A new men’s champion will be crowned in the Bermuda Ball Hockey Association league this season as Appleby have been knocked out of the play-offs.

BDA Spirits came from behind to defeat last season’s champions Appleby 7-6 at Pembroke Community Club in a result which gave them an unassailable lead in the best-of-three quarter-final fixtures.

“It’s disappointing but we played hard,” James Amaral, one of the Appleby players said.

“It was another very close game but in the end, it just didn't go our way. We were hoping that we’d be able to play against their star goalie Mark Waddington in the play-offs, but we didn't get the chance.

“Overall, we are looking forward to trying it all over again next season.”

Spirits joined CG Insurance and Frontier in the semi-finals and Waddington conceded that Appleby made it hard for them in those two fixtures.

"It was a tough battle right from the start and we knew it would be,’’ Waddington said.

“Appleby came out strong and showed they meant business, taking the early lead 5-2. ”We did well to keep calm and turned things around, coming back to take the lead 6-5 and hanging on to close out the series.

“It's great to move on to the next round and we've proven we deserve to be here. We're looking forward to our next battle on Friday and we'll be ready."

Positive Image Dental and Spine and Sport are taking their fight for a spot in the last four to a deciding leg.

Spine and Sport won the first encounter 4-1, but Dental hit back with a 5-2 triumph when the two sides met for the second time. They clash again on Wednesday with a spot in the semi-finals at stake.

At the end of the quarter-final play-offs, the four semi-finalists will be put into another draw, with that stage of the competition set to start on Friday.