ENL South Round-up Week 17

LONDON, UK – A new year dawns and the ENL enters the second half of the season with goals, incident and some controversy to give everyone something to talk about.
 
After a mini festive break for the tired and bruised bodies of the English National League, only Cardiff, Bristol and Wightlink managed to avoid a fixture on the first weekend of 2011.

 
There was no real transfer news to speak of over Christmas but for those readers who like a good gossip (yes you), be aware that the deadline is coming up at the end of this month so expect a few new faces to appear at various rinks around the league.
 
Most savvy ENL fans most likely spent the festive period pouring over the Pro Hockey News mid year review article, with its analysis of every side in the league and their form so far. What do you mean you were too busy stuffing your face with the standard Terry’s Chocolate Orange and drinking Lambs Navy rum? If you missed it, please check it out:
 
http://www.prohockeynews.com/hockey/publish/hockeyuk/ENL_South_-_The_season_so_far.shtml
 
Saturday
 
Bracknell Hornets and Swindon ENL Wildcats drew the short straw with the only fixture played on New Years day. Swindon had been somewhat of a bogey team for the Hornets so far this season, so what better chance of revenge than with a double header weekend against those pesky Wildcats.
 
Round one saw Bracknell act as hosts with the previously snow bound Hive open for business at last.
Rumours that the temperature has recently dropped under 35 degrees centigrade inside the warmest rink in the UK, due to the cold snap outside are yet to be confirmed, however the Hornets kept their fans warm with a winning start to the year.
 
A 6-2 win was all the more impressive as six different players got on the score sheet for the home side. Michael Plenty, Tom Avery, Grant Rounding, JJ Pitchley, Tom Fisher and Danny Hughes all got goals, with Loris Taylor and Shannon Taylor getting the Wildcats goals.
 
Hornets’ players Alan Lack and Tony Barclay got kicked out with game misconduct penalties after an altercation with goal scorer Loris Taylor, who also got an early shower for his troubles.
 
Sunday
 
Round two of Swindon v Bracknell took place at the Link Centre with the home side putting in a slightly better performance than the previous night, yet still coming away with nothing.
 
Ryan Burgess and Grant Richardson had given Swindon a quick fire 2-0 lead after only two minutes, but goals from Tony Barclay, Ryan Webb, Tom Carroll and Luke Reynolds gave Bracknell a 4-2 win and a four point weekend to start 2011.
 
The first of three derby matches played on Sunday took place at Oxford, where the City Stars aimed to get the year off to a good start as they entertained local rivals Milton Keynes Thunder.
 
These two teams seem to be heading in different directions of late, so a 5-2 win for the visiting Thunder should not have come as too much of a surprise. Ross Bowers got a brace for the Thunder with former Stars Matt Roberts and Paul Gore getting one goal each along with Martyn Snape. Joe Edwards and Darren Elliott got the goals for Oxford who have now lost five games in a row.
 
Veteran MK defenseman Simon Howard was ejected for head butting and there was also a scuffle towards the end of one of the periods between both benches as tempers flared. The MK coaching team will have been delighted with this win however, as it takes them above Cardiff in the league and more importantly eleven points clear of the automatic relegation zone.
 
A bumper crowd at Rom Valley Way were treated to the first Essex derby of the year as the resident Raiders entertained the travelling Chelmsford Chieftains. This was always going to be an intriguing clash between two evenly matched sides, but with Chelmsford Coach Dean Birrell missing from the visitor’s bench, the Chieftains orchestra missed its conductor and the Raiders snatched two valuable points to move just one point behind their rivals in the league.
 
Slovak Juraj Huska earned a well deserved man of the match award with a hat trick for Romford, with Anthony Leone, Frankie Harvey and Danny Marshall getting a goal each in a 6-3 win. Chieftains’ scorers were Alex Green, Aaron Connolly and Tom Long.
 
Chelmsford have a nice easy double of games (ahem) to bounce back with next week as they host table topping Wightlink Raiders at the Riverside, 24 hours after playing Invicta Dynamos on Saturday at the Essex rink.
 
Streatham travelled to Invicta with a depleted squad and subsequently handed out a debut to youngster Douglas Tworogal which was worth it simply to hear the announcer at the Gillingham Ice Bowl sound like he had swallowed a full Terry’s Chocolate Orange (no I’m not on commission) when introducing the teenager to the blue line.
 
Former Redskins Pete Quiney and Perry Richardson dusted off their skates for a seasonal outing and Nick Templeman was given a rare start. Without trying to be condescending, all four did really well and it was good to see the team rolling three full lines for the first time in weeks. Quiney was awarded man of the match for his efforts. 
 
Sadly for those of a Redskins persuasion the game ended in defeat with Invicta skating away with a 7-2 victory. In the absence of the departed Dan Calitri, Daniel Borges fitted in like a sizzling sausage between the tasty Yorkshire pudding substance of Callum Fowler and Andy Smith to produce an award winning toad in the hole dish for Coach Kev Parrish.
 
That trio were unstoppable at times as the Redskins struggled to contain their speed and flair, and it was no surprise that Smith ended the game with two goals and Borges and Fowler both got a goal each. The returning Nicky Lewis got two goals on his debut and Corey Watkins also scored.
 
For Streatham Ed Koral scored a show reel slap shot and Liam Rasmussen finished his breakaway well.
 
The other main plus point for the Dynamos was the size of the crowd. It was the biggest I have seen in a number of years at the Ice Bowl and hopefully they all enjoyed their evening of ENL ice hockey.
 
Just when the Redskins thought that the night could not get any worse, the showers in the Away locker room failed to work, so a cloud of body odour contained in the team bus was unleashed on South London by fifteen hockey players at around 11pm on Sunday night as they arrived at the rink to deposit their kit.
 
Results
 
Saturday 1^st January
 
Bracknell 6 Swindon 2
 
Sunday 2^nd January
 
Invicta 7 Streatham 2
Oxford 2 Milton Keynes 5
Romford 6 Chelmsford 3
Swindon 2 Bracknell 4
 
Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com