OXFORD City Stars have rung the changes ahead of their EnglishIce Hockey League Cup match at Flintshire, after they released Darren Elliott, to Basingstoke, and Danny Turner, Glen and Chris West, to Bracknell.

Stars go into the game on the back of their comfortable victory over Invicta last weekend, and with the Deeside Ice Arena in Chester being a happy hunting ground last year, they will be keen to ensure their success continues.

They have boosted their squad with new signings Simon Ferry, Kriss Abbott, Greg Wyatt, Pete Taylor, Lewis Clifford and Alex Eberhardt, and have also signed former Basingstoke Beavers and Isle of Wight man Ade Haigh, who joins the club to slot into first or second line defence.

This weekend also sees the return of Steven Cameron from holiday, and James Roberts from suspension, but on the down side Eberhardt is unavailable as he is in Germany for a week. He will be back for the home game against Chelmsford Chieftains on Sunday, October 7.

The Flintshire squad is relatively unchanged from last year, although veteran Brian Jackson has returned.

The first few weeks of the English National League programme indicate that things are going to be very competitive at the top this season.

The new campaign has started with many of the top contenders playing each other, with mixed fortunes so far,

putting at least six teams in the running for top places.

Last season's champions, Basingstoke Buffalo, have lost to Chelmsford, Chelmsford have lost at Telford, whom Oxford have already beaten.

It looks good for Stars, but then Oxford have also lost at Bracknell, so it is wide open

The next month or so will be testing for Oxford, as in the few weeks following the Chelmsford game, Stars have home matches against Telford, Bracknell and Flintshire and a tricky trip to Basingstoke.

The matches during this spell should give Stars a good idea of where the strength lies in the league and what needs to be done to achieve a top two finish to progress to the national play-offs with the top two northern teams again.

Oxford City Stars (from): M Cameron, C Roberts, S Ferry, A Cox, P Donohoe, A Haigh, P Taylor, L Clifford, M Roberts, L Plasted, D Flint, J Cameron, K Abbott, G Wyatt, S Cameron, J Roberts, C Burden.

THIS weekend Oxford City Under 19s travel to Bristol for their first match of the season.