ENL South Round-up week 11

LONDON, UK – The soap opera at Invicta continues whilst goodbyes are prepared in South London and a few players get an untimely visit to hospital in Essex. It must be another week of ENL South hockey.
 
After two home losses in as many days last weekend, Oxford City Stars Player Coach Ken Forshee blasted his squad publicly during the week.

 
“We have injuries, but we can’t use that as an excuse” said the angry Canadian in an interview with the Oxford Mail, after the Stars slumped to both Cardiff and Streatham.
 
“Guys will have to pull their socks up quickly, or else some sort of changes must be made”
 
Quite what options Forshee has available to him are not really clear but the Stars are struggling at present and need import Cameron Birrell and goalie Chris Douglas to return from injury sooner rather than later.
 
Just when you thought things at Invicta had finally settled down, well for a few hours anyway, forward Robbie Brown finally departed for Peterborough Phantoms after speculation had linked him with not only the Phantoms but also the Edinburgh Capitals pretty much from the moment he arrived in Kent a few months ago.
 
More bad news was to come though as import Justin Noble was forced to fly back to Canada for family reasons on Monday prompting Coach Kevin Parrish to reveal the whole situation at the Ice Bowl lately had left him feeling like he was ‘playing a game of snakes and ladders’.
 
The image of Parrish sitting by a log fire rolling a dice and cursing an upcoming snake is an amusing one but Phantoms Coach Chris Allen was quick to deny any allegations of ‘poaching’ Brown.
 
“We signed Richard Bentham as he was eager for the chance to step up and Robbie approached us, not the other way round” explained the former NHL’er in an interview with the Peterborough Evening Telegraph
 
“He heard that Spurr had gone so he asked the question and we offered him a chance. It is tough on Invicta to lose two of their best players but that’s hockey”
 
Indeed it certainly is hockey and Dynamos defenseman Ryan Giles gave a refreshingly honest interview with Pro Hockey News after the departure of Brown admitting that ‘it’s a dog eat dog situation and coaches or owners won’t think twice about leaving another team in the situation they are desperately trying to dig themselves out of”
 
Well said Mr Giles. I am sure I am not the only one growing weary of the now standard press releases that ‘snitch’ on the incoming player to ensure that the club signing them somehow comes out of each situation smelling of roses.
 
This is not a dig exclusively at the Phantoms (as it has happened with a few other teams already this season) and Mr Brown may well have made the first call but is it important? Brown is an ambitious young man and a good hockey player so is it really surprising he wants to step up a level. I think we all know the realities of the game in this country.
 
If we are all honest, we all believe whatever version of events suits us in situations like this, therefore regardless of whether an itemised phone bill is publicised showing player A called coach B first, fans and players will still usually side with their own club or team in any inquest or debate.
 
Streatham Redskins announced a series of interviews on their website to countdown the closure of their famous 80 year old arena, with current Captain Ed Koral first up. I was there when Ed spoke about his memories of the rink and his thoughts on its closure and I think these features will make for emotional and fascinating reading over the next few weeks.
 
The last league game at the rink will be against Milton Keynes on the 17th December but there are plans for a Redskins legends game shortly afterwards if the details can all be arranged.
 
Talk about being part of history. I have even rescheduled a leg operation so that I can be there on such a momentous occasion that will probably see more than a few tears shed.
 
On to happier topics and Romford Raiders Player Coach Danny Marshall revealed how pleased he was after beating Wightlink Raiders the previous weekend despite missing the latter part of the game through injury.
 
“My team is well drilled and the players know what they’ve got to do” revealed Marshall in an interview with the Romford Recorder.
 
“It was good to take a back seat and watch how things were going and give a bit of guidance. The players are used to me being on the ice, but when I’m on the bench I can give them an extra bit of motivation”
 
The introduction of ‘Bruise of the Week’ in last week’s column appears to have caused a bit of a stir and we are pleased to announce that Bristol Pitbulls forward Mike Smith narrowly edges out his team mate Alan Armour with an absolute corker to take the spoils.
The yellow and blue mess of Smith’s lower leg was caused by a shot from Oxford’s Gareth Endicott and can be seen in all its glory in the picture opposite.
 
Last but by no means least; it is worth mentioning once again that many of the players, management and fans across the ENL South are growing facial hair in aid of Movember. This involves the non-shaving of one’s upper lip from the 1st of November until the end of the month.
 
Some players, like Invicta’s Alastair Band have taken the challenge to a whole new level with a zany haircut and bushy tash raising thousands of pounds in the process, however spare a thought for Streatham goalie Shane Kemp who after nearly two weeks of continuous growth is looking like… well the picture speaks for itself.
 
 
Saturday
 
Bracknell Hornets notched only their second win of the season as they triumphed over the Milton Keynes Thunder at the Hive thanks to a 3-1 win.
 
In a result that showed the Hornets are not dead and buried this season, the Thunder were despatched thanks to goals from Danny Hughes who got two, including an empty netter and a sole goal from Graham Bellamy. Milton Keynes consolation goal came from Joe Edwards.
 
Bristol Pitbulls Player Coach Richie Hargreaves was in good spirits ahead of his team’s trip to Romford.
 
“Our road form is good” explained the former Swindon, London and Slough forward in an interview with the Bristol Evening Post.
 
