PETERBOROUGH, UK – With the British summer winding down, it was back to business for the English National League this weekend, with seven league ties and one Cup game taking place. Regular columnist Dave Carr is off swanning around Africa for a fortnight, so I’ve been following the pre-season predictions, expectations and roster analysis with great interest ahead of this weeks round up. The general consensus is that Chelmsford, now under the charge of former Milton Keynes Lightning hot shot Gary Clarke, are the favourites to lift this years league title whilst defending champs Wightlink need to overcome some changes among their key personnel. With pretty much everyone improving in one respect or another it’s shaping up to be an extremely competitive season, and the opening weekend of action did not disappoint. Saturday
Bracknell Hornets made a strong start against Invicta at the John Nike Leisure Centre, but a freak goal by Dan Fudger set the Gillingham outfit on their way as they fought off the early season rust. A Second period brace from new import Ryan Ellis and a goal fellow debutant Justin Noble gave the travelling Dynamo’s a 4-0 lead going in to the final frame. Alan Lack managed to pull one back for the Hornets before Grant Baxter marked his return to Invicta with a goal to round off a 5-1 victory for Kev Parrish’s side. Romford got their season off to a flying start in Milton Keynes, despite the early season ‘Milton Keynes mist’ giving both teams trouble. Anthony Leone’s early marker proved to be the only goal of a tight opening period, but Danny Marshall’s out fit pulled away in the 2nd with Leone completing his hat trick and goals from Juraj Huska and AJ Smith opening up a 5-0 lead by the second intermission as the title contenders seized upon a sloppy 20 minutes from the home side. A stronger final period from the Thunder boys was punctuated by goals from Frankie Harvey and a second for Smith as the Essex outfit got their title challenge off to a flying start. Slough made their Division 1 debut at home to Oxford, making the most of the opportunity to make a strong start to the new season by lining up with Aaron Connolly and Dan Davies for their opening weekend. After a goalless first period, Shannon Taylor and Dale White gave the Stars a 2-0 lead three minutes in to the 2nd. But Davies kept the division new boys in the game with a late marker to set up a thrilling finale. Callum Best tied the game at 2-2 before ex-Guildford junior Andrew Melachrino’s powerplay goal gave Jets the lead. Slough supremo Zoran Kozic then made it 4-2 with a short handed effort at 51.15 before Oxford player/coach Ken Forshee pulled one back for the visitors 30 seconds later.
It was Kozic again who popped up with a decisive fifth goal with 4 minutes remaining to seal a 5-3 victory for the Jets on opening night. Sunday
Oxford rebounded from Saturday nights loss with an unexpected tie in Chelmsford. Stars captain Darren Elliott gave his side the lead early in the game, before Chiefs import Jakub Klima levelled things with 90 seconds left in the opening period. The final two frames were almost entirely one way traffic as the Chieftains pilled on the pressure, and the Stars managed just 3 shots! But the Essex outfit were unable to find a way past Stars netminder Chris Douglas, as the former Premier League netminder put in a Man of the Match winning performance to help his side grab a valuable point at the Riverside. With fellow title contenders Chelmsford suffering a surprise setback, Invicta took full advantage as they secured a 7-1 home win against Bracknell as the two teams completed their double header. With two solid wins over the Hornets wrapped up the Dynamos happily sit atop of the Division, but more concerning for Bracknell may be reports of an injury to Danny Hughes, after the big shooting forward took a puck to the foot during the game. Slough took full advantage of the opportunity to begin the season with two home games. Following Saturdays hard fought victory, the Jets wrapped up a convincing 7-2 win over Bristol. Aaron Connolly lead the way with four goals for the home side, with David Heath grabbing a brace and Jamie Milton. Whilst Kozic was absent on Sunday, it will be interesting to see how Slough fair in such a competitive division when Connolly and Davies join the Premier League club later this month. Milton Keynes bounced back from Saturday nights disappointment with an emphatic win in Streatham. Veteran forward Jamie Randall’s powerplay marker and a goal for young star Connor Goode gave the Thunder a 2-0 lead at the first break, in a penalty strewn affair which also saw Thunder skipper Matt Roberts ejected for spearing. Maros Stefanco grabbed his first goal of the season 90 seconds in to the middle period, before former Invicta forward Grant Bignell extended the Milton Keynes lead to 4-0 as giant netminder Dave Cassidy held firm in the Thunder net. The visitors then extended their advantage in the final frame as Steve Maile netted his first goal for the Thunder after his summer switch from Cardiff, before Stefanco completed his brace with a powerful effort.
Simon Howard’s side then shut up shop to ensure a vital two points on the road and a first career shut out for Man of the Match Cassidy, who turned away 37 shots on the night. The South East Cup also kicked off on Sunday, as Romford welcomed Wightlink to Rom Valley Way. Whilst the four team Cup competition, in which Chelmsford and Invicta are also participating, is separate from the league, an imposing 6-1 win for Romford sets something of an early marker between the two sides as the island boys look to defend their ENL crown this season. Results
Saturday 3rd September
Bracknell 1 Invicta 6
Milton Keynes 0 Romford 7
Slough 5 Oxford 3
Sunday 4th September
Chelmsford 1 Oxford 1
Invicta 7 Bracknell 1
Slough 7 Bristol 2
Streatham 0 Milton Keynes 6
Romford 6 Wightlink 1 (South East Cup) Contact the author rob.mcgregor@prohockeynews.com
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