LONDON, UK – Romford Raiders took on fierce rivals Chelmsford Chieftains, whilst league Champions Wightlink Raiders faced last season’s winners the Invicta Dynamos.
With only four teams still in contention for the play-off crown, there was very little ENL news floating around in the build up to the weekend action. Only one of the coaches involved in the semi-finals appeared to put his thoughts to the media prior to the action starting, as Wightlink Player-Coach Jeremy Cornish stoked up tensions before his Raiders side went head to head with the Invicta Dynamos.
Island pain for Mo%27s (Nicky Craft)
“Invicta are our biggest rivals and we won’t be taking them lightly” announced the big Canadian in an interview with BBC Radio Solent.
“They’ve won the league for the last seven years before we knocked them off that hill so we’ll have to work hard”
“Over the last two years we’ve been building a strong hate for each other and I am really looking forward to it”
Hate is not a word commonly bandied around in hockey, but in one sense it is good to see some trash talking in the ENL for a change. Between Cornish and Dynamos Coach Kev Parrish there have been plenty of colourful quotes this season released to the press, and Ice Hockey Annual editor Stewart Roberts will surely be delighted to have more options to choose from when it comes to compiling his ‘Quotes of the Year’ page for the 2011/12 version of the book.
Having said that, both will have to up their game if they want to reach the legendary levels of Reggie Dunlop in the 1977 hit ice hockey movie Slapshot.
“I am personally placing a hundred-dollar bounty on the head of Tim McCracken” roared Reggie to the local media in the movie.
“He’s the head coach and chief punk on that Syracuse team”
I can confirm that in my long and undistinguished ENL career I can safely say that no Coach has ever put a bounty on any opposition player in any game I have been involved in. This is probably due to the fact that no club or coach has a spare $100 lying around or simply that the league does not have any characters as worthy of a bounty like McCracken (or does it?).
Talking of punks, Streatham Redskins put their now un-needed advanced ice booking to good use during the week as they took part in a photo shoot snapped by the glamorous Czech photographer Iva Dlabkova, who also happens to be the girlfriend of popular import Lukas Zilak.
Things took a turn for the worse towards the end of the session as an impromptu semi-naked penalty shot competition took place to the undoubted ‘delight’ of the Streatham Chiefs recreational side waiting to come on the ice. The only small consolation for the Chiefs was that they caught a glimpse of the Rupe Quiney’s perfectly polished backside, a sight that can be appreciated by all genders regardless of sexual orientation.
Pert Quiney and the Redskins
Before any readers log off in protest at more Streatham related ramblings (why is Carr still talking about them even though their season is ended, the crowd cry), let’s get back to the action.
Whilst Cornish fanned the flames of a relatively new rivalry between the Raiders and Dynamos, fans of the other two clubs, namely Romford and Chelmsford, certainly needed no encouragement to renew hostilities.
One piece of good news for Romford fans however was the news that Juraj Huska was to be given no extra punishment for his reported head height stick swing at Cardiff’s David Sadler the previous weekend, with the EIHA ruling the automatic one game ban should not be extended further.
Personally I find this quite surprising given the reports from eye witnesses along with past disciplinary decisions on similar incidents by our governing body. I guess it just goes to show that these things can be a bit of a lottery, however until all games are videoed then the EIHA are always reviewing these incidents with their hands tied behind their back so to speak.
Objectivity is an extremely rare quality in British ice hockey in my experience (not to mention life in general). Only a small number of fans, players, coaches and owners are seemingly able to step back in the immediate aftermath and look at things in a non-subjective way, whether it is refereeing decisions or behaviour by players of their own team.
Just like last season Pro Hockey News published a comprehensive preview of the semi-finals including the popular ‘ENL Players Panel’. For the two games we asked Alastair Band (Bristol Pitbulls), Ed Koral (Streatham Redskins), Yousif Abu-Saada (Oxford City Stars), Tim Burrows (Cardiff ENL Devils) and Darryl Morvan (Milton Keynes Thunder) what their thoughts and predictions were for the weekend.
