Andrew Shurmer – LivInn the Dream

CARDIFF, UK – Personally I never look forward to a trip to Wales. As you reach out of your car window to pay the outrageous £5.40 Severn bridge toll, the clouds gather and more times than not, the rain pours down on your windscreen. The only highlight is if there is a new import on board and you can stitch them up with the old ‘have you got your passport’ joke, on approach to the border. Even that becomes tiresome after a few seasons. Added to which, the visit usually ends in defeat. One man who disagrees with me is my former Oxford team mate Andrew Shurmer who decided to leave the City Stars to join Cardiff this summer. Cardiff is Shurmer’s fourth senior hockey club following Wightlink, Swindon and of course Oxford and he is happy to have made the move west: “The set up is excellent in Cardiff and after my first skate I knew it was going to be fun and we would be challenging for honours. Plus they are a good bunch of guys to be around, and Cardiff has a great bar scene so the social aspect is there too”. It is fair to say that the move has already given the former England junior international an unexpected benefit already this season: “Our coach Mark Cuddihy text me after speaking to (Elite coach) Gerad Adams to see if I would cover for the injury and suspensions they had picked up against Hull. Naturally I was delighted to get the chance to play in the Elite league”. Shurmer joined fellow ENL players James Manson, Steve Fisher and Corey Watkins in the Elite Devils team in the 6-5 victory over the Sheffield Steelers, and he certainly noticed a difference in standard: “Obviously the elite guy’s train every day so you notice the extra step of pace they have for sure. I thought I played ok, made some hits and filled in to give the guys a break which is what we were there for”. Cardiff ENL Devils have made a solid start to the season but were set back recently with a 5-0 defeat at Wightlink. Shurmer is confident that the best is yet to come from his team and predicts a title challenge for the Welsh side: “I think we have started comfortably but we are still not running at full speed yet. The team has lots of new guys this year and that takes time to settle. Once it does we will be a tough team to beat home or away. We will be in the mix and are seriously talking about challenging for the title”. Regular readers of this column will be aware that Shurmer built his own fully functioning pub in his back garden called Liv-Inn the Dream. Self appointed landlord Shurmer is happy to host players from other teams and has big plans to expand: “The Dream is fast becoming a must visit drinking venue in hockey circles and we may even be branching out to Cardiff with a penthouse bar called Diablo’s” Cardiff coach Mark Cuddihy will be hoping Shurmer’s social habits do not impact too much on his players as this may be the season that the Welsh side finally grab some silverware. Impressive wins home and away against Bracknell gave them a good start but the acid test will be the Chelmsford and Invicta games coming up. Cardiff supporters may not have grounds to criticise big spending Invicta this season. A secret source did reveal that both Shurmer and Alan Armour get their bridge toll fees back on expenses. So there you have it. Cardiff buying the league it seems!   Thanks for reading and stay safe, Carrsy Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com