A tale of two Palaces

LONDON, UK – It was Alan Partridge who once remarked: ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday. What a great song. It really encapsulates the frustration of a Sunday, doesn’t it? You wake up in the morning, you’ve got to read all the Sunday papers, the kids are running round, you’ve got to mow the lawn, wash the car, and you just think ‘Sunday, bloody Sunday!’

Another man who will empathise with that sentiment is Wightlink player coach Jeremy Cornish who must have been seething to find out that the teams’ kit had travelled to Crystal Palace rather than 20 miles due North across central London to Alexandra Palace ice rink. Apparently the game was conceded 5-0 to the lucky home side Haringey Greyhounds, although given the EIHA’s tendency to pull a ridiculous decision from the jaws of certainty; I wouldn’t be amending any league tables to reflect this result just yet. The impact of Wightlink’s cock up will have an impact at both ends of the table with Invicta and Chelmsford benefitting at the top and more importantly disadvantaging Streatham and Peterborough at the bottom. It rounded off a miserable weekend for Wightlink who were comprehensively beaten 8-4 at home on Saturday against Invicta Dynamos. Despite notching a hat trick Cornish could not stir his troops to rise against the Kent side who seem to be marching quite easily to the title. The much anticipated fight between Wightlink’s player coach and Invicta’s enforcer Mark Williams did not happen but to be fair Cornish was wise to stay out of the box bearing in mind Invicta’s potent power play and also his own value to his team  on the ice. Nicky Lewis helped himself to a hat trick for the Dynamos in what was a disappointingly one sided affair for those of us who want a tight title race. The other fixtures on Saturday saw high flying Cardiff visit the low lying Peterborough Islanders. Despite signing forward Steve Maile from Romford Raiders, the Islanders suffered a heavy 11-3 defeat with their new signing also getting kicked out of the game for a kneeing penalty. David James helped himself to a hat trick for the visitors who must be hoping they can continue their current run of form. Home fans speculated whether referee Hames had travelled on the team bus with Cardiff up from Wales as was rumoured, but lets be honest, even if he had been on a long weekend in a golf resort with Mr Armour and gang it wouldn’t have been relevant such was the margin of victory. A surprise result in Bracknell on Saturday saw the Oxford City Stars beat their Berkshire hoodoo with a 3-1 road victory. I played for the Stars for a number of years and we only won once in about ten attempts in Bracknell, maybe it says more about my defensive contribution than the team itself now they have actually tasted a win there. A debut goal from defence man Youssef Abu Saada was the highlight in a 3-1 victory for the Stars who also paraded new signing Ken Forshee. The consensus on both sides seemed to be that referee Belanger didn’t have the greatest of games with one contributor on The Hockey Forum.com labelling the official as Coco the Clown. A tad harsh ? Stars head coach Simon Anderson is certainly using his Swindon connections to try and bolster the Stars ranks but despite the new recruits, Oxford couldn’t manage to make it a four point weekend when Chelmsford visited Oxpens Road on Sunday. In a very close encounter it took an empty net goal from Jerry Pavlus to seal a 3-1 victory for the visiting Chieftains. Invicta managed to continue their 100% winning streak with a convincing 13-2 victory over Streatham Redskins. To be perfectly honest we have played the Dynamos three times now and are pretty much sick of the sight of them. Less said about the game the better – sorry Dynamos fans. Forgive me for returning to the subject but I feel I must clarify my point regarding the EIHA. Having played the game for nearly twenty years, the various teams I have played for have been on the wrong end of their ad hoc decisions on more than a few occasions. It is perhaps for this reason that my faith in their ability to make fair and considered rulings when dealing with incidents is not as strong as it could be. Sometimes you could swear they have made decisions based on a coin toss rather than considering evidence, such are some of the bizarre rulings that come out of EIHA Towers. Even by writing this I have probably condemned the Redskins to a 5-0 defeat somewhere down the line this season for some petty indiscretion. Within the EIHA you will find some of the most dedicated, hard working hockey loving volunteers around and they deserve immense credit for the time they sacrifice for the sport in this country. No one typified this more than former secretary, the late Rob Laidler who selflessly gave his all in his role despite both his sons giving up the game at an early age. I would love to think that all those involved in the EIHA from bottom to top have the interests of the game at heart and are immune from bias, self promotion and holding grudges but I am unconvinced to be perfectly honest. I guess it is human nature?   Thanks for all the emails you have sent through to me since I started writing this column. I really appreciate reading different views on the league so keep them coming. I would also like to hear from you regarding your teams’ star performers so far this year, who has impressed you? Thanks for reading and stay safe. Carrsy Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com