LONDON, UK – It was the Cup final weekend in the NIHL with all eyes on the third available trophy for 2015/16.
Chieftains too hot for Redskins (Rick Webb)
All of the build up to the weekend action focused on the NIHL Cup Final between Chelmsford Chieftains and Streatham Redskins.
Thankfully these days we are not the only media outlet in town, so 482 days took on the task of getting quotes from both teams and putting together a preview piece.
Streatham goalie Will Sanderson has been with the club since 2009 and said:
‘This weekend is huge for the club. The fans have been with us through some tough seasons in the recent years and they really deserve to see some silverware. I’ve played for Streatham for 7 seasons now and things have really moved forward since my first season.’
Chelmsford were looking for their third trophy of the season and forward Cameron Bartlett admitted that the team were not complacent:
‘Winning never gets boring, it’s always a different challenge every single year.’
‘I don’t ever believe you can win to many trophies, you just have to work hard week in week out and gel as a team and this year I think we have better than any other year. It’s a great atmosphere in the changing room and that’s showing on the ice.’
When you think of Switzerland what do you imagine? Toblerone, clean alpine air and the multiple use army knife would be first on our list but times they are a changing.
The Post Finance Arena in Bern was an unlikely host to a viral hockey video that did the rounds on Social Media during the week.
An amazing 3D light display showed a player skating away from a fire breathing dragon amongst other things and you can view the whole piece HERE
Rumours were rife in the NIHL community that Solent Devils were planning a smaller scale version after a hired Zip van was spotted in the car park with lighting equipment in the back. Later the same day, former Devils enforcer Adam Rich was allegedly spotted behind the rink being filmed wearing a dragon suit and holding a blow torch.
Saturday’s Hockey
The eagerly anticipated first leg of the cup final took place in South London as Streatham looked to stop Chelmsford’s seemingly unstoppable trophy collection.
Tough weekend for Streatham (Rick Webb)
The home side needed a strong start but instead had a first period that could have only gotten worse if the ice had cracked for real and the team disappeared into the swimming pool below.
In front of a massive crowd, Streatham trailed 3-0 before the period was called early thanks to a faulty sound system that had the rink vibrating to what sounded like a never ending long dull fart.
The final score ended 7-2 to Chelmsford despite them only having two more shots than the hosts, who failed to impress at either end of the ice.
A brace each for man of the match Darren Brown and Danny Hammond added to goals from Cameron Bartlett, Grant Bartlett and Juraj Huska for Chelmsford.
Callum Best and Nick Chinn got the goals for Streatham, who left themselves a mountain to climb in the second leg.
In Cardiff the dead rubber game between the Devils and London Raiders ended with the visitors skating away with a 7-1 win.
Rio Grinell Parke hit a hat trick for London with David Oliver, Marek Nahlik, Evander Grinell and Liam Chong also on target.
If Oliver thought his night could not get any better he was mistaken as he was presented with a birthday cake on the bus home complete with not one but two candles. What a night!
Sunday Hockey
The second leg of the Cup final attracted a large crowd at the Riverside despite the lopsided score in the first leg.
Despite a close start the contest was over early on as the Chieftains continued their good form from the night before over a tired looking Streatham side.
10-3 was the final score with Juraj Huska again playing the star role. The Slovak scored a hat trick to add to a brace from James Ayling and lone goals for Billy Phillips, Olegs Lascenko, Matt Turner, Cameron Bartlett and Danny Hammond.
Joe Johnston scored two for Streatham with Steven Fisher adding the other.
Chris Wiggins and Billy Phillips tangled with the linesmen quick to react, and then towards the end of the game Wiggins was left bloodied after Charlie Phillips stick caught him as the pair checked each other.
Wiggins played no further part and Phillips was given the biggest cheer of the night by the Riverside faithful as he was ejected on a match penalty.
4th place finish for Stars (Paul Foster)
The Chieftains deservedly lifted the Cup and look set to complete another quadruple unless one of the other teams in the league can step up to the plate.
The final league game of the season took place in Milton Keynes as the in-form Oxford City Stars beat the Thunder 1-0 thanks to a goal from Ondrej Pekarik.
The star of the show was Oxford goalie Tom Annetts who bagged a 27 shot shut out.
The result secured Oxford a fourth placed finish in the league which is a great achievement given their struggles last season.
Next week the Play-Offs start and are arguably the most exciting part of the hockey season.
Results
Saturday 26 March 2016
Streatham Redskins 2-7 Chelmsford Chieftains (Cup Final 1st leg)
Cardiff NIHL Devils 1-7 London Raiders
Sunday 27 March 2016
Chelmsford Chieftains 10-3 Streatham Redskins (Chelmsford win 17-5 on aggregate)
MK Thunder 0-1 Oxford City Stars
Contact the author: david.carr@prohockeynews.com
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