ENL South Round-up Week 23

LONDON, UK – With no transfer news to report there was an air of tumbleweed trundling across the ENL as far as news goes, however an unlikely figure from the league got a call up to the EPL for a midweek fixture.
 
Step forward referee Ian Hayden who ended up as part of the officiating team for the EPL Cup Semi Final clash between Slough Jets and Guildford Flames. Regardless of what anyone thinks of the bearded whistle blower (and indeed after he refereed our encounter in Swindon on Sunday he is off my valentines card list), it takes some thick skin to be an official at any level of hockey, so fair play to him for stepping into the void when the allocated official dropped out.

 
With the countdown to the big clash of the weekend between Invicta Dynamos and Wightlink Raiders in full flow, both camps were quizzed by the local and national press revealing interesting quotes.
 
Invicta Coach Kevin Parrish quite rightly explained to the Medway Messenger that if his players could not get motivated for this game then they should not be playing hockey.
 
Wightlink Coach Jeremy Cornish meanwhile told the Isle of Wight County Press that ‘Spin-fit’ was the secret behind the Raiders title charge and that his guys were focused on the job in hand.
 
Spin-fit is not something that we use in Streatham however it is always amusing to read the Bristol Pitbulls players Facebook updates before their sessions on the bikes. They range from the enthusiastic ‘look at me coach’ efforts like: “Pumped for Spin-fit tonight”, to the early excuses of “Man Flu is killing me” or “Gutted with this groin strain”, letting Coach Richie Hargreaves know subtly in advance that they won’t be attending.
 
I must confess I once went ‘Spinning’ in a swanky gym in London, you know the kind with the flashing lights, chrome stairways and stern faced city types decked head to toe in adidas and wearing more accessories than Mr Motivator.
 
Forty minutes surrounded by women in tight clothing and dripping in sweat should really be one of life’s pleasures (that’s what the brochure says), but I can assure you that after 45 minutes I was hardly able to stand up and this was not surprising when I learnt that I had read the wrong timetable and I was certainly not attending the ‘Beginners’ session as I had thought.
 
Streatham Ice Rink’s future became slightly clearer this week as it was reported in the London Evening Standard that the temporary rink planned for Brixton had been given the go ahead by Lambeth Council. Also in the article was an interesting sentence that mentioned the clause that ensured Tesco (the land owners of the current rink) keep continuous ice provision, had been removed in the most recent negotiations between the supermarket giant and the council.
 
This sounds very ominous for the future of hockey in South London and we all have to keep our fingers crossed that everything turns out ok. It was a shame the Standard’s story decided to focus on potential gang warfare breaking out as the main point of the story, citing a murder four years ago at the High Road as the link between ice rinks and postcode wars.
 
My source tells me that there is still a clause in place to keep continuous ice provision; however it does not stipulate it has to be within Streatham, which makes sense.
 
Saturday
 
Romford Raiders hosted a Swindon ENL Wildcats side, knowing that the visitors have not travelled well recently. The Wiltshire side had conceded a total of 37 goals in their last three games on the road and it was soon to be 60 in four, as Romford demolished them 23-2.
 
Juraj Huska was the chief beneficiary of the Wildcats woes as he fired in eight goals in a game that saw a number of Raiders pad their stats. Danny Marshall got four goals to his name and AJ Smith, JJ McGrath and Anthony Leone all bagged hat tricks. Liam Doyle and Tom Davis were the other scorers for Romford, with Sam Feeney and Jamie Newton getting the goals for Swindon.
 
Cardiff had an early start to make the 4.30 face off in Streatham to take on the resident Redskins. The Devils bus could have set off an hour later than the scheduled 9.30am departure as the referees had been told a later face off time and the start of the game was delayed as the officials arrived late.
 
The early morning was worth the hassle for the Welsh side as they tore us apart from the ten minute mark onwards. Steve Fisher had a great game and scored five goals for the Devils with Luke Piggott, Dusan Krehlik, Chris Hart, Robert Sedlak and Tim Burrows all getting a goal each.
 
Trent Hope had the widest smile in South London as the Cardiff youngster grabbed his first, and then second goal in this league, in only his second appearance at this level. Following in the footsteps of his father Shannon Hope, who played for GB and had a long career in UK hockey himself, Trent walked off with a man of the match award for his efforts.
 
The final game of Saturday took place at Frogmore Street where the Bristol Pitbulls hosted the Bracknell Hornets. The last time these two met in Bristol the home side won 4-3 and they managed to triumph again this time round with a much needed 9-7 win to delight the home crowd.
 
Hat trick hero Alan Armour led the charge for the Pitbulls, with Player-Coach Richie Hargreaves getting two and Liam Williams, Henrik Sahlin, Steve Osman and Mike Smith getting one each. Tony Barclay hit a hat trick for the Hornets and Grant Rounding, Alan Lack, Ryan Webb and Tom Carroll also getting on the score sheet.
 
