Deeside Dragons’ players have been told to learn some harsh lessons from Saturday’ shock 7-2 defeat at home to Nottingham Lions.

Head coach Lol Paul watched his side struggle to make an impact against an eager Lions outfit, as they lost their first league game of the season.

The defeat saw Deeside relinquish top spot in the Laidler Conference standings to Nottingham, with Hull Jets now close behind in third place.

Paul, visibly fuming following the game, will demand a turnaround from his men after watching them “outmuscled” by the Lions.

He said: “I think the best to come from this is that we’ve lost a game early on.

“As I’ve said before, getting to the top of the league is relatively easy. Staying there is the hard part.​

“We proved that, and I want the guys to learn some lessons from thinking we’re too good for this league. We’re definitely not.

“The disappointing thing is that we were outmuscled by kids. Nottingham have a lot of players in cages, and we’ve got a team of grown men.

“They outskated us all night, and all credit to the players and coaching staff at Nottingham Lions. They did a fantastic job against us.”

The opening period saw Deeside lose a session for the first time this season, after going two goals behind inside the first 10 minutes.

James Parsons looked to have sparked a fightback for the home side, however, as he struck with the Dragons’ first goal just before the interval.

But the Dragons fared little better in the second period, despite an early Michael Jones goal closing Nottingham’s advantage to 3-2.

Three unanswered goals from the visitors extended their lead to 6-2 before the 40-minute mark, with a seventh just after the second break.

Paul added: “Every week we train and work on drills, systems, 50/50 battles and shooting, as well as fitness.

But all that went out of the window, and we stunk the building out.

“We now know what it is like to be humiliated in our own rink, in front of our own fans.

“We want to entertain them, but when we play like that, we’re all responsible.

“I will be addressing it.”

The Dragons return to action a week on Saturday, at Coventry Blaze (6.45pm).