

What have you got? Not enough O's!!!
Point taken, I was a bit premature there.

21:48 END OF THE 2ND
The shot tally is as follows, 16 on Kuds 14 on Lyle.

They are coming at us hard

Soupy scored against the run of play. this period was theirs if it wasn't for our goal. The shot tally just goes to show how much pressure we have soaked up.

21:44 Keky gets in touch now with a text saying

GIMME ANOTHER O!
O!

Ok Ok people, you put them together and what ya got?

21:42 Last minute of the second period and Boothroyd misses an absolute sitter for the Stingrays. This Hull team have alot of determination still about their game.

21:40 A text from BOTH Vickymac AND Sarah saying the same thing.

Gimme an O!!
O!!

21:37 GOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL GIANTS!!!!
Soupy Pete puts us 3-1 up. Mmmmm Soup tastes good! That sounds so wrong yet so right.

21:35 Another text from Bill00

Gimme ANOTHER E
E!!

21:34 That minute something odd passes quickly and we kill off yet another penalty. Great work so far from our penalty killing players.

21:33 Text from Vickymac

Gimme another E
E

21:32 Kudrna makes a great glove save. 13 seconds left on our power play and Lewis takes a needless tripping penalty. power play to the Stingrays for next 2 minutes less 13 seconds. Maths isn't my strong point people.

21:28 Hull #24 goes off and it's a power play to us with 9 minutes to go!

21:27 Cheeky scampster that Patrick is has just sent a text saying

is FTB here? I've not seen him
I'm sure you lot disagree with our Patrick, as I feel Sutter is a gritty determined player and part of this winning streak set up.

21:25 *Squeek takes a swig of Irn Bru to keep his sugar levels up for all this texting*

21:24 Text from Sarah

Gimme an E
E!

21:23 Lyle is under the cosh at the moment as the Stingrays and having the better chances of the period thus far. However STE-VIE LYLE is up to that challenge. In fact he thrives on it!

21:21 mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm peanut M+Ms are the food of choice for the confectionery muncher surely?

21:20 It's going from zone to zone over there with Lewis having another chance 5 minutes into the period. The word text by both guys over there is FRANTIC

21:18 email from Bill00

Gimme a Y

Y!

21:17 Second period is passing in rightly with 4 minutes gone already.

21:16 Just checked the email and to answer you Stephen, Paddy and Fish are texting me from the game.

21:14 And as quick as that, the penalty is killed. Back to full strength

21:14 We start this period without Carlyle, as he is off for 2 minute minor

21:12 Fish sends me a text saying

Start of the next P

I hope he isn't in a toilet being personal.

21:07 And it only takes me a whole period to work out how to put photos up! I'm a slow learner, but I get there in the end.

Feel free to send an email to the updates email address at the top there.

21:03 End of the first period.

End to end stuff, says young Patrick, with lots of chances but no real finishing apparent (well apart from the two goals). By that he means the Giants maybe should have more than 2 goals.

15 shots for the Giants on Kuds and 5 on Lyle, who is apparently doing a few walk abouts in the first period.

20:57 Carlyle then gets called for high sticking with 4 seconds left in the period.

20:56 Lewis goes in hard and hits Rankin, has a chance with the back hand just after that but wasn't able to finish.

20:52 The Fist beats one, beats two.... but the end result is a poor shot. Better luck next time Eddie!

20:49 GOAL for Hull
It's that Little Riddle again who scores a powerplay goal while TJ was in the box.

Paddy comments that Stevie Lyle would probably want that goal back as he really should have saved it.

20:49 TJ off for Hooking (I can see a tv series out of that sentence)

20:47 GOOOOOOALLLLLLLL Giants

Awada drops a pass in the slot and Dutes taps it slightly over a sprawling Ladygin. Another lovely goal

20:42 It's all over in the Blaze match and it finished 4-3 to the Vipas! I'm a happy Squeeker right now I can tell ya!

20:40 Straight after the face off, Awada has an opportunity and rubber meets iron as he hits the post DIIIING.

20:38 GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL Giants score

Soupy Pete latches onto an Ed pass. From right circle he squeezes it between pad and post. Great finish says Paddy.

20:35 It's all gone ominously quiet over there... well up until now when fish lets me know that we killed that penalty... PHEW

20:31 All the pressure comes to nothing and a great chance to go ahead has gone. Now its the Giants turn to go a man down. Awada is off for hooking.

20:29 The first penalty come to an end with the score still 0-0. It's all Giants so far. Surely they can make something with our record of great power play goals.

20:28 5 on 3 powerplay to the Giants now, the first time the Stingrays get to touch the puck!

20:27 Ruby gets 2 mins for hooking and the Giants have started this game strong, with the first few minutes, pressuring the Hull net.

20:25 They're off and running folks
The puck is dropped and the game gets under way!

20:20 1 minute to face off and its 4-3 to the Vipazzz COME ON!

20:15 Fish seems to be feeling the effects of the drink but reliably informs me he is "match fit" to support the Giants.