Pitbulls’ veteran Mike Smith and Hornets forward Ben Duggan both dropped the gloves, however in the end this marked a fantastic two points for Bristol, whilst at the same time a big blow to Bracknell who would have hoped to pick up a win in the west country.
 
Sunday
 
The big game of the day took place at the Gillingham Ice Bowl with the top two sides in the league going head to head. Invicta had a pre-game boost as defenseman Tim Smith returned from injury to bolster their blue line.
Two minutes into the game, Invicta new boy Chris Borges opted to drop the gloves with Cornish and this set the tone for a cracking game which saw the Raiders inflict the Dynamos first defeat on home ice since 2008.
 
Cornish was like the cat that got the cream (Roddas Cornish Clotted of course) as he bagged two goals in the 5-2 road win, that also saw Jason Gorrie score a brace and Brad Watchorn get one for the Raiders.
Andy Smith and Daniel Borges were on target for the Dynamos, who also saw Tim Smith mark his return by dropping the gloves with Richard Facey.
So with the Raiders defence proving to be the difference between the two sides, the Isle of Wight based outfit now sit in pole position for a league title, knowing that the pressure is on to keep winning. This win is a big monkey off the teams back and should give them great confidence going forward.
To stay unbeaten at home for nigh on three years is one hell of an achievement, however all good things come to an end and Invicta now have to bounce back against the lowly Swindon Wildcats at home next Sunday.
Streatham travelled to Swindon in a fixture that saw us complete the great escape last month, scoring a winner in the last two minutes having been two goals down with eleven minutes to go.
Sadly there was to be no repeat this time round as we fell victim to a hard-working and resolute Wildcats side, who took full advantage of a distinct lack of discipline from the Redskins.
Swindon took the spoils 5-2 and the result rounded off a pretty rancid weekend for the South London side. The lively Shannon Taylor was chief beneficiary for Swindon with two goals, and Grant Richardson, Ryan Burgess and Jamie Newton all got one each.
Streatham scorers were Joe Johnston and Ed Koral, however goalie Will Sanderson was stretchered off with a knee injury during the second period to add to our woes.
 
Swindon are clearly a team that plays full strength at home and then don’t travel well, which is a bit of a shame really as they looked decent at the Link Centre. They drew with Cardiff the previous weekend at home, so their result against us is certainly no fluke.
It is fair to say that the Redskins are having a bit of a wobble and everyone has an opinion of what the problem is. Personally I think we have too few guys taking on too much responsibility, and unlike the ENL in years gone by, you can’t keep the same 7-8 players out on the ice for 50 minutes a game and get away with it.
We should have a few bodies returning over the coming weeks which will give the coaching team more options and if we can keep in the play-off places and get a few wins under our belt I doubt any team will fancy visiting the High Road come the business end of the season.
A confident Cardiff side hosted Milton Keynes Thunder with the visitors yet again missing a whole host of key players for a Sunday road game, including starting goalie Mark Woolf.
Cardiff made no mistake of ensuring a much needed four point weekend, as hat tricks from Steve Maile and Luke Piggott, plus a brace from Tim Burrows and one each from David James, Ricky Deacon and Steven Fisher gave the Welsh side an 11-7 win.
Thunder’s teenage goalie Jake Scriven had a busy evening; however the real bright spot was a first Senior goal for sixteen year old Tommy Mboya. This was added to by four goals from Maros Stefanco and one each for Lewis Clifford and Aram Todd.

Bristol Pitbulls headed to Essex in jubilant mood following their win the previous night, however Chelmsford Chieftains posed a stronger challenge.
The Chieftains were comfortable 10-3 winners by the end of the night as Tom Long, Danny Hammond, Sean Easton and Kyle Jones all hit two goals each and their other scorers were BT Williams and Blaho Novak. Bristol scorers were Henrik Sahlin, Steve Osman and Josh Gallea.
Bristol’s Steve Osman missed a penalty shot in the second period and in the third, Mike Hargreaves and Kyle Jones went head to head and both got roughing penalties for their troubles.
Oxford City Stars hosted Romford at Oxpens Road with the Green Army hoping to pick up some points from the start of a tough run of fixtures.
Romford are a team in form though and made it eleven wins out of their last eleven games with a convincing 7-2 road win over the City Stars.
A hat trick from Juraj Huska set the Raiders on the way and Danny Marshall got two, with Jason Buckman and Anthony Leone getting one goal each.
So after the weekend fixtures we have a clear title favourite in Wightlink. A dangerous Romford Raiders side that have games in hand, and a Cardiff side who have climbed to fifth position.
Results
 
Saturday 12th February
 
Streatham 2 Cardiff 12
Romford 23 Swindon 2
Bristol 9 Bracknell 7
 
Sunday 13th February
 
Swindon 5 Streatham 2
Cardiff 11 Milton Keynes 7
Invicta 2 Wightlink 5
Oxford 2 Romford 7
Chelmsford 10 Bristol 3
 
Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com