A CASH-STRAPPED ice hockey team proved their palates were top of the pile when it came to wine tasting - winning their club £6,000 in a popular television show at the weekend.

Five members of Durham Dragons were given three weeks to master the art of wine tasting to face a challenge set up for Cilla Black's Moment of Truth programme.

Darren Webb, Kevin Watson, Davy Franks, Jonathan Helser and Ian Greenwood travelled to the LWT studios in London.They were given five fine wines, selected out of ten they had been given to learn. They then correctly guessed the grape, country of origin and region of each to win the cash prize.

Mr Franks said: "It was important to win this challenge. It secures funding for another year."

The cash will be used to pay for rink time at the Whitley Bay ice rink and for new sports equipment.