ENL South Round-up Week 27

LONDON, UK – Chelmsford Chieftains may be just clinging on to the league title race this season; however that didn’t stop them from picking up the Essex Chronicle Team of the Year award during the week. The award gives the club excellent exposure to the local population and hopefully they can get some extra fans through the door as a result.  

 
Forget the Grinch who stole Christmas, it was the owner who stole the drumsticks, as the usually cheery Romford Raiders General Manager Ollie Oliver took the unusual step of banning drums from all future Raiders games as he posted some new match night rules on the team’s official website.
 
Quite why it has taken seven months into the season to come to this decision is unknown; however Phil Collins, Ringo Starr and a whole host of travelling supporters will not be amused by the new rule.
 
Not content with just banning drums, the exhaustive list of banned items also included vuvuzelas (fair enough), sirens (does that include sexy ladies?), bugles (harsh), trumpets (very harsh) and loud hailers (unlucky Norm from Oxford), along with the standard restrictions on whistles and air horns.
 
Personally I quite like an air horn and have done since attending Wembley Play-Off weekends in the early nineties. Sadly they were banned en masse due to environmental concerns but I hold hope that they will make a comeback, along with inflatable bananas that were also popular at the time.
 
Streatham Redskins were the only club in the ENL to wish their fans a Happy Pancake Day, as the South London club featured a family pancake recipe on their official website courtesy of young defenseman Casimir Madren-Britton.
 
Sadly the big lad didn’t bring any down to training for his team mates, who were hauled in for extra fitness work during the week in preparation for the final play-off push by Redskins coach Barry Spours.
 
More good news for Streatham came with the announcement from the EIHA that Slovakian forward Tomas Valko would only receive a two game ban for the kicking penalty he was given during the 3-3 tie with Oxford the weekend prior.
 
After his sides’ title defining unbeaten run came to an end in Romford last weekend, Wightlink Raiders Coach Jeremy Cornish still managed to sound upbeat when speaking to the BBC, whilst at the same time making sure everyone knew just how long his side had gone unbeaten.
 
“It is pretty frustrating when your 23-game unbeaten run comes crashing down” admitted the Canadian, who also had to shave off his lucky beard afterwards. “But when you’re on a big streak like that it’s bound to happen, so after 23 games I can’t complain too much”
 
The winter snow cancellations finally caught up with the ENL as Cardiff hosted Swindon in a rare ENL midweek clash. The Welsh side could afford no slip ups in their quest for a play-off place and managed to see off a full benched Swindon side 6-1 in an uneventful clash by the bay.
 
Cardiff scorers were Tim Borrows, Dusan Krehlik, Chris Jones, David James , Ricky Deacon and Steven Fisher. Swindon’s consolation was scored by Stephen Whitfield.
 
The loss for Swindon was good news for Bristol Pitbulls’ whose Coach Richie Hargreaves told the Bristol Evening Post that he is ready to kick on for next season, once their ENL 1 position is confirmed.
 
“There is no doubt in my mind that we are a better side now than we were at the start of the season” explained Hargreaves. “We need to focus on staying in this division at the moment, but, if we can do that, we’ll definitely be better prepared for another crack at things next season”
It would be hard to disagree with Hargreaves assessment and they have done ok this season under difficult circumstances. They work hard for each other and are usually only let down by a lack of focus in the third periods of their games.
The Pitbulls have a team smart car, good merchandise and above all enthusiasm for hockey that shines through when you see their guys out on the ice. They are now relatively safe from relegation and have nothing to lose in the final few remaining games of 2010/11
 
Saturday
 
Bracknell Ice Rink proved to be the venue of heartbreak for the second consecutive year for the Invicta Dynamos as they took on the Bracknell Hornets. Just under a year ago, the Dynamos play-off hopes were derailed by a rampant Hornets side, however this time the hosts made sure that any league title hopes were extinguished for the Mo’s.
 
Invicta were short benched due to a combination of injury and suspension with star forward Callum Fowler serving his one match suspension and stay at home defenseman Anthony Lennon still injured. Matt Ovenden made his return to the Hornets line up.
 
Catching league leaders Wightlink was always going to be a tough ask for Invicta, however a brace from Danny Hughes and one goal each from Tom Smith, Tom Avery, Tom Carroll and Grant Rounding handed the Hornets a 6-3 defeat. Andy Smith got a brace and Chris Borges also got on the score sheet for the Dynamos.
 
Poor Bracknell forward Grant Rounding broke his collar bone for the third time in as many years, courtesy of a suspect hit from Chris Borges that culminated in him having to drop the gloves with Ben Duggan. Borges earned himself a match penalty for a combination of charging and roughing.
 
