ENL South Round-up week 14

LONDON, UK – Wightlink make changes and the national press feature the ENL for the first time in living memory. Add in another serious injury and a miraculous recovery and you have a recipe for another eventful week of English National League hockey.

 
After a mixed start to the season, Wightlink Raiders coach Jeremy Cornish swang the axe in the direction of gritty forward Stewart Tait during the week, releasing the former Slough and Streatham utility player from the Raiders squad.
 
“Stewart has been a great servant to the club and was a big player in our championship winning team earlier this year” explained Cornish in an official press release.
 
“The run of recent results has left me thinking I need to move the team on and I really want to give the younger players on the squad the chance to get more regular ice time and develop for the future”
 
“Stewart is a great guy and a good teammate and will be missed in the locker room. We’d like to wish him all the best and thank him for his terrific contribution over the years”
 
The addition of forward Dan Murdy to the Raiders line up in recent weeks could point to one reason Tait was released. However any Wightlink fans left cold by the decision to release Tait were soon warmed by news of summer signing Grant Rounding’s return to the fold after long term injury.
 
The former Bracknell Hornets sniper was not expected to ice again this year so for him to be declared available so soon is a great boost for the island side.
 
The controversy of last weekend in the ENL was finally latched onto by the national press, with the Daily Mirror and Star picking up stories that Pro Hockey News readers will already be familiar with. First up for national scrutiny was the five year ban handed to Jack Robinson for his spear on Ali Band and this was then followed by a report on linesman Rory Beavis being ejected for making obscene gestures towards Romford fans at the Ryde Arena.

The headline in the Mirror in relation to the Beavis incident was ‘Ice Shockey’ which suggests they were possibly not aware of the young linesman’s surname, as one would wager a ‘butthead’ reference.
 
I may be going against the grain of opinion but I really hope that Beavis is given a reprieve and we see him continue to officiate. Yes he made a mistake and yes the Romford fans got the bird but he is a teenager and I doubt he will ever consider doing such a thing again if he is given a second chance.
 
I do worry about the young officials in the ENL at present and I don’t think they are all ready yet, but we all (fans and players) have to show them patience and understanding otherwise they will quit and we will be left with cancelled games or one man systems.
 
Romford Raiders coach Danny Marshall swooped for recently released Peterborough Phantoms Shaun Yardley in a transfer that gave the Essex side a boost ahead of their double header weekend.
 
“Shaun looked good in training. He’s strong on the puck, good in the corners and very good at passing the puck off” admitted Marshall in an interview with the Romford Recorder.
 
“He can score, but is very good at setting up plays and is the type of guy who does the simple things right”
 
“He’s a game-player and will definitely be a good addition to the team.”
 
It is hard to see why Romford need another player such is the strength of their squad, especially when they still have Frankie Harvey to come back from injury, but good coaches don’t rest on their laurels and Marshall is wise not to pass up the opportunity to sign someone like Yardley.
 
Invicta Dynamos announced that they would be adding cheerleaders to their match night itinery following a deal brokered by new Business Development Manager Glen Thompson.
 
“We have new music and the ‘Dyno-Matics’ cheerleading team from Maidstone will be performing a routine before the start and also during the break between each period” reported a club media release.
 
“We are hoping they will be able to perform at all our home games for the rest of the season”
 
Indeed cheerleaders are not very common at hockey games in the UK, especially at this level. At Oxford we trialled a live band between period breaks and they were quite lively but I do think clubs should try as many different ways as possible to enhance the match night experience for their paying customers.
 
I do remember in a junior game at Billingham, they once had a troupe of girls in the corner with pom poms and I was playing for Sunderland. We scored just as the girls were in the middle of ‘Give us a B, Give us an I’ etc and the Billingham goalie skated across and told them to ‘F**king shut up’. Safe to say the poor lasses all burst into tears and I don’t think the Billingham Forum ever saw them again.
 
Streatham finalised the plans for the ‘End of Era’ game to be staged on the 18th December. It looks like the Redskins game in Slough has now been rescheduled so that the current team, fans and management can all be a part of the event, which will feature some real Redskins greats.
 
Anyone with just a passing interest in hockey in this country would do well to get down to the old barn before its ice plant is turned off for the very last time. Personally speaking I just hope that it turns out to be a memorable evening and that everyone enjoys themselves.
 
 
Saturday
 
Romford faced an MK Thunder side that travelled without player coach Simon Howard due to flu. It turned out to be a miserable evening for the MK boys as they got beat 11-1 and lost forward Martyn Snape to a suspected broken foot.
 
