ENL week 22 Round-up

LONDON, UK – The wry smile on his face gave indication that retribution was in the air. His barbed comment and posturing were apparent towards the men, as they attached pads and taped their sticks. Laughter and chatter gave way to silence as a cold mist enveloped the old arena, the drumming and chanting of only two days previous, replaced by silence. Like a cockerel disturbing a hangover of mammoth proportions, a whistle shrieks and the crunching of metal on ice begins.
 
It begins and then never ceases, for this is retribution. Payback for the two heavy defeats suffered on the weekend. Vengeance for the injury to his Captain and revenge for the digital image of him dressed like a pirate circulated on the world wide web via last week’s round up.
 
Two of the hardest training sessions the Redskins have seen in a long time, left us in no doubt of Spoursy’s (Streatham coach Barry Spours) opinion regarding our performances of late. Despite the heavy skating drills, the pirate noises still rung out at the end of training. Proof to the coach that despite his punishment, our spirit was intact.
 
  By game day I don’t mind admitting I was still a little sore from the tough training, however I wasn’t alone in my determination to improve on our recent form. The test could not have been tougher, as Bracknell rolled into town.
I think a fair comparison would be when the Mighty Ducks play Iceland in the Hollywood movie featuring Emilio Estevez and his plucky outfit. Sadly we were the not so Mighty Ducks and Bracknell were Iceland. Dressed all in black and solid from back to front the Hornets were formidable as they brushed us aside 10-2. Even at 9-2 up they were screaming at the ref, steaming in with big unnecessary body checks and generally appearing quite angry. Maybe it was the Hayden effect ?
 
Aside from their puzzling attitude I think the Hornets now stand out as the main challengers to Invicta for the title. They have a great goalie in David Wride, solid defense in the likes of Blair Dubyk and Tom Avery, and up front they have goals in Ben Duggan and Alex Barker. They have three good strong lines and if they don’t manage to catch the Mos then I am sure they will be the team most others want to avoid come the play offs.
 
On Saturday, Chelmsford Chieftains made the trip to the Isle of Wight to face a Wightlink Raiders side missing John Sarno, Damon Larter and Joe Reynolds. Chieftains fans bemoaned missing the free clotted cream promotional give away by seven days and to make matters worse, the Raiders pumped five past the Essex side with two goals for Alex Murray and one each for Jeremy Cornish, Luke Reynolds and Captain Dan Hughes. Ross Brears got the Chieftains consolation in the 5-1 defeat. Wightlink’s skipper also endeared himself to the rink management by smashing the plexi glass. I seem to remember the now defunct London Racers withdrawing from the Elite league partly due to smashed glass, so let’s hope the Raiders didn’t fax off resignation’s to the EIHA too hastily.
Twenty four hours before beating us, Bracknell proved that they don’t need a dodgy bounce off the boards to beat Invicta. After clinching the narrow 5-4 win courtesy of lady luck earlier in the season, the Hornets showed just how much they have improved by posting a convincing 5-1 victory  over the league leaders at the Hive. The exotically named Galazzi brothers were the main thorns in the Dynamos side with two goals for Mark and one for James. Tony Barclay and Craig Tribe also scored for Bracknell with Peter Vaisenan getting the consolation. One downer for Bracknell was poor Alan Lack missing a penalty shot, not that he will care given the result.
 
At the bottom end of the table, Haringey Greyhounds travelled to Milton Keynes to take on the Thunder minus forward Nathan Webb, who transferred to ENL 2 side Wightlink Tigers during the week. Also joining Webb on the island is former Greyhound Ricky Rutherford who Haringey would no doubt have loved to sign themselves.
It wasn’t all good news at MK either as news filtered through that influential defenseman Michael Knights is retiring at the end of the season to coach football.  This was the second bizarre piece of information to reach me about Knightsy in the matter of days. It is crazy enough that a Newcastle United fan thinks he can benefit anyone with pearls of wisdom about football, but for a man in his thirties to also wear Ugg boots on a regular basis, well I am speechless.
 