He will be sobering up as the away fan's bar is closed due to a lack of away support. He blames all of us lazy fans for not making it, the cheek!

20:11 Due to the Giants being late onto the ice for warm ups, they delayed getting off it to aid all their players get a full warm up. Even moaning from the crowd and lights being turned down didn't phase them.

Not long now till the puck drops.

20:05 The Giants eventually make it onto the ice and are getting their warm up under way.

Feel free to sent an email at the above email address. I get lonely sometimes ;)

19:56 Already the Hull Stingrays are on the ice warming up. The Giants have arrived in time but as yet are yet to come onto the ice.
With the Blaze having a tough time of it against the (currently 2-2) can they do us a favour tonight in the last period? 19:54 Hello Everyone,
It's Squeek here and if you didn't already know, the face off was delayed to 20:15

Myself, Fish and Paddy will be having a three way textual intercourse session in order to relay whats happening over there in Hull

Round 12 is played, only one round left. This round we saw Carlsen win again and Aronian drew with Ivantsjuk, so they share the first place now followed on only half a point distance by Radjabov and Anand. The decision who wins this year's edition of the Corus Chess tournament will be made in the last round today. Here are the results of round 12:

Van Wely (NL) - Anand (IND) 1/2 - 1/2
Kramnik (RUS) - Carlsen (NOR) 0-1
Radjabov (AZ) - Leko (HUN) 1/2 - 1/2
Mamedjarov (AZ) - Gelfand (PAL) 1/2 - 1/2
Eljanov (UKR) - Topalov (BUL) 1-0
Adams (ENG) - Polgar (HUN) 0-1
Aronian (ARM) - Ivantsjuk (UKR) 1/2 - 1/2

         K R M E A A I P T G L C A W Tot
Kramnik  X d d 1 d 1 d d 0 d d 0 - d  6
Radjab.  d X d 1 d 0 d d d 1 d - 1 d  7
Mamedj.  d d X d d d d d d d - 0 d 1  6
Eljanov  0 0 d X d d 0 1 1 - d 0 d d  5
Adams    d d d d X d d 0 - d d d d 1  6
Aronian  0 1 d d d X d - 1 1 d d d 1 7,5
Ivants.  d d d 1 d d X d d d d d d - 6,5
Polgar   d d d 0 1 - d X d 1 d 0 0 d 5,5
Topalov  1 d d 0 - 0 d d X 1 1 d 0 0 5,5
Gelfand  d 0 d - d 0 d 0 0 X d d d d  4
Leko     d d - d d d d d 0 d X 1 d d  6
Carlsen  1 - 1 1 d d d 1 d d 0 X 0 1 7,5
Anand    - 0 d d d d d 1 1 d d 1 X d  7
v.Wely   d d 0 d 0 0 - d 1 d d 0 d X 4,5

Total 55 draws in 84 games, percentage: 65,5%

“Dedication… Dedication… Dedication that’s what you need, if you want to be the best, and if you want to beat the rest, ooooh, Dedications what you need”

The record breaking Coors Belfast Giants take the club record winning streak down to Dundalk this Saturday to face the Edinburgh Capitals in the IceDome. Ed Courtenay will be hoping that his strong side will pick up another win and another 2 points as they look to strengthen their position toward the top of the EIHL and keep the pressure on the leading Coventry Blaze.

The Giants face the Blaze in the Odyssey next Saturday, however between now and then the Capitals and a trip to the Stingrays lie in wait. Edinburgh are lying second from bottom currently, however their last 3 games have been tight affairs. A home win over the Nottingham Panthers, and two single goal losses to the Steelers (one on Penalty Shots) shows a Capitals side looking to surge to a spot in the playoffs.

Dundalk has been very popular despite its controversial beginnings. The Giants are laying on a bus service for a number of fans, while a full house is expected to cheer the Giants on with the same enthusiasm they did on their last visit there. The atmosphere was electric the night the Phoenix were defeated in the Dundalk rink, and this is the atmosphere Todd Kelman hopes will be recreated on Saturdays visit.

Hull on the other hand are rock bottom of the EIHL, this week they took on the services of Sergi Rublivsky. The European forward returning to the Yorkshire club after a poor stint with the Mobilx Vipers. They are in the midst of a 4 game losing streak their last win being over the Manchester Phoenix on the 6th January. Rick Strachan’s side are looking to see out the league and, like Edinburgh, pick up the points to reach a playoff berth.

The Giants must ensure that they do not slip up as these two teams could prove tricky banana skins in the chase for Coventry. With the Blaze back in form after a slip up a few weeks ago the task of overhauling them is a more arduous task.

But the Giants fans hope that when the Blaze roll into town next weekend the Giants will hold their dedication to the pursuit of the EIHL. Because Dedication’s what you need…if you want to be a record breaker!

Text Updates return this weekend with coverage of Saturday nights game v Edinburgh and an Away game special. I’ll be in Hull for the Giants visit there and your host for the evening will be a man known only by the name “JimmySqueeker”… So keep tuned to KotG for all the coverage of this weekends games.

Patrick Smyth