The win means that Romford’s seemingly never ending unbeaten home record continues, and their goals came from JJ McGrath with four, Danny Marshall with a hat trick, AJ Smith with a brace and lone goals for JJ Pitchley and Matt Turner. Nidal Phillips scored for the Thunder and Raiders defenseman Bill Phillips was ejected for slashing.
 
Bristol coach Richie Hargreaves spoke out ahead of his side’s clash with Slough, warning the ENL Jets that they would face a different proposition from the Pitbulls side that lost in Berkshire earlier in the season.
 
“It was a frustrating day for all of us down there,” said Hargreaves in an interview with the Bristol Evening Post.
 
“We basically had a new squad of players after making nine signings over the summer and we hadn’t had many preparation games”
 
“We were rusty and it was a case of getting to know each other. Slough managed to capitalise on that because they have a good, young and energetic side.
 
“I’m not reading too much into what happened down there because I think Saturday will be a very different game”
 
Indeed it certainly was, as Bristol romped home with an 8-0 win over a Slough side that lost defenseman Sam Godfrey midway through the game, after he was ejected for a hit on Pitbulls forward Dan Mann. The stricken Mann was laid out on the ice for over an hour whilst everyone waited for an ambulance to arrive, which caused the final 15 minutes of the game to be played running clock (with the Pitbulls 7-0 up at the time). The diagnosis on Mann is a broken collar bone and we all wish him a speedy recovery.
 
Wightlink Raiders needed to come up big in their clash against Cardiff ENL Devils on the island, and they didn’t let their fans down as they beat the Welsh side 6-2.
The Raiders were in control for much of the game and their goals came from Joe Rand with a brace and one each for Richard Facey, Steve Gosset and Arran Strawson.
 
Cardiff scorers were Rob Sedlak and Luke Piggott however experienced defenseman Jason Stone was ejected after taking exception to a slashing call and then abusing the match official.
 
 
Sunday
 
It was top v bottom as Chelmsford travelled to South London to take on basement side Streatham. We had been working all week in training on tactics to contain the Chieftains and after a 0-0 first period we were seeing our hard work pay off.
 
Chelmsford do have some excellent forwards though and in the end they were too strong for us.
 
Scoring in the 5-0 win for Chelmsford were Gary Clarke with a brace and Jakub Klima, Ross Brears and Alan Green. Streatham also gave Calum Heath a start following his two way deal with the Lee Valley Lions and he bolstered a squad still missing Norm Pinnington and Russ Stevens.
 
The biggest match of the night took place in Gillingham as Invicta Dynamos hosted Romford Raiders. The Raiders grabbed a vital two points in their title charge with a 6-4 win despite a good comeback effort from the Mo’s who were 5-2 up at the end of the first period.
 
A hat trick from Juraj Huska and goals from JJ McGrath, Danny Marshall and Anthony Leone did the business for the Raiders, with a Justin Noble brace added to goals from Ryan Ellis and Callum Best combining for the Dynamos reply.
 
Cardiff overcame a tricky tie in Slough against the ENL Jets with a 7-4 win. Slough unveiled a new import in the shape of 27 year old Latvian forward Juris Galajevs, who amusingly has a team named Stalkers Juniors Daugavpils on his hockey CV.
 
Galajevs scored on his debut with Zoran Kozic also notching two goals for Slough. Cardiff scorers were Chris Jones with a hat trick and lone goals from Gareth Dixon, Robert Sedlak, Jordan Powell and James Preece.
 
The final game of the day took place in Milton Keynes as the resident Thunder hosted the struggling Oxford City Stars. Thunder scorers were Mark Turner, Connor Goode, Maros Stefanco and Harrison Goode.
 
Gareth Endicott and Richard Wojciack were on target for Oxford.
 
So Chelmsford stay top of the league and Streatham are bottom, but remember…. There is a lot of hockey still yet to play.
 
 
Results
 
Saturday 3 December 2011
 
Romford Raiders 11 – 1 Milton Keynes Thunder  
Bristol Pitbulls 8 – 0 Slough Jets  
Wightlink Raiders 6 – 2 Cardiff Devils
 
Sunday 4 December 2011
 
Invicta Dynamos 4 – 6 Romford Raiders  
Milton Keynes Thunder 4 – 2 Oxford City Stars  
Streatham Redskins 0 – 5 Chelmsford Chieftains  
Slough Jets 4 – 7 Cardiff Devils
 
Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com