NIHL South Round-up week 13

LONDON, UK – Streatham hit a winning streak, Romford win the battle of Essex and for some players it ends up being an unlucky week thirteen of the season in the NIHL South.
 
It was a tale of two press releases during the week and both involved highly rated blue liner Sam Waller.

 
First came from Bracknell Hornets who announced that they had released Waller due to his work commitments causing him to miss training. A couple of days later and Wightlink announced that the 20 year old former Swindon Wildcats prospect was heading across the Solent to play for the Raiders.
 
“Sam is a solid all-round d-man and with Dan Pye injured, we have been looking for a replacement and I think Sam will help solidify things on the blue line” explained Raiders Player Coach Jeremy Cornish.
“Sam will bring a good mix of skill and physical presence and he is excited about meeting his new teammates and getting started”
Indeed Cornish focussed on training during his Coaches Corner section of the Wightlink website as he reflected on a win over Streatham and a disappointing tie in Bracknell the previous weekend.
“This week in training will be the same, on Tuesday we will do mostly battle drills” continued Cornish.
 
“We have done this the past three weeks and I think it has helped bring our compete level up a few notches. Thursday we will once again work on our shooting and offensive game. We have put in the training and it seems to be paying off on home ice, but now we need to start beating teams away from home”
 
“This is another big weekend for us, with Chelmsford and Romford not looking to slow down, we need to keep pace. I need to keep reminding myself that we are already in a cup final and sitting around the top of the league”
 
“After a draw on Sunday, we need to get our focus back ASAP and get ready for Invicta on Saturday. We owe them for the last couple times we went to their rink”
 
In London there was good news as it was announced that the Haringey Racers would be returning to league ice hockey in 2013/14 playing out of Alexandra Palace in the North of the Capital.
 
It is no secret that this was attempted for 2012/13 but didn’t quite get off the ground, and this time it appears the group is headed by current Romford Fury player Dave Richards who played for Haringey a number of years ago.
 
It will be interesting to see how they attract players as that part of London is not awash with local talent and nearby Lee Valley will also be competing for players at NIHL 2 level.
 
The rumoured rink closure at Romford would certainly help the Racers cause for players should it take place before the start of next season, however regardless of whether that is the case it is certainly good news that league hockey will return to such an iconic facility.
 
Up the A12 in Chelmsford, Player Coach Gary Clarke was anticipating a tough clash ahead of the first league game between his Chieftains and bitter local rivals Romford Raiders.
 
“They are our biggest rivals and this is the first time we’ve come up against them in the league,” said Clarke in an interview with the Essex Chronicle.
 
“We know they’ll be looking for revenge after the two cup defeats and this represents out biggest test of the season so far. I don’t think even if we lose I’ll be too worried about the league at this stage. This is the most competitive the league has been for years”
 
Chelmsford also announced the first five players likely to play in the clubs’ 25^th Anniversary game on the 30^th December.
 
BT Williams, Dean Birrell, Tom Long, Richard Whiting and Jerry Pavlus have all agreed to play in the game so far with more to follow. Long term fans will be hoping the likes of Karl Rogers and Duane Ward are persuaded to lace them up again for what will no doubt be a special evening at the Riverside.
 
Streatham Redskins forward Chris Rasmussen was hailed as a reluctant hero by Captain Joe Johnston in his detailed Captains Log section of the match night programme. Johnston’s log is fast becoming as long and detailed as anything posted on Pro Hockey News, but is always a good read.
 
“After the game a few of us grabbed a fish and chip supper and sat on the picnic benches outside the rink to discuss the state of the team” explained Johnston after the 7-1 loss on the Island.
 
“We shared views and opinions and the breeze from the nearby Solent waters. Moments like that are pretty rare and it was good to get a few things out in the open”
 
“It was quickly halted though as Chris Rasmussen approached us, alone, to tell the tale of how he had just been to the kebab shop and while waiting for his greasy delight had not only witnessed the kebab shop owner collapse on the floor with an apparent heart attack but actually assisted in helping him to breathe”
 
“Never a good sign for a take away establishment in my opinion but true to character big Raz seemed unfazed and walked away fully loaded with a large doner under his arm”
 
Invicta Coach Kev Parrish was in an upbeat mood ahead of a double header weekend that would see his side travel to Wightlink on Saturday and then host Solent on Sunday.
 
“They (Wightlink) shouldn’t lose a game at home where it’s such a difficult place to go but what better way to bounce back from losing to Chelmsford than going there and getting a win” said Parrish in an interview with Kent Online.
 
“The rink is so small, there’s no room to do anything. There won’t be much finesse about the game, we need to go there and fight for everything. You can shoot from anywhere and that’s what we’ll have to do. It’ll be one pass and shoot. If we can get 60-70 shots away, we’ll give ourselves a chance”
 
“Everyone said Solent would be the whipping boys after coming up. They lost their first couple of games heavily but they pushed Wightlink and Chelmsford close and got their first win against Milton Keynes so they must be doing something right”
 
The GB Under 20’s team was finally named by Coach Andre Payette ahead of the World Championships in Ukraine. The only semi active NIHL South player involved is Chelmsford goalie Andrew Brummitt, however a host of NIHL South stars from last season have made the cut including Andrew Melachrino, Sam Godfrey, Adam Harding, Zach Sullivan and Lewis Turner amongst others. Well done to all.
 