Both sides desperately needed the win, but it was the Thunder who won convincingly in the end, with Tom Davis putting in another strong performance with two goals in the 6-2 win. Ross Horsley, Kieron Goody, Harrison Goode and Jacob Heron were the Thunders other scorers. New Swiss signing Phillipe Mueller got the goals for the Greyhounds and will be a handy pick up for them.
I train with the London Devils recreational team during the week and  Mueller has skated with us for the past twelve months, he is a speedy centre with excellent hands. Just like with Norm Pinnington, Haringey tried to sign Mueller last season but at the time (like Pinnington) he wasn’t interested. Nick Rothwell must be doing something right to suddenly persuade these undoubtedly good hockey players to put pen to paper for Haringey. Could this be the first steps to professional hockey at Alexandra Palace since the ill fated Haringey Racers? If so, then Haringey fans can look forward to exciting times ahead.
 
Cardiff hosted an Oxford team still shocked by the departure of their goalie Glen Jackson to Swindon Wildcats. ‘Mad Dog’ Jackson was a popular figure amongst Stars fans, not only for his ability but also due to his dance moves performed between whistles during the game. Former Star Tom Devey returned to the club from Slough as back up and James Skaife takes up the starter spot full time. Should be a good move for all three goalies and I hope it works out for them all because they are all good guys.
 
Cardiff is a rink Oxford rarely get any joy at, and so it proved as the Devils won 6-4 in an exciting game. Both teams traded goals throughout the match and it was surprising to hear that it was officiated by two youngsters rather than a senior referee. Stars goals came from Dean Francis x 2, and one each for Darren Elliott and Josh Oliver. Cardiff’s came from Corey Watkins, Luke Piggott and two goals each for Burrows and Wood. Cardiff goalie Ross Piggott was also taken to hospital with a suspected dislocated knee so hopefully he recovers soon.  
 
Twenty four hours later, Oxford gained their revenge by coming from behind to snatch another entertaining game 5-4. Stars goals came from Shannon Taylor, Josh Oliver, Andrew Shurmer, Alan Green and Darren Elliott. Cardiff scored through Oxford old boy Alan Armour, Chris Jones, Gareth Dixon and Steve Deacon. The result is yet another defeat for the Devils on the road and they will be hoping to arrest that trend sooner rather than later.
  Sunday also saw MK Thunder play Haringey Greyhounds for the second time this weekend but this time at Alexandra Palace. The score line was closer this time as the Greyhounds raced into a 4-2 lead but couldn’t hold on and tied 4-4. Thunder’s goals came from Jacob Heron x2, and one each for David Coffey and Lee Featherstone. Mueller got another goal for Haringey, as did Scott Beeson x2 and one for Michael Ranby. MK now move above Haringey in the table but they have to face each other again in February.
 
Wightlink enjoyed their first four point weekend in a long time as the made the trip up to Essex and beat Chelmsford at the Riverside. Chelmsford took a 3-0 lead through Danny Hammond, BT Williams and Ross Brears, but the Raiders hit back and won 4-3 through goals from Jeremy Cornish , Dan Scott, Dan Hughes and Stewart Tait. A fantastic weekend for the Raiders who are pretty much assured a play off spot, and they will be hoping wins like this give them a confidence boost for future games against the likes of the Chieftains. Are alarm bells ringing in the Chelmsford camp? I wouldn’t think so just yet, although Dean Birrell must be a little concerned at their recent form.      
Invicta walked to a straightforward 14-1 over Peterborough at the Gillingham Ice Bowl but they must still be seething after losing in Bracknell on Saturday. Joe Johnston notched 4 and Peter Vaisenan enjoyed a hat tricks for the home side against an Islanders side who are pretty much down. It will still take a collapse similar to when Kevin Keegan imploded on TV and his Newcastle United team threw away the league title to Manchester United, for the Dynamo’s to do likewise. Somebody needs to keep Kev Parrish off Meridian TV for the next few weeks.
 
All in all it has been a fantastic weekend for fans of ENL hockey. Wightlink have finally clicked into gear, Bracknell have made their intentions clear, and dropped points by Haringey could cost them dear.
 
Thanks for reading and stay safe.
 
Carrsy
Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com