LONDON, UK – Two of the top teams get a shock, a familiar face or two return to the league and a Northerner gets a warm welcome in the South. It must be another week of NIHL South hockey.
Romford Raiders fans got a nice surprise as former goalie Michael Gray announced that he was returning to the club after an eventful summer in which he decided to drop a league and play defence for Chelmsford’s second string the Warriors.
MK go down (Nikki Kraft)
The mysterious mind of a goalie can never truly be analysed however they are in the main a rather weird bunch of individuals and Mr Gray is certainly not alone in wanting to break free from the crease and play in a different position from time to time – mainly with the motivation of being able to hit people.
“P-Head (Gray) spoke to Danny after the Raiders game at Chelmsford and admitted he was missing it” said Mick Cahill, the Raiders manager in a statement on the Raiders official website.
“Within a couple of days, he’d contacted Marsh again to confirm that he was actively considering a return and within another couple of days, he told Danny he definitely wanted to come back.
“The fact is that, had Michael been available at the start of the season, we would definitely have wanted him on the team again. He wasn’t, so we looked elsewhere and were delighted with the net minders we picked up in Shane Kemp and Charlie Kaylor, with Glen Jackson as cover”
“Now that Michael is back on board, it has left us with an embarrassment of riches and, long term, it would be impossible to run with four net minders”
“I know it’s been a very difficult decision but Danny has decided to release Charlie. It’s a real shame for Chaz because he’s done nothing wrong but our current circumstances have left him as the odd man out”
“Even at this level, the Head Coach has really tough choices to make but while we’re sorry to lose Charlie and sincerely wish him well, we’re also very happy to have P-Head back”
A real shame for the young goalie Kaylor, but there are a teams like Lee Valley quite local that may want to take a look at him.
There were big changes in Streatham as Coach Barry Spours decided to bring in some assistance with Warren Rost coming back to the club as Head Coach.
The news came as a surprise in one way but obviously not totally. Operating a club like the Redskins is a tough job and Barry has done a fantastic job since taking over four years ago. It is an important time for the team as we prepare for the move back to Streatham and Barry is now the GM of the team so basically still the guvnor.
Rost returns
As for Warren, well all of the lads know what he is like, a straight talking Londoner with a lot of experience.
Personally I hated playing against Warren as a player due to the fact he once two handed me across the back of the legs for no reason and had a bit of a psychotic look about him on the ice, you know the kind of guy who has that glint in his eye, the glint that means bad news.
When I first met him three years ago I wasn’t sure what to make of him (these London boys can be a strange mob), but last season especially he was good in the room and his knowledge and patience shone through.
As usual in hockey you make judgements about opposition players but when you get to know them, and more importantly you are fighting for the same cause, I nearly always find that those judgements were wrong, sometimes spectacularly so.
As a Streatham boy he certainly knows the club and with him and Barry around we will be in good hands.
New Invicta signing Nathaniel Rose gave an interesting interview to Kent News as he confessed that he had to think long and hard before moving South to Gillingham from his native Sheffield.
“I’ve never left Sheffield other than holidays” explained the Yorkshire man who played for Sutton Sting last season.
“I’ve lived on my own, but I’ve never left the city. It was a big decision. I was sitting at home thinking ‘Am I capable of doing this? Am I going to show myself up?’ But I think I’m in good hands”
“As a team we have got some very good guys in the dressing room, everybody seems to have clicked. We are capable of winning the league in my eyes”
Rose already appears to be a fan favourite with the Mo’s fans who love a player who takes the body.
Rose enjoying Kent (Dave Trevallion)
“I play an aggressive game” admitted Rose within the same interview.
“I’m not really a fighter, but I will stick up for my team mates, I will drop the gloves if I have to”
As regular readers will know, this column always champions more Northerners moving down to play in the South so whilst technically from the Midlands, we will count Rose anyway.
Solent & Gosport Devils boss Paul Fitzpatrick was in defiant mood as he gave an interview to Portsmouth.co.uk during the week.
“It’s been a tough start to the new season” explained the Devils manager.
“But despite losing our first four games, I am so proud of the commitment the players have shown – which has hopefully been witnessed by our supporters”
“We have been highly successful for the past three or four years in division two and made a decision, as a team, to accept promotion”
“It was not without some very long and careful consideration of the mountain we faced, though. We knew we would be pitched against some very talented teams who pay their players. Wage bills of £2,500 per month at the top of this league are not uncommon”
“But we believed the opportunity for our players to play against some of the best teams in the country was a right they had earned. And to bring these top sides and players to Gosport was something our loyal supporters deserved”
Saturday
If Chelmsford and Romford fans believed that their respective fixtures at home to Bracknell and away to Solent would be easy victories, they were proven wrong.
