ENL South Round-up Week 8

LONDON, UK – The Pet Shop Boys once instructed everyone to “Go west, as life is peaceful there”. Clearly lead singer Neil Tennant would have to change the lyrics of his hit song, if he watched Bristol Pitbulls game against Streatham Redskins on Saturday night.
The Redskins beat the Pitbulls in South London the previous week, and Bristol were determined to get two points on their home ice. Both sides came together during both the warm up and at the end of the first period as the home side took a feisty approach to proceedings. The first two periods were relatively even but Bristol fell apart in the third and the Redskins took advantage with a ruthlessness that Pitbulls Head Coach Richie Hargreaves probably wishes his side had.

A man of the match performance and two goals from Peter Molnar made a big difference for the Redskins and their other goals in the 6-3 victory, were scored by Ed Koral, Joe Johnston, Michael Ranby and Chris Rasmussen. Bristol’s goals came from Alan Armour, Steve Osman and Richie Hargreaves.
Bristol ice rink may have its critics, but the Pitbulls are making a real go of hockey there. Food stalls in the corner of the rink, posters advertising the team all over the bar and entrance, plus a projected scoreboard that would be impressive as an idea on TV show Dragons Den, so hats off to them for that. Small things that make a big difference, and talking of big differences, the Streatham fans travelled in big numbers to this fixture and made a real racket, which at the same time encouraged the Pitbulls fans to respond in turn.
Chelmsford Chieftains travelled to Bracknell to face a Hornets side that are showing signs of inconsistency. The Chieftains would have likely expected a tougher test than they got as they ran out comfortable 7-1 winners.
Two goals each for Danny Hammond, James Ayling and Matt Turner plus a lone goal from Tom Long did the damage for the Chieftains. Hornets’ defenseman Joe Reynolds was taken to hospital with a cut eye after a fight with Chieftain Blaho Novak. Danny Cox and Alan Lack also dropped the gloves in a one-sided fight that Cox won convincingly.
Romford Raiders made their second trip Cardiff in less than a month, hoping for better fortune than last time. The Raiders gained sweet revenge over the Devils despite being 3-2 down going into the third period. The ENL Devils hit penalty trouble and the Raiders took full advantage by winning the game 7-5.
Romford’s scorers were the rejuvenated Anthony Leone with a hat trick, plus James Murnane, Danny Marshall, Pierre Wilhelmsson and AJ Smith. Cardiff’s goals came courtesy of a brace from Tim Burrows and one each for David James, Gareth Dixon and Luke Piggott.
Swindon ENL Wildcats were probably expecting a tough fixture on the Isle of Wight, however it is doubtful they imagined they would be destroyed 17-1 by the Wightlink Raiders.
This is the kind of game that only benefits those players who wish to boost personal statistics, as even the home fans get tired when a game goes into double figures – ok not all fans. The Raiders used the game to click their firepower into gear for the trip to Romford the following day, whereas Swindon’s short bench were counting down the minutes till the ferry departure back to the mainland.
Nathan Taylor and import Jason Gorrie both notched hat tricks for the Raiders. Jeremy Cornish, Dan Scott, Kevin Tanner, Robbie Brown, Keiron Annis, Steve Gosset and Josh Florey also got on the score sheet, while Dom Hopkins and Richard Facey both scored twice.
Swindon must have done some deep soul searching on that ferry trip home because on Sunday they posted a fantastic 4-3 victory over the visiting Bracknell Hornets at the Link Centre. Despite two goals from Alan Lack and one for Radek Simicek for Bracknell, Swindon took the two points thanks to a brace from Louis Neal and one each for Ali Barrow and Steve Whitfield.
The win will come as great relief for Justin Bonello and his side, but spells trouble for Bracknell coach Ben Pitchley who will be wondering how he can shuffle his pack for their upcoming fixtures.
