Shannon Taylor and Darren Elliott both hit hat-tricks as Oxford City Stars achieved an impressive double, thumping Peterborough 14-2 and edged out Bracknell Hornets 4-3 over the weekend.

Stars travelled to Peterborough on Saturday without Dean Francis, but were boosted by the return to fitness of Shannon Taylor.

And it was Taylor who opened the scoring after just under five minutes.

Taylor added two more goals and two assists to complete a superb performance.

The talking point came when Joe Edwards was ejected from the game in the second period.

The referee adjudged Edwards to have caught a Peterborough player with a high stick, which drew blood.

Oxford’s other scorers were Juraj Rusic, Elliott, Dale White, Tom Roles, Lee Featherstone, Grant Bailey, Nick Oliver, Andy Cox, Joe Boot, Nick Eden, Mark Krater.

Oxford faced a far sterner test on Sunday in the shape of Bracknell Hornets.

The Berkshire team secured a play-off spot last season and have assembled a competitive squad.

But Oxford recovered from a two-goal deficit to win 4-3, with Elliott sealing a fine performance with the game’s winning goal in the last minute.

Bracknell led 2-0 after the first period, but Dale White cracked home a rasping shot to reduce the arrears, and then Grant Bailey netted the equaliser.

Oxford’s Andy Cox and Bracknell’s Blair Dubyk were ejected after clashing with each other.

The third period saw Elliott fire Oxford in front, but Bracknell’s Tom Avery levelled again when he whipped the puck into the roof of the Stars’ net.

The game could have gone either way in the dying minutes.

After having a goal ruled out by the referee, Oxford sna-tched victory when Elliott scored his third goal in the dying seconds.