LONDON, UK – Streatham Redskins had a rare four point weekend as they marched into the play-offs courtesy of wins over Bracknell and Milton Keynes. A fifth placed finish is a real possibility for a side that many had written off at the start of the season.
Life is rarely dull with the Streatham Redskins. The South London side verge from the sublime to the horrendous in the space of a few days and have had another rollercoaster season of winning streaks, losing runs, injuries, player departures along with shock wins and losses.
Redskins on form (Rick Webb)
Many fans at the High Road rink expected the Redskins to make hard work of play-off qualification given a disappointing stretch of results post New Year that saw the team fail to win in eleven consecutive games. This included a dismal defeat to bottom placed Swindon and a disappointing home loss to Oxford.
As if by magic, the team suddenly snatched a 3-3 home tie with the high flying Romford Raiders and haven’t looked back since, going unbeaten in their last five games and qualifying for the play-offs ahead of the final weekend of regular league fixtures.
“I guess it’s a mixture of relief and excitement” admitted goalie Stefan Nubert, speaking about play-off qualification.
“We’ve had a tendency of late to make things difficult for ourselves, dropping points here and there by drawing a lot of games that if we’re brutally honest we should have killed off and won so in that respect it’s a relief to have clinched a play-off spot before the season’s end”
“We’ve been steadily improving over the past few weeks and building confidence and momentum and it’s great to be winning games again. It seems things are coming together at just the right time”
“We’re scoring goals and not conceding many. Our squad is nearly at full strength with just a few of the guys out injured, but we’re still able to run three strong lines which gives us an edge against teams who rely on their first two lines”
Those lines have been boosted by the return of last season’s top scorer Louis Lockwood, who notched 27 goals and 22 assists in 34 games in 2009/10. He made his return against Milton Keynes in the 3-1 Redskins win at the weekend and will be a key figure for the remainder of the season.
Nubert on form (Dave West)
Scoring goals had been an issue for the team midway through the season, but recently the likes of Peter Molnar, Joe Johnston and Liam Rasmussen have all started hitting the back of the net more regularly recently.
In defence, the return of Rupe Quiney mid-season compensated for the loss of Jack Tarczycki who left to return to Invicta, and the likes of Fred Carnegy, Casimir Madren Britton and Ed Koral have all helped tighten the goals against figures.
They have been aided by Nubert and Shane Kemp who have shared duties for the majority of the season, along with currently injured shot stopper Will Sanderson, giving the Redskins an exceptionally strong goaltending team. Nubert himself has been in fine form despite missing a section of the season with a knee injury and moved into the top ten goalie charts this week with a 90.5% save average.
The Welshman is enjoying arguably his best season of league hockey between the pipes and believes that whoever comes up against the Redskins in the play-offs will have not have an easy ride.
“I don’t think it’s too important who we play from the top four” admitted Nubert, who previously played at Lee Valley and Haringey.
“I’m confident on our day we can turn over any of them. Nobody comes to the High Road and has an easy game, that’s for sure. This combined with our growing confidence and improved form as of late makes us unpredictable for any opponent”
“Nobody likes to play a team who’s on a roll like we are at the moment and at the end of the day, as long as everyone gives one hundred percent and plays with the passion and grit expected of a Streatham player we stand a chance of beating anyone in this league”
Skins v Mo%27s%3F (Dave West)
“If nothing else we owe it to our fans who’ve stuck with us all season through the up’s and down’s to give it all we’ve got for them no matter who we end up playing against”
The Redskins fans have earned themselves a good reputation across the league for their enthusiastic travelling support, often themed in fancy dress. Most fans would probably enjoy a fixture against old rivals Invicta Dynamos who are most likely opponents in the first knockout stage.
“It certainly would be an interesting matchup” conceded Nubert.
“They seem to be having a tough time of late but no doubt they will be at full strength and firing for the play-offs. We have got nothing to be afraid of, and if it comes down to playing them, then we will be going all out to advance through to the semis”
Streatham finish their regular season this Saturday with a road trip to Bracknell Hornets, and will play their first play-off fixtures on the 9/10 April. Sadly they will have to finish the season without Gennadi Yufit, who is out of action for six weeks after breaking his hand against Bracknell last Saturday.
Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com
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