To a man they all predicted that Wightlink would progress, and the majority went for Chelmsford as the choice for the other semi. Were they correct?
Romford Raiders v Chelmsford Chieftains
Leone time (John Scott)
These two sides were virtually inseparable during the regular season and this proved to be the case in the two legged semi-final as well. Romford were missing star Slovak Juraj Huska in the first leg at Rom Valley Way to add to their already significant absentee list.
In a game full of passion, controversy and excitement the two sides played out a 4-4 tie in the first leg. Romford goals came from Danny Marshall, Pierre Wilhelmsson, Grant Baxter and Adam Smith. Chelmsford scorers were Danny Hammond with a brace along with Matt Turner and Tom Long with one goal each.
Referee Rene Ross had a busy evening as he threw out Raiders Tyrone Miller for boarding and Chieftains Kyle Jones for drawing blood with high sticks. Turner also received a nasty cut on his forehead and young Romford starlet Frankie Harvey suffered an ankle injury that would rule him out of the second leg.
Rene Ross a busy man (John Scott)
If that was not enough drama, Chieftains import Rudi Dzurko was reportedly involved in an altercation with a Romford fan and there were unpleasant scenes at the end of the game.
So with Romford missing Harvey and Marshall and Chelmsford missing the suspended Jones, both sides returned to action in front of a busy Riverside crowd with the scores level.
Yet again there was very little between the two teams however it was Chelmsford who edged it with a 2-1 win on the night, to send the home support into raptures and the Romford fans contemplating the end of the season.
Ross Brears scored the game winner for Chelmsford with Tom Long grabbing the other goal. The returning Huska was on target for Romford.
After the high drama of the previous evening, it was perhaps a blessing that there were no major incidents of note other than the goals.
Wightlink Raiders v Invicta Dynamos
Despite their league positions suggesting differently, this game was also another that could have gone either way over two legs. Indeed at only 1-0 down by the end of the second period on the Island in the first leg, the loyal and loud Dynamos travelling support must have been dreaming of play-off revenge over the side that stole their league crown.
Unfortunately for them, the third period provided the goals and safety buffer Wightlink desired as they made it 4-0 to give themselves margin for error in Kent the following evening.
Scorers for Wightlink were Damon Larter, Jeremy Cornish, Jason Gorrie and Nathan Taylor with goalie Matt Colclough becoming the first goalie to shut out the Dynamos all season. Colclough’s achievement is made all the more special given it took place on the reduced sized pad on the island.
Invicta support (Nicky Craft)
With a 4-0 lead, the return leg in Gillingham was always going to be a tough ask for the Dynamos, however with home advantage they did manage to raise the travelling Raiders fans heartbeats by scoring in the second period through Liam Chong.
Sadly for the Dynamos no more goals were forthcoming; however goalie Andy Moffat did enjoy a shut-out against his former team in a 1-0 win on the night.
Invicta now have the summer to contemplate a rare trophy less year and come back stronger in 2011/12. Wightlink now face a two legged final against Chelmsford and what a cracker that will be.
A full play-off final preview will appear on Pro Hockey News this week along with the return of the ENL Players Panel predictions. It is fair to say that the guys were spot on with their efforts last week, so it will be interesting to see if the next set is as prophetic.
One final note of interest to fans and players of the league is that the first ever Pro Hockey News ENL South All Star teams and Coach and Player of the Year Awards will be announced at the beginning of this week.
All Coaches and Captains along with a host of senior players from across the league have been given the opportunity to vote for players in each of the categories so please keep an eye out on the site to see who the chosen players are this season.
ENL South Play-Off Final (23/24 April 2011):
Wightlink v Chelmsford
Results
Saturday 16th April
Wightlink 4 Invicta 0
Romford 4 Chelmsford 4
Sunday 17th April
Invicta 1 Wightlink 0 (Wightlink win 4-1 on aggregate)
Chelmsford 2 Romford 1 (Chelmsford win 6-5 on aggregate)
Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com
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