A derby of sorts took place at Oxford, where Milton Keynes Thunder trio Paul Gore, Mike Lucas and Lee Featherstone travelled to take on their former club at Oxpens Road. The Thunder were dealt a big blow prior to the game due to starting goalie Mark Woolf withdrawing from the squad. Young stopper Jake Scriven stepped in but could do little to halt the City Stars impressive form.
The latest in a long line of ‘Olivers’ to wear the famous Oxford green was the stand out in this game, young Josh Oliver bagged his first senior hat trick to help his team to a 6-3 win. The City Stars other goals came from Joe Edwards, Andy Cox and Gareth Endicott. Milton Keynes scorers were Ross Bowers, Martyn Snape and Connor Goode.
With starting goalie Andy Moffat suffering from a back injury, Invicta Coach Kevin Parrish, not known for taking risks, re-signed goalie Joe White, who had announced during the summer that he would not be able to play this season due to work commitments.
The highly rated White was deemed a safer bet between the pipes than youngster Andrew Dickson for the visit of Chelmsford Chieftains on Sunday. Parrish’s last minute transfer action proved to be wise, as the Chieftains are a team in form and a real threat to the Dynamos unbeaten home record.
The Essex side showed no signs of tiredness from the previous night’s action as they came away from the Ice Bowl with a point after coming back from 3-0 down to tie the Dynamos 3-3. Daniel Calitri with two and Callum Fowler had been the early scorers for the hosts, before the visitors hit back courtesy of efforts from Darren Brown, and two from man of the match Matt Turner.
Former Invicta youngster Aaron Connelly riled his former employers and team mates with some on ice pleasantries towards the end of the game, however apart from a moment of shirt tugging with Mo’s defenseman Tim Smith, no punches were thrown and the game ended without a major scrap. These two rival teams have three more fixtures against each other so there is plenty of time for issues to be ironed out.
Romford Raiders coach Danny Marshall had spoken to the local press following last week’s victory over Wightlink Raiders on the Isle of Wight, saying that goals rather than punches had been a successful tactic that night. Wightlink were the visitors to Rom Valley Way on Sunday, buoyed by their goal fest 24 hours before.
After straight forward victories in their last few home fixtures, Raiders fans (of the Romford variety) may have raised some eyebrows at the 3-1 win that Jeremy Cornish and his men took back to the Island.
The heroes for Wightlink were Alex Murray, Dom Hopkins and Richard Facey. Romford’s lone marker came from James Murnane. Romford’s Grant Baxter became the latest ENL player brave enough to drop the gloves with Jeremy Cornish, however the Wightlink player-coach proved a little too strong for the feisty former Invicta man. 
Streatham capped a four point weekend with a 7-4 victory over Cardiff at the High Road. Redskins’ fans must have been nervous that their team were going to be on the end of a good hiding when they opened the match night programme.
According to the team lists, the ENL Devils were taking no chances and had drafted in Elite stars Brad Voth, Dorian Smith and GB goalie Stevie Lyle. Thankfully this was a printing error, however ENL Devils coach Mark Cuddihy must have wished those individuals were there.
The Redskins took a convincing 7-4 win against a surprisingly lack lustre Devils side, to the delight of the home support. Slovak Peter Molnar once again stole the show with an excellent performance, aided by his line mates Russ Stevens and Joe Johnston. Molnar walked off with the man of the match award and four goals to his name, Michael Ranby got two goals and Tomas Valko also got one.
Cardiff scorers were Luke Piggott with two and one each for Tim Burrows and Ricky Deacon. Redskins defenseman Ed Koral scored a cracking own goal with a neatly placed side foot volley with his skate past the sprawling Stefan Nubert.
The results leave Invicta and Wightlink joint top of the league with Streatham one point behind in third. Swindon’s win over Bracknell spells bad news for Bristol as they remain rooted to the bottom of the table.
We finish with the comedy moment of the week, courtesy of Streatham Redskins Czech defenseman Lukas Zilak whose enquiry on the coach trip home from Bristol of “Are we in Slug yet?”, becomes the latest slur on Berkshires crowning glory aka the town of Slough. Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com <:u1:p>