“We’ll go there determined to make a game of it. If you stick to a game plan and work hard you’d be surprised at what can happen. We’ve got nothing to lose and those are the sorts of games that often end with unexpected results”
 
Unfortunately, Bristol came away with nothing from the game as the Raiders made it 21 consecutive home wins with a 9-2 win.
 
A hat trick from Juraj Huska was a stand out for Romford with Tom Davis, Andrius Kaminskas, Anthony Leone, Matt Turner, David Oliver and Grant Taylor all getting a goal each.
 
Bristol goals came from Henrik Sahlin and James Warman however Eggie Bauba and Steven Osman both picked up injuries to add to the mood of gloom on the bus home for the Pitbulls.
 
Wightlink Raiders hosted an Oxford City Stars side keen to bounce back after the disappointment of last weekend. After tying the first period 2-2 and seeing Raiders goalie Liam McAllister ejected for mouthing off at referee Nigel Boniface, Oxford may have pressed on to an unexpected win. Unfortunately their short bench soon tired and Raiders back up Dan Weller-Evans had a solid game to help the home side to a convincing 10-3 win.
 
A hat trick from Joe Rand and a brace from Geordie Nathan Taylor accounted for half of Wightlink’s goals with the others coming from Kieron Annis, Jeremy Cornish, Richard Facey, Alex Murray and youngster Joe Denness. Oxford scorers were Martyn Lee, Josh Florey and Gareth Endicott.
 
The biggest result of the night took place in Wales as Cardiff ENL Devils downed the Chelmsford Chieftains with an impressive 7-4 victory in the Blue Tent.
 
The scorers for the jubilant Devils were Chris Jones with a hat trick and Adam Harding with a brace. Luke Piggott and Jamie Hayes got the other goals. Chelmsford scorers were Ross Brears, Alan Green and Gary Clarke.
 
 
Sunday
 
If Romford thought they could celebrate Chelmsford’s unexpected demise in Wales, they were soon brought back down to earth with a bump by who else but those melodramatic Dynamos.
 
Turns out a crisis in Invicta isn’t quite that bad after all and the Dynamos romped home with a 4-1 win over a Raiders side missing player coach Danny Marshall still.
 
The game started off with a spark as Band and JJ McGrath dropped the gloves before a brace from Andy Smith and a goal each from Band and Ryan Ellis sealed a memorable victory. AJ Smith hit Romford’s consolation effort against his old team.
 
Bracknell’s bid to bag a rare four point weekend came off the rails as they lost 6-3 in Bristol against the Pitbulls. Sam Feeney and Steve Osman hit two goals each for the home side, with Steven Fisher and Jamie Newton also scoring.
 
Bracknell scorers were Ricky Rutherford, Michael Plenty and Tony Barclay. Things heated up in the second as Hornets duo Alan Lack and Ben Austin tangled with Fisher and Feeney to give the fans something else to chat about.
 
Streatham Redskins hosted Oxford City Stars hoping to do a double over the Stars and gain two valuable points to climb further away from Bracknell at the bottom of the table.
 
With the Stars missing Endicott, Fiddes, Birrell, star goalie Chris Douglas and player coach Forshee amongst others, we looked good whilst at even strength but sadly normal service resumed midway through the first period and we spent much of the remainder of the game shorthanded.
 
Predictably the Stars scored two power play goals courtesy of Darren Elliott and Andrew Shurmer and would have been pleased to take a point back up the M40. Streatham goals came from Jerry Pavlus and Liam Rasmussen.
 
The referees (well one in particular) took a lot of criticism from the fans and players of both teams and sadly in a lot of cases it was justified thanks to a few bizarre calls. I won’t elaborate, however I would say that repeatedly shoving an angry Norm Pinnington in the chest is possibly not the best idea for an official learning his trade.
 
Chelmsford needed to bounce back in their home fixture with Wightlink and so they did with a 5-3 win sealed with an empty net goal from Ross Brears.
 
Chelmsford’s other scorers were Gary Clarke with two and one each from Michael Ranby and Danny Hammond. Wightlink’s goals came from Joe Rand, Dominic Hopkins and Stewart Tait.
 
Chelmsford Hospital welcomed two Chieftains to A&E as Tom Long received 30 stitches to a cut face above his lip and Darren Brown reportedly lost three teeth. Not a bad day at the office for both and best wishes on a speedy recovery.
 
Cardiff bounced with joy down the M4 to play Slough Jets after their victory the night before but then skulked back to Wales with a disappointing 4-4 tie against a resilient Slough team.
 
Cardiff scorers were Luke Piggott with a brace and goals from Chris Jones and Jamie Hayes.
 
So Chelmsford sit top and breathe a sigh of relief thanks to their friends from Invicta whilst Bracknell close the gap on Streatham to only three points at the bottom of the table.
 
Results
 
Saturday 12 November 2011
 
Bracknell Hornets 3 MK Thunder 1
Cardiff ENL Devils 7 Chelmsford Chieftains 4
Romford Raiders 9 Bristol Pitbulls 2
Wightlink Raiders 10 Oxford City Stars 3
 
Sunday 13 November 2011
 
Invicta Dynamos 4 Romford Raiders 1
Bristol Pitbulls 6 Bracknell Hornets 3
Chelmsford Chieftains 5 Wightlink Raiders 3
Streatham Redskins 2 Oxford City Stars 2
Slough ENL Jets 4 Cardiff ENL Devils 4
 
Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com