LONDON, UK – The penultimate weekend of league hockey left the Britton Conference on a knife edge this week with Basingstoke Bison and Peterborough Phantoms going head to head for the league title.
Shovels out in Swindon
As the Beast from the East wreaked havoc across the UK, training sessions were cancelled, bus companies pulled the plug on travel and the first leg of the Autumn Cup final between Swindon Wildcats and Basingstoke Bison bit the dust.
Thankfully the rescheduled dates were organised quickly with the first leg set for this coming Friday in Bison land. There was better news for Swindon as the Cats ran yet another competition giveaway, this time in conjunction with Wellington Barn. First prize was a one night stay for two in a deluxe Shepherd’s Hut, presumably without a herd of sheep lounging around outside waiting to be moved on.
In Peterborough, Owen Griffiths was the latest recipient of the EIHA Player of the Month award. The blurb read: Griffiths has been a standout man for a very strong Phantoms team this month. With 4+7 in 6 games, he was involved in the points in every one of Peterborough’s games in the month and his work rate and 2-way play have paid dividends at both ends of the ice for his team.
Owen Griffiths
The award once again failed to spark a twenty page thread on The Hockey Forum so all seems well with the Britton Conference decisions this season.
The afore-mentioned weather issues brought out the differing personalities in the UK population. For the safety conscious, the snow prompted them to buy three tonnes of bread, cereal and booze as a precautionary measure. For the lazy it signalled an opportunity to loaf on the sofa watching Jeremy Kyle, Loose Women and re-runs of Bergerac. But for the hockey fans and players across the land it began the search for the ultimate nirvana, an outdoor skate on real natural ice. It was found in the fens of East Anglia and the frozen meadows of Oxford amongst other areas, where those with skates plastered Instagram with their efforts. The skaters on the Fens were featured in a video montage HERE
Meanwhile in Ireland, some locals in Dublin decided to use the cover of snow to nail the sh*t out of the local Lidl with a JCB. Sadly the Irish capital is a little far away from 482 Days Carterton base to plausibly link them with the savagery. plus they have always struck us as Waitrose fans.
Prior to the weekend’s action, the MK Thunder v Cardiff Fire game was called off due to snow, as the local bus company refused to take the Fire, and Swindon’s players made sure their game against Bracknell went ahead by clearing the ice rink car park with shovels. Let’s hope they all got an extra fiver slipped in their wage packets for hard labour.
Saturday action review
The Wildcats reward for their efforts was not only a perfectly cleared car park, but a 6-3 win over the visiting Bracknell Bees.
Edgars Bebris and Aaron Nell continued their good scoring form with a brace each, adding to lone goals from Jordan Kelsall and Sam Godfrey. The Bakrlik-less Bees scorers were Josh Martin, Callum Best and Shaun Thompson.
There was a taste of the rough stuff at the end of the first as Cats’ pair Godfrey and Floyd Taylor squared off with Bees’ Martin and James Galazzi.
Bison ready for glory?
In Peterborough, the Phantoms needed overtime to beat the London Raiders, with Leigh Jamieson getting the winner in a 4-3 victory. Last season’s league top scorer Juraj Huska continued his good form in the latter half of the season with a brace for the Raiders to add to a goal from Olegs Lascenko. The Phantoms other scorers were Glenn Billing, James Ferrara and Tom Norton.
The result meant that the title could still be won on Sunday as the Phantoms faced a Basingstoke Bison side looking for their 12th consecutive win and ready to lift the Britton Conference title. As ever the maths on this one was more than a little complicated but thankfully the Twisted Sock website explained it clearly HERE
Sunday action review
The game at Bretton Way started with the Head of 482 Days media presenting Griffiths with his player of the month trophy. This was after causing a 20 mile tailback en-route on the A43, due to driving skills labelled as ‘woeful’ by BBC Three Counties FM’s eye in the sky helicopter.
The game lived up to its nervy billing as the Phantoms took a 2-0 lead through Nathan Salem and Glenn Billing, before Ivan Antonov converted a powerplay for the Bison to set up a thrilling third period.
The Phantoms extended their lead to 3-1 thanks to a second from Billing, but just as they looked to take pole position going into next weekend, Bison Captain Aaron Connolly scored with just two minutes to go.
Signed up to the title?
So unless Twisted Sock are wrong, that means the two teams have a perfect tie on points and head-to-head record so it goes down to league goal difference.
In their words… Phantoms end the night +6 ahead of Bison on goal difference but it comes down to who registers the biggest goalfest next weekend. Basically, Bison need to boost their goal difference by +7 more than Phantoms, who now need to rely on Cardiff and Invicta not losing heavily – Jordan Lawday and Damien King take note. The Phantoms face Streatham next weekend and if everything goes their way could still win the title. Otherwise the Bison will lift the trophy at Cardiff next Sunday – if this is all incorrect send complaints to Twisted Sock.
In Kent, Invicta Dynamos looked to post a win over Streatham for the first time this season and got it with a 4-2 win over the RedHawks. Jaroslav Cesky scored two for the Mo’s with Louis Colvin and Steven Osman also on target.
Streatham’s goals came from Adam Carr and an Andreas Siagris penalty shot. To add to the entertainment Harrison Lillis and Ben Paynter dropped the gloves in the second period.
The RedHawks chances of moving up to 4th or 5th place were dealt a further blow as London Raiders went down 6-1 at Bracknell Bees.
The Bees raced into a 3-0 lead thanks to goals from Danny Ingolsby, Shaun Thompson and Alex Barker before Marek Nahlik pulled one back for the Raiders. George Norcliffe made it 4-1 going into the final period, where Thompson completed his hat trick to make it 6-1.
To add to the drama Scott Spearing and Callum Wells dropped the gloves in the second period and there were further fights in the third involving Jan Bendik, James Galazzi, Julian Smith and Callum Burnett. If these two face each other in the Play-Offs you can bank on a fiesty series.
So for the first time in a long time the title race goes down to the final weekend, with two of the pre-season favourites ready to take the Chelmsford Chieftains’ crown.
Results
Saturday 3 March 2018
Swindon Wildcats 6 Bracknell Bees 3
Peterborough Phantoms 4 London Raiders 3 (after overtime)
Sunday 4 March 2018
Bracknell Bees 6 London Raiders 1
Invicta Dynamos 4 Streatham IHC 2
Peterborough Phantoms 3 Basingstoke Bison 2
This column is dedicated to Phil ‘Wild Thing’ Manny who has been a familiar face around UK hockey rinks for many years, following hockey in Cardiff and of course his son Phil at his many clubs over the years. A top man who will be sorely missed by all who met him. RIP Phil.
Contact the author: david.carr@prohockeynews.com
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