Saturday
 
Bracknell Hornets and Milton Keynes Thunder faced each other at the Hive with the Thunder desperate to end a run of poor form.
 
Despite leading 3-1 at one stage, the Thunder just could not hang on and lost 4-3 with Richard Wojciack hitting the winner for Bracknell.
 
Hornets other scorers were Nick Minhinnick with a brace and Danny Hughes with the other.
 
For Milton Keynes Connor Goode got a brace and Jamie Randall got the other goal.
 
Bracknell were forced to replace starting goalie Chris Douglas as he withdrew with injury half way through.
 
Wightlink got revenge over Invicta with a solid 5-3 win on home ice. Robbie Brown, Craig Tribe, Jeremy Cornish, Richard Facey and Jiri Hanzal got the goals for the Raiders.
 
For Invicta big defenseman Tim Smith hit two goals with Peter Vaisanen on target for the other.
 
The game was the second Wightlink fixture to be covered by the Island’s online radio station with full commentary and panel guest Chris Randall (formerly of Wightlink Tigers).
 
Commentating on ice hockey is tough at the best of times due to the backwards and forwards nature of the game, however at Ryde Arena one can only assume they speak like those auctioneers at cattle markets.
 
Romford Raiders took full advantage of Cardiff’s threadbare roster as they destroyed the normally solid Welsh side 15-5.
 
Juraj Huska hit a hat trick with Billy Phillips, AJ Smith, Matt Turner and Frankie Harvey all getting a brace each for the Raiders whose other goals came from Danny Marshall, Shaun Yardley, Shaun Wallis and Grant Taylor.
 
For Cardiff Steve Osman hit a hat trick and there were goals from Ali Band and Josh Haslam.
 
 
Sunday
 
The biggest game of the day was at the Riverside where an unbeaten (in the league) Romford Raiders skated away with an impressive 3-2 win over the resident Chelmsford Chieftains.
 
Billy Phillips, Juraj Huska and Danny Marshall were the heroes for Romford with a goal each and Chelmsford’s efforts came from Julius Sinkovic and James Ayling.
 
The result gives Romford a big advantage over their title rivals and will be especially sweet as it was achieved on the road.
 
One piece of bad news for Romford was the hospitalisation of defenseman Jason Buckman, who took a bad hit during the game. Buckman is one of the good guys in the league and let’s hope it is nothing serious.
 
Streatham managed to notch our second win in a row as we beat Bracknell Hornets 5-2 at Planet Ice Brixton.
 
It really was a game we had to win if we wanted to edge away from the relegation zone and personally I thought that was the most solid we have played for a long time. Bracknell are no mugs but they did seem a little off the boil despite having a full bench with them.
 
Streatham scorers were Joe Johnston with a hat trick and Liam Rasmussen and Jakub Klima with the others. For Bracknell the goals came from Peter Jasik and Danny Hughes with a signature howitzer into the top corner from the blue line.
 
Personally I thought it was great to see Gennadi Yufit back on the ice and even more randomly the smiling face of last season’s captain Ed Koral sat with the goal judges light behind one of the goals.
 
Wightlink Raiders would have been nervous ahead of their trip to Milton Keynes to play a Thunder team that have been a bit of a bogey side for them on occasions in the past.
 
They did not need to worry this time as they shut out the home side 4-0 with goalie Matt Colclough earning another shut-out to his name.
 
Geordie sniper Nathan Taylor hit two goals for the Raiders with Jiri Hanzal and Jeremy Cornish getting the other goals.
 
The final game of the evening took place at the Silverblades rink in Gillingham as the Invicta Dynamos made short work of the bottom placed Solent & Gosport Devils with a 10-2 win.
 
Justin Noble top scored for the Dynamos with four goals and Anthony Leone hit a brace. Invicta’s other goals came from Nicky Lewis, Peter Vaisanen, Arran Strawson and Jack Tarczycki.
 
For Solent their goals came from Kev Tanner and George Norcliffe, with Player Coach Will Francis also ejected midway through the game for high sticks.
 
The weekend results leave Wightlink top of the tree, Solent struggling at the bottom and Romford giving EIHA statto Malcolm Preen plenty of work to do this week.
 
 
Results


Saturday 24^th November 2012
 
Wightlink Raiders 5-3 Invicta Dynamos
Romford Raiders 15-5 Cardiff Devils
Bracknell Hornets 4-3 Milton Keynes Thunder
 
Sunday 25^th November 2012
 
Invicta Dynamos 10-2 Solent & Gosport Devils
Milton Keynes Thunder 0-4 Wightlink Raiders
Streatham Redskins 5-2 Bracknell Hornets
Chelmsford Chieftains 2-3 Romford Raiders
 
Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com
 
Or follow @carrsy2 on Twitter.