Ouch.. for Solent
Romford were losing 3-1 at one point against Solent as they struggled to adapt to the smaller ice pad. In fact it took a goal from Tom Davis and a short-handed winner from Danny Marshall to make it a nervy 6-5 win for the league champions.
Romford’s other goals came from Juraj Huska, Matt Turner, AJ Smith and Shaun Yardley.
Kent Johnson hit a hat trick for the home side with the other goals coming from Craig Weedon and Kris Abbott.
Poor Solent goalie Aaron Taylor suffered one of the more gruesome injuries seen in the NIHL in recent weeks as his finger was broken, and lone official Stephen Matthews managed well to keep a lid on things with Abbott and Davis the only pair to drop the gloves over the course of the evening.
Whilst Romford were able to avoid dropping points, Chelmsford were less fortunate as Bracknell Hornets stunned the crowd at the Riverside skating off with a hard earned 5-5 tie.
It really was a stunning result for the Hornets as a Carl Thompson brace added to efforts from Danny Hughes, Ryan Webb and Peter Jasik gave the visitors an unexpected point.
Kent hits hat trick (Dave Chapman)
Chelmsford goals came from James Ayling with a hat trick and Gary Clarke with a brace.
The final game of the evening took place on the island where Wightlink beat MK Thunder comfortably with a 6-0 scoreline. Two goals each for Jiri Hanzal and Richard Facey added to lone efforts from Nathan Taylor and Craig Tribe sealed the points for the Raiders.
MK suffered more bad news as Sam Fairhurst suffered a badly split eye with blood pouring everywhere during the game. This is the fourth facial injury Fairhurst has suffered and each time (with no blame attached) Rene Ross has been the referee.
If Fairhurst has any sense he will seek out the reffing allocations prior to each game now as Rene is clearly an unlucky omen.
Sunday
Romford unveiled their 25th anniversary jerseys for the South East Trophy game against local rivals Chelmsford.
The Chieftains were looking to seek amends for Saturdays result and skated away from their near neighbour’s rink with a 5-0 win.
Julius Sinkovic hit a brace for Chelmsford with Gary Clarke, Ross Brears and Danny Wright getting the other goals.
A great result for Chelmsford especially given the game was in Romford but there will no doubt be a nagging annoyance about the night before amongst the camp.
Warren Rost began his tenure as Redskins Coach with a solid road win in Bracknell as Streatham ripped up the form book and won 5-3.
I managed to get back on the ice after injury and it was great to be amongst the guys again, but even better to see everyone smiling (fans included) after a win in a rink we normally struggle.
Jakub Klima and Joe Johnston both impressed with two goals each and Tomas Valko got the other. For Bracknell it was Jordan Gregory (getting his first senior goal), Tom Fisher and Ryan Webb who got the goals.
Taylor scores (Nikki Kraft)
The whole team played well and hopefully it is the start of a turnaround in fortunes in the league.
The final game of the evening was played in Gillingham as the Wightlink Raiders and Invicta Dynamos went head to head in the South East Trophy.
Wightlink were 4-2 up with less than three minutes remaining before the Mo’s launched a stunning comeback with Andy Smith getting the game tying goal on the power play with only one second remaining. This came after Craig Tribe was given a slashing call with only six second remaining in the game.
Invicta’s other goals came from Peter Vaisanen with a brace and a lone effort from Callum Best.
Wightlink scorers were Niall Bound, Alex Murray, Craig Tribe and former Mo’s favourite Corey Watkins.
Results
Saturday 29th September 2012
Wightlink Raiders 6-0 Milton Keynes Thunder
Chelmsford Chieftains 5-5 Bracknell Hornets
Solent & Gosport Devils 5-6 Romford Raiders
Sunday 30th September 2012
Bracknell Hornets 3–5 Streatham Redskins
Invicta Dynamos 4–4 Wightlink Raiders (South East Trophy)
Romford Raiders 0–5 Chelmsford Chieftains (South East Trophy)
Sadly delayed by a week due to technical issues we will be launching a new segment of the Round-up featuring the best Tweets from players and fans of the NIHL South. If you want yours featured, and it is worthy, make sure you #NIHL
Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews. com or follow @carrsy2 on Twitter.
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