Stuart Allen was a former Predators defenceman who died at the age of 19 in a car accident in 2005 and it was Stuart's father Richard who led out a Predators team who were clearly up for this game.

Always a hotly-contested affair, this year's match was no exception, with both teams giving their all for the 60 minutes.

After withstanding some early pressure from the Rumble, it was Predators that opened the scoring with a short-handed effort.

With Neil Smith sitting out two minutes for tripping, D-man Pete Freeland calmly picked up the puck in his own zone before skating the length of the ice to coolly drill the puck into the bottom left corner past the despairing MK netminder on 10:35.

Freeland doubled the Predators' advantage 30 seconds into the second period after latching onto Richard Spink's rebound, with his slapshot beat Hemming again.

Rumble stepped up the pressure, forcing several fine saves from starting netminder Abi Brewer.

Dan Edwards further increased the home side's lead after combining with Morgan Stephenson. The duo then reversed roles three minutes later, with goalscorer turning provider for the big D-man to make it four.

Within 20 seconds of the start of the third the Predators looked to be out of sight when Spink made it five after good work from Smith and Pete Revell.

The visitors finally found the back of the net midway through the period, with Paul Southwood slipping the puck past Brewer on 48:51.

Five minutes later saw the Predators switch netminders, with Alan Storer replacing Brewer between the pipes.

Storer was soon called into action when Stephenson brought down the onrushing forward to give away a penalty shot. Southwood stepped up for Rumble, but failed to get past Storer, who managed to get a piece of the puck to deny the MK man his second of the night.

The euphoria was to be short-lived, however, as from the resulting face-off Findlay managed to bundle the puck into the net through a goalmouth melee, to the obvious frustration of the Predators goalie.

The four-goal cushion was instantly restored though when Spink notched up his second of the game with a sweet solo effort straight from the restart to end all hope of a Rumble revival.

The final hooter triggered scenes of jubilation from the home bench after an emotional and poignant day.

Predators' bench coach Steve Wren said "That was the best Predators' performance I've seen. We kept our discipline, worked hard, and never stopped trying. There was only ever going to be one outcome."

Morgan Stephenson added: "Stuart always gave 100 per cent. We wanted to go out there and do the same, and bring the shield back to its' rightful home."