LONDON, UK – The NIHL South was alive with action once again as a number of teams realised that pain can be so close to pleasure. Aside from the on ice action there were flying water bottles, scaffolding related injuries and a curious reversal of fortunes.
It was a week filled with news in the NIHL South as coaching staff and players reflected on a weekend that had seemingly had a big impact at both ends of the table. Like most sports the phrase ‘a week is a long time in hockey’ was to ring true by the end of the following weekend.
Klima cool finish (Rick Webb)
At the bottom there was a real feel good factor as Solent & Gosport Devils Manager Paul Fitzpatrick spoke about his team’s home win over Streatham Redskins.
“It was a four-point game and last time we played them at their place (an 8-6 defeat) we were 4-0 down after six minutes” explained the Devils Manager in an interview with Portsmouth News.
“We took the lead after a minute this time but, at the end, it was a case of bodies on the line for us. They had a man advantage and pulled their netminder for the last two minutes, so it was a six-on-four but we defended really well and held on for the victory”
“Chico Cole was tremendous for us and was the man of the match in goal. Streatham became increasingly frustrated and, at the end, tempers were high, so there was a bit of a brawl, but that’s ice hockey”
“Morale and spirit is high and survival is in sight. We are now targeting the remaining matches against Streatham Redskins and Milton Keynes Thunder”
The contrast in South London was obvious as Streatham reflected on two road defeats including a heavy loss in Cardiff the weekend before. Morale was boosted (well let’s just say smiles were apparent) in the dressing room on Tuesday night when we learned that rookie Eddie Temple would not be icing as he had walked into a scaffolding pole.
There is nothing quite like a ridiculous story to raise a laugh in a hockey locker room and we certainly needed something to boost our spirits.
Spirits were understandably high in Essex as Chelmsford sat back and enjoyed a win over Wightlink on the island in the Cup and then a solid league victory over Invicta on home ice the following day.
“Getting a win on the island is always quite satisfying” admitted Player Coach Gary Clarke in an interview with This is Essex.
Cole earns plaudits (Paul Shergold)
“I felt that as long as we played smart that we could keep their goals down and we just needed to make sure we improved our offence and we did. We’ve played two top teams and we got two very good wins”
“The game on Sunday was very close going into the third period and our fitness levels told and they seemed crumble”
A lot of the talk after the game centred on the ejection of Invicta Coach Kevin Parrish who was allegedly involved in water bottle throwing antics at an off ice official amongst others. As ever there are always two, three or even twenty different versions of what actually happened so the only important part is what the referee notes down on the game sheet.
One of the great benefits of online debating by fans of various teams is that you can get a flavour of what happened at a game aside from what the stats say. The downside is that very few can be trusted to post impartial accounts of what actually happened.
The worst descriptions often involve fighting incidents when some fans can actually write ‘He won the fight easily’ when the actual truth is he got pummelled like Audley Harrison and simply landed on top of his opponent at the end.
“It’s not what we want to see but these things happen. I’ve seen a lot worse” continued Clarke in reference to the flying plastic encased H20.
“I think going in to the third period they thought they were still in the game and it all seemed to fall apart for them. There was a bit of frustration and a few antics that went on that we’d prefer not to see”
Maybe it was urge to prove that water bottles were not the preferred object of choice to throw in Gillingham, or perhaps it was simply the fact that despite what anyone says about hockey as a sport we do have a generous side, but whatever the reason Invicta Dynamos announced a teddy bear toss in aid of Demelza House Hospice.
The event is part of the Hockey Players for Kids movement and the toss will take place after the first period in the game against Streatham on the 23rd December. I may even lob one from the changing room if I can get away with it. More information available at this link: http://hp4k.org/
Romford had slightly better news as the Romford Recorder announced that planning application was submitted by Havering Council for a new leisure centre in Romford, with Morrison’s also officially putting in their plans for a new supermarket at Rom Valley Way.
Wilkinson slugs it out
If approved, building work is expected to begin next spring, which would leave Raiders and Romford’s junior teams homeless. The new town centre facility, including a rink, swimming pool, fitness suite and restaurant, is expected to open in 2015 and temporary solutions are being sought to house the ice hockey club.
“The announcement pretty much matches the update we had at a recent meeting with the council designer” explained Raiders boss Mick Cahill in an interview with the paper, whose hockey coverage is one of the best of any local papers in the NIHL.
“We’re still very excited with the prospect of the new facility and the suggested timetable is as we expected. The overriding issue for the Raiders is a place to play in the interim and although we’re still talking to the council about temporary accommodation, the current solution on offer just won’t work for us”
“Ollie (Oliver) and I are still actively looking at alternatives ourselves and have been particularly busy recently. We’re a long way from making any announcement of our own but we are still hopeful of fielding a Raiders team next season”
Realistically the Raiders only have two options if a temporary facility is not forthcoming. They can either mothball until the new rink opens or buy ice time at Lee Valley or Alexandra Palace.
Ice time is a precious commodity in London with prime slots often hard to find but if the Raiders do opt to try and use the home of Lee Valley Lions or the soon to be re-formed Haringey Racers at Ally Pally this will involve some co-ordination between the clubs and more importantly the management of the respective rinks.
