LONDON, UK – The NIHL Britton Conference edged closer to its finale as the Bison and Wildcats had most reason to celebrate.
The week started in depressing fashion as video footage emerged of the interior of the disused Ryde Arena on the Isle of Wight. Normally at this time of year the resident Wightlink Raiders would have provided weekend entertainment to light up the cold February nights, but instead the only roughing the locals get to watch is the occasional argument in S. Fowler & Co Spoons. Check out the footage by clicking HERE
After their best weekend of the season, the Cardiff Fire and their players were understandably in fine spirits. Forward Josh Haslam gave an interview to the Y DDRAIG website [CLICK HERE].
“We knew going against Swindon it would be tough. We had the right attitude and pre-game preparation, ensuring every player was switched on a dialled in. As a unit we attacked, took our chances, we were clinical in defence and played an offensive game creating opportunities which were evident with the result.”
“It would have been great to beat Swindon in overtime, but we are getting closer to our main objective. As the saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day.”
Streatham IHC published their second series of highlights with the win over Invicta Dynamos caught on camera. The RedHawks join most of the other NIHL clubs putting up post-game You Tube footage and you can view it HERE
The South London based side also published some pictures of their players in a range of beanie hats re-creating a Winter Classic scene. Very timely with the ‘Beast from the East’ due to hit the capital this week.
The Autumn Cup Final dates were announced as Basingstoke and Swindon prepared to face each other for the 9th and 10th time this season. The first leg will take place on Friday 2nd March in Basingstoke with the 2nd leg a week later in Swindon. Bison Coach Doug Sheppard said:
“Obviously we’re looking forward to the cup final, the dates are set and we’re all ready to go. We’ve enjoyed some close battles with them this year so far this season and it’ll make for an exciting cup final. I’m sure both sets of players and fans are looking forward to the games now we’ve got the dates.”
Thursday action review
Swindon Wildcats enjoyed a midweek trip up to Shropshire as they booked a place in the NIHL Cup final thanks to a 5-1 road win against Telford Tigers. The hosts took an early lead through Warren Tait but goals from Phil Hill, Max Birbraer, Chris Jones, Edgars Bebris and the returning Jan Kostal put the Wildcats into a second showpiece event. The game was officiated by Wales based stripey Stephen Matthews who is putting in more miles than Boorman and McGregor this year.
Saturday action review
After a stunning weekend last time out, Cardiff travelled to Streatham looking to extend their run of form. Sadly with only two lines they faced an uphill battle and went down 10-2 in front of a big South London crowd. Man of the match Joe Allen notched a brace, as did Ryan Watt, with Adam Carr, Michael Farn, Brendan Baird, Jacob Ranson, Andreas Siagris and Ryan Webb getting one goal each. For Cardiff it was Tamas Elias and Jordan Powell on target, with goalie Jordan Lawday facing his second 70+ shot game in a row.
London Raiders good recent form took a hit as the visiting Peterborough Phantoms hit them for six with a 6-1 reverse. Darius Pliskauskas and Owen Griffiths scored two goals each for the Phantoms with Tom Norton and James Ferrara also on target. Sean Barry got the consolation for the Raiders. Not for the first time in recent weeks, the 482 Days media team opted to follow the BBC’s lead by reporting from the comfort of home watching a web stream, rather than live tweet from the rink.
Whilst the BBC made the decision to keep Clare Balding in a British studio rather than fly her to Korea, presumably to avoid the ire of license fee payers, the reasons for 482 Days lack of travel recently is shrouded in mystery. One source has claimed that a secretive sponsorship deal with the Majestic Wine Warehouse has effectively grounded the 482 Days vehicle, although a contradictory claim that the KFC crisis had brought on a bout of anxiety later surfaced.
Bracknell Bees survived a late MK Thunder comeback to hold out for a 3-2 win in Buckinghamshire and do their chances of a fourth place finish no harm at all. Frankie Bakrlik, Shaun Thompson and Callum Best scored for the Bees with Tom Carlon netting both goals for the Thunder.
Basingstoke Bison passed a major test of their title credentials with a 4-0 win over Swindon in Hampshire. The Bison edged ahead in the second period and never looked back as goals from Dan Davies, Aaron Connolly, Kurt Reynolds and Grant Rounding sealed the points. Dean Skinns in the Bison net enjoyed a 26 shot shut out. A re-cap of the game can be read on the Banners on the Wall website HERE
Sunday action review
The Bison followed up their impressive win over Swindon with a convincing 8-4 win at the Hive against Bracknell Bees. Bison Captain Aaron Connolly led from the front with a hat trick for the league leaders, to add to a brace from Dan Davies and lone goals from Tomas Karpov, Stuart Mogg and Kurt Reynolds.
For the Bees it was Luke Jackson, Matt Foord, Frankie Bakrlik and Josh Martin with the goals. The news got even worse for the Bees as Frankie Bakrlik was ejected on a match penalty for checking to the head which may have dire consequences for the Bees depending on the severity of the punishment and hand a massive advantage to their prospective play-off opponents. Youngster Ben Ealey-Newman was also ejected in the final minute of the game as referee Stephen Matthews handed him a game misconduct penalty and an early shower.
For the Bison, the result puts the title race firmly in their own destiny with two weeks to go.
Swindon edged out London Raiders as Phil Hill grabbed his second of the night with eight minutes remaining to secure a 3-2 win at a packed Link Centre. Sam Bullas scored the other Wildcats goal with Jake Sylvester and Matt Turner on target for the Raiders. Wildcats Edgars Bebris was ejected in the first five minutes of the game for boarding by who else but the apt named stripey Dan Boardman!
Despite no one seemingly knowing exactly how next year will pan out or what the league format will be, Swindon made their first signing announcement for 2018/19 before the game with Stephen Whitfield confirmed as returning.
Invicta Dynamos equalised late on against MK Thunder to take their game in Gillingham to overtime but Ross Bowers sealed a 4-3 win just seconds from the restart.
Greg Randall, Hallden Barnes-Garner and Jamie Line got the other goals for the Thunder in regulation, with Louis Colvin, Brandon Webster and Jaroslav Cesky on target for the Mo’s.
The evening was made even harder for the Mo’s as Mason Webster and Scott Bailey were both ejected for fighting midway through.
Results
Thursday 22 February 2018
Telford Tigers 1 Swindon Wildcats 5 (Cup Semi Final 2nd leg)
Saturday 24 February 2018
Streatham IHC 10 Cardiff Fire 2
Basingstoke Bison 4 Swindon Wildcats 0
London Raiders 1 Peterborough Phantoms 6
MK Thunder 2 Bracknell Bees 3
Sunday 25 February 2018
Swindon Wildcats 3 London Raiders 2
Bracknell Bees 4 Basingstoke Bison 8
Invicta Dynamos 3 MK Thunder 3 (Thunder win 4-3 in 0T)
Contact the author: david.carr@prohockeynews.com
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