LONDON, UK – After an eight year wait, the Invicta Dynamos were crowned NIHL Play-Off Champions thanks to a 10-7 aggregate final win over the Chelmsford Chieftains.
Dynamos do the business (Daev Trevallion)
Not one player from that Play-Off winning 2008/9 squad remains on the Dynamos playing staff, however Head Coach Kev Parrish was there and enjoyed lifting the 2016/17 trophy at the Riverside in front of a large travelling support tonight.
The damage was done in the first leg of the final on Saturday as the rampant Mo’s proved their semi-final demolition of Streatham was no fluke, blazing the shell shocked Chieftains 8-3 in Gillingham. Scott Bailey and Adam Rehak top scored with two each for the Mo’s to add to goals from Callum Fowler, Ondrej Zosiak, Steven Osman and Ashley Jackson. For Chelmsford it was Liam Chong, Matt Turner and Jake Sylvester with the goals.
A five goal deficit was always going to be a big ask to overcome however if anyone could do it, the Chieftains would be most likely to. A large crowd gathered at the Riverside, including the 482 days media posse and many neutrals from teams across the league.
Even without Head Coach Sean Easton, who was on duties with the GB u16s squad in Czech, Chelmsford got off to a flier with only 7 seconds on the clock thanks to an effort from Chong. Further unanswered goals from Sylvester, Grant Bartlett and Danny Hammond put the Chieftains in with a shout of a surprise comeback, before Bailey and then Fowler put the tie to bed with a goal each for the Dynamos.
The Mo’s players spilled on to the ice to mob their goalie Damien King, who had faced 47 shots in comparison to 26 on his opposite number Ben Clements over the 60 minutes.
The Chieftains of course already have the Cup and the Play-Offs in their trophy cabinet this season, but as the Mo’s fans celebrating in the corner of the rink can testify, the Play-Offs have a special place in hockey across the world.
The NIHL South season now ends with a number of big names set to retire, key personnel ready to switch teams and hopefully two new clubs signing up to the league in 2017/18. Things are about to change big time and everyone has their eyes peeled for September.
Congratulations to the Invicta Dynamos from everyone here at Pro Hockey News and to all the players, fans and officials across the league, thank you for clicking on our links and reading/skimming the content every week.
We would also like to thank all of the photographers around the league for their fantastic work that helps this website showcase the league. Kev Skyfield at Bracknell, Rick Webb and Mel O’Brien at Streatham, Dave Trevallion at Invicta, Paul Foster and Stu Widdows at Oxford, Dave Chapman at Solent, Claire Stanton at MK, Steve Sutherland and the Snoding family at Chelmsford and of course John Scott at London.
Credit also goes to Andrew Self and the team at Oxford Sports Online for their brilliant radio commentary that we all love, and lastly our friends at 482 days whose dedication and professionalism has been a breath of fresh air in the league, enhancing everyone’s enjoyment. Somehow Nancy hasn’t managed to upset anyone (massively) with her thousands of tweets which is a minor miracle in itself with our sometimes sensitive players and fans.
If we have forgotten anyone, please make us feel bad on Twitter and we will edit you in.
Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.