The result gives Bracknell a massive chance of making the play-offs, however they still lie just outside the qualification spots in ninth place.
 
While Invicta saw their title hopes disappear, Wightlink stepped closer to the silverware as they trounced Swindon 11-1 on the island. The visitors had a short bench due to a combination of flu and injury and Wightlink took full advantage with the highlight being Jeremy Cornish’s three goals in four minutes at the start of the third period.
 
Brad Watchorn also hit a brace for the Raiders whose other goals came from Josh Florey, Richard Facey, Robbie Brown, Steve Gosset, Dominic Hopkins and Jason Gorrie. Swindon’s consolation came from Alasdair Barrow.
 
Prior to the game, the juniors were announced on to the ice under their newly branded name; Isle of Wight Junior Raiders and were handed new jersey’s thanks to sponsors Care Learning Centre (CLC) and John Rowell Estate Management. Let’s hope that some of these guys end up skating for the senior side in years to come.
 
Romford Raiders dodged a tricky tie away at Bristol Pitbulls with a convincing 8-2 win at Frogmore Street. The title chasing Essex side had player coach Danny Marshall to thank for a big hat trick with Anthony Leone and Juraj Huska getting the other goals. Bristol scorers were Henrik Sahlin and Alan Armour.
 
The win keeps Romford in contention for the league title and they face two away games next week with trips to Milton Keynes and Invicta.
 
Sunday
 
Bristol travelled to Streatham hoping to capitalise on the Redskins winless run of late. Despite travelling with just over two lines and missing their talisman Alan Armour, Bristol pushed Streatham all the way and would probably feel hard done by after going down 4-2.
 
A goal each for the Rasmussen brothers Liam and Chris, along with a superb solo effort from Fred Carnegy and an empty netter from Joe Johnston did the business for the Redskins, with Steve Osman getting a brace for the Pitbulls.
 
Perry Richardson left the game with concussion after the first period and last time I saw him he was sat with his head in his hands mumbling about poker and clutching a bag of ice (that he probably thought were casino chips given how much time he spends in those places). Let’s hope he recovers soon enough as he is good guy and a quality player.
 
The jubilant Streatham bench at the end of the game told its own story and hopefully we can build on this game and push on from here. The race for the play-offs is going to go right down to the wire so this really was a vital two points for us.
 
Oxford City Stars would have been quietly confident of getting a result at home to Invicta Dynamos, especially with the visitors missing a couple of guys including the suspended Chris Borges.
 
Their confidence looked well founded as they held the Dynamos to a 1-1 tie for much of the game before a 5 on 3 power play gave the visitors the chance to score and Adam Copland obliged. Invicta then slotted in an empty net goal at the end to give them a 3-1 win.
 
Andy Smith scored the other two for Invicta with Alan Green getting Oxford’s opener.
 
Milton Keynes Thunder hosted Chelmsford Chieftains hoping to pull off an upset and they also came close, with the score line standing at 4-3 in the Chieftains favour at one point before two more goals gave the visitors a 6-3 win.
 
James Ayling, Danny Hammond, Tom Long, Darren Brown, Kyle Jones and Matt Turner all scored for Chelmsford with Jamie Randall, Maros Stefanco and Martyn Snape getting the goals for the Thunder.
 
Some action away from the league fixtures took place at Rom Valley Way as Romford and Wightlink played the second leg of the ‘Raiders Cup’. With Wightlink leading 5-2 from the first leg, the island side managed to lift the trophy following a rare 1-1 tie.
 
Wightlink’s goal came from Jason Gorrie with Danny Marshall on target for Romford. There was also no round two encounter between JJ McGrath and Jeremy Cornish as was anticipated.
 
So after another weekend of ENL action, we now have three teams still in contention for the title, with Wightlink needing only a point at home to Cardiff next weekend. Five teams are competing for the remaining four play-off spots with only five points between them all and the lower placed teams with games in hand.
 
Congratulations to Wightlink for lifting the first trophy of the year, with the Raiders Cup heading over to the Isle of Wight. Will it be the first of three trophys or the last Mr Cornish and his side see for 2010/11?
 
Results
 
Thursday 10^th March
 
Cardiff 6 Swindon 1
 
Saturday 12th March
 
Bristol Pitbulls 2 Romford 8  
Bracknell Hornets 6 Invicta Dynamos 3  
Wightlink Raiders 11 Swindon 1
   
Sunday 13th March
 
Oxford 1 Invicta 3
Milton Keynes 3 Chelmsford 6
Streatham 4 Bristol 2
Romford 1 Wightlink 1 (Raiders Cup – Wightlink win 6-3 on aggregate)
 
Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com