Last mention of the week goes to my former team mate Marc Dowd who was announced as appearing at Chelmsford Chieftains 25th Anniversary game at the end of December. Dowdy was our goalie when I was a rookie in Billingham and a good character in the room. A staunch Middlesboro fan, my favourite (printable) moment of his was when he turned up drunk at one of our under 19 games and started shouting abuse through the nets at me (due to me being a Sunderland fan). He probably won’t remember it but I would have been 17 at the time and it is funny how time flies in hockey given that I am now the oldest guy on the roster at Streatham.
Saturday
Redskins room reflect on victory
As stated earlier in the round-up (what do you mean you skipped straight to this section), a week is a long time in hockey and nowhere was that felt more than in South London as Streatham stunned Chelmsford and the rest of the league with a 6-5 win over the Chieftains.
At 4-1 down it seemed like we were dead and buried but up stepped Jakub Klima to haunt his old club with four goals of which most were examples of excellent technique. Stewart Tait also got a brace from the point with his new Winnwell stick ordered from Nekoti Hockey just days earlier.
Scorers for Chelmsford were Gary Clarke, Danny Hammond, Darren Brown, Julius Sinkovic and Tibor Schneider.
There was an element of doubt about our fifth goal as it appeared to bounce off the post and bar but it was shot so quickly and from an acute angle by Klima that it could well have gone in and bounce out from the back bar. Either way, the one man system of Iain Hayden gave the goal after consulting with the goal judge and that was that.
You need a bit of luck like that at times in hockey and we will all benefit or lose out to such decisions at various points along the way. I was pleased for Taity to get his goals as he never gives up and works hard every game for the cause, as does Coach Warren Rost who put the plays in motion for that win as far back as last week despite us losing both games last weekend. Hockey can be like that at times.
Solent & Gosport could not have asked for a tougher fixture to try and get a winning streak going as they travelled to Romford to take on a Raiders’ side still smarting from the week before.
The Raiders made no mistake despatching the league’s basement side as they cruised to an 11-2 win.
Juraj Huska hit four goals for Romford and Andrius Kaminskas got a brace. AJ Smith, Matt Turner, JJ Mcgrath, Billy Phillips and Tom Davis got the other goals for the home side.
For Solent Kent Johnson got one goal as did James Carlin.
Sunday
Turner on form (Tim Bowers)
The biggest game of the weekend on paper was in Gillingham as Invicta Dynamos faced Romford Raiders at Silverblades.
The Dynamos were keen to put on a show for an expectant home crowd but the resilient Raiders skated off with an 8-4 win in an event filled encounter.
Shaun Yardley was the hero for Romford with a hat trick and the energetic Matt Turner chipped in with a brace. Romford’s other goals came from Grant Taylor, Juraj Huska and Billy Phillips.
For Invicta the scorers were Tim Smith with two and one each for the returning Justin Noble and livewire Callum Fowler.
Matters got worse for the Mo’s as Nathaniel Rose was given a game misconduct for leaving the penalty box in the third period.
Chelmsford bounced back from their loss in London the previous night as they beat Cardiff 6-2 at the Riverside.
With Danny Wright still out injured Chelmsford boy Alex Green was handed the Captaincy for the game and has now apparently worn the ‘C’ at all age groups through the junior system and now the senior side.
Danny Hammond and Julius Sinkovic both got two goals each and both James Ayling and Tibor Schneider got a goal apiece.
For Cardiff Rupe Quiney and Sean Scarbrough both got a goal each.
Young Cameron Bartlett and Chris Hart both dropped the gloves and then Danny Cox and Ross Wilkinson followed suit in a classic toe to toe slug fest.
In the cup Wightlink iced a reduced strength squad for the trip to play Slough NIHL Jets. Dan Weller Evans replaced Matt Colclough in goal and came away with a 10-2 road win along with his team mates.
Haribo hat trick (icehockeyphotography.co.uk)
Youngster Joe Denness got five goals for the Raiders and Aiden Doughty, Craig Tribe, Jiri Hanzal, Steve Gosset and Alex Murray getting one each. Zoran Kozic was on target for the Jets.
Milton Keynes Thunder grabbed a much needed win as they ended a slump in the league with a 5-1 win over Bracknell Hornets.
The impressive win was spearheaded by hat trick hero Harrison Goode whose brother Connor also scored one and Mark Turner got the other.
Richard Wojciack was on target for the Hornets, who this time last week were celebrating a home win over Romford.
The league table now makes pretty reading for Romford fans as they sit top of the table ahead of Wightlink, whilst at the bottom Milton Keynes now move three points ahead of Solent & Gosport Devils.
Results
Saturday 8th December 2012
Streatham Redskins 6-5 Chelmsford Chieftains
Romford Raiders 11-2 Solent & Gosport Devils
Sunday 9th December 2012
Milton Keynes Thunder 5-1 Bracknell Hornets
Invicta Dynamos 4-8 Romford Raiders
Slough NIHL Jets 2-10 Wightlink Raiders (Cup)
Chelmsford Chieftains 5-2 Cardiff NIHL Devils
Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com
Or follow on Twitter: carrsy2
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