ENL South Round-up week 20

LONDON, UK – There was finally some good news regarding a new ice rink and a frustrated Canadian learnt his fate. There was a surprise returnee to Invicta and another new face at Streatham. Another busy week in ENL South.
 
Invicta fans were smiling during the week when it was announced that former defenseman Tim Smith was re-signing for the club after leaving Sheffield Steeldogs in the English Premier league. Smith had started this season with the Dynamos before heading to his native North unexpectedly for personal reasons.

 
Smith has been one of the Dynamos best defensemen in recent seasons so his return will be a big boost to the Kent club.
 
“Tim’s return is excellent news for the team and his arrival should prove a valuable boost for the side ahead of the 2011/12 run-in” explained Head Coach Kevin Parrish.
 
“We know exactly what we’re getting by re-signing Tim and that’s a player that, for the last few years, has been amongst the best blue liners in the ENIHL South and the pick of our rear guard for the last two seasons”
 
Wightlink Raiders player coach Jeremy Cornish was left reeling after the EIHA ruled that he would be suspended for seven games as a result of the incident against Streatham a couple of weeks ago, and an accumulation of penalty points (unconfirmed).
 
“For those that don’t know I am sitting a 7 game suspension for the incident against Streatham” explained the big Canadian in his column on the Raiders official website.
 
“I don’t want to make any comments about it other than I will be using the final 5 games of the suspension to coach from the bench and make sure the team is playing the system I want them to be playing heading into the playoffs”
 
Cornish’s ‘no comment’ stance is probably wise given the hefty punishment dealt to Romford Raiders Manager Mick Cahill for speaking his mind in the local press last month.
 
Two people who were happy to comment in public were officials Tim Pickett and Stephen Matthews, who were interviewed on ENL Devils TV before the Cardiff side’s game against Milton Keynes Thunder.
 
In a short video segment posted online the pair showed an enthusiasm for the game and gave an insight into the workings of a two man system and opinions on their style of officiating.
 
Pickett describing himself as a crazy person who ‘likes to live on the dark side’ may have the EIHA Chief referee Mohammed Ashraff revising his recruitment strategy in future.
 
A tick box of ‘Are you crazy and like to live on the dark side?’ on the application form should suffice, but on a serious note Pickett has done a good job in the games I have seen so far this year.
 
Speaking of the Chief, Mr Ashraff appears to have been appointed the Chairman of Ice Hockey UK in the interim, due to the resignation of Eamonn Convery.
 
Staying in Cardiff, after miserable news of late regarding Bristol and Romford rinks it was pleasing to see that plans for a new facility in Cardiff moved a step closer as the council appointed a partner to build the International Sports Village.
 
With potentially 3,000 seats within the new rink, Devils owner Paul Ragan was quoted as saying the news was ‘Absolutely fabulous’ when interviewed by Wales Online.co.uk.
 
2013/14 season is the target for the Cardiff club to move into their new home, leaving the big question of what happens to the Big Blue Tent they currently play in. Romford head honcho Ollie Oliver and Bristol supremo Richie Hargreaves would both love a facility anywhere near as good to house their currently threatened teams so it would be great if one of them could get their hands on it.
 
Hargreaves was less than pleased at the situation his club finds itself in as he labelled the impending closure of the Frogmore Street rink and the situation in the city for ice hockey as ‘ridiculous’.
 
In an article in the Bristol Evening Post, the owners of the site Unite, made a statement expressing regret at the closure.
 
“We decided to redevelop the site after discussions with John Nike Group, about the long-term sustainability of the current ice rink. Their lease expires in January 2013, which will mean the closure of the rink in October 2012 to allow for decommissioning”
 
“This is a very unusual situation for Unite, as our developments usually take place on redundant or empty sites where the addition of student accommodation often helps regenerate a depressed area”
 
“We regret that this development will mean the loss of the Bristol Ice Rink; however, believe that our plans for the site will, ultimately, benefit the city”
 
“Providing a home for more students in the city centre, with their associated spending power, will provide a boost to other businesses, and the new managed student accommodation will support the future plans of the Bristol’s universities, while alleviating pressure from students on the city’s private housing”
 
Streatham Head Coach Barry Spours delved into the transfer market again ahead of deadline day as he drafted in defenseman Luke Reynolds from Slough ENL Jets.
 
Luke trained with us for the first time this week and timed it perfectly for a tough workout of defensive drills, separate to the rest of the team. We all thought it a bit strange that Mr Warren Rost was keen to sharpen everyone’s skates (a job most people hate), but we soon realised why as we sweated through ‘agility’ and ‘positional skating drills’.
 
Stood smirking in his fleece on the side lines, wily old dog Wozza had the rest of the defensive corps looking across in envy as we toiled and I think it was the same facial expression he once flashed at me after two handing me across the back of the legs when he played for Slough. On second thoughts I remember that being more of a wild eyed stare – funny how things turn out.
 
As he rightly pointed out, he got man of the match and scored a goal the weekend before so at 41 years old I think he deserves the break.
 
Talking of breaks, Streatham had the weekend off so the club held a race night at the Canterbury Arms in Brixton. Nothing to do with breaking down cultural barriers, but an old fashioned fundraiser involving gambling on video-taped horse racing.
 
Sounds rubbish, but it is actually lots of fun and one of the prizes was a week in a French villa which is exciting by anyone’s standards.
 
Saturday
 
Bristol and Bracknell faced each other in a league match that also doubled as the ‘John Nike Cup’ on account that both clubs play in rinks operated by John Nike. A big crowd gathered for this game as the city showed its support for the Pitbulls’ plight and they -were rewarded with a big 7-1 win for the home side.
 
Steven Fisher and Steve Osman hit a brace each for the Pitbulls with Eggy Bauba, Shannon Taylor and Mike Smith all getting a goal each. Bracknell’s goal came from Tom Fisher.
 
Alan Lack and Hargreaves dropped the gloves in the last minute to round off an entertaining evening for the home fans.
 
Invicta enjoyed a big win over Slough ENL Jets in a one sided affair at the Silverblades Ice Bowl in Kent.
 
The 12-1 score line told its own story as Callum Best put his former side to the sword with four goals and Justin Noble bagged a hat trick. Ryan Giles and Andy Smith hit a brace each and Callum Fowler got a lone goal. Carl Thompson was on target for Slough.
 
It was a similar story on the Island as Wightlink hammered a struggling Milton Keynes Thunder side 10-2.
 
Alex Murray and Arran Strawson hit a brace each for the Raiders with Richard Facey, Damon Larter, Dom Hopkins, Grant Rounding, Kieron Annis and Joe Rand getting a goal each.
 
Harrison Goode and Steve Maile got the goals for MK, who have now lost seven in a row.
 
Sunday
 
Only two league fixtures took place however two cup games were also staged, the first of which was the Raiders Cup in Romford with Wightlink making the trip to Rom Valley Way.
 
Romford are a tough nut to crack on their own ice however Wightlink, minus player coach Cornish, were leading 4-3 at one point before the home side equalised.
 
Tom Davis and Matt Turner scored a goal each for Romford with Juraj Huska grabbing a brace. Joe Rand hit two for Wightlink with Grant Rounding and Dom Hopkins also on the score sheet.
 
A dead rubber game at the Riverside in the South East cup saw both Chelmsford and Invicta missing players however the 5-0 win for the home side still raised a few eyebrows.
 
Alan Green, James Ayling, Darren Brown, Darren Elliott and Tom Long were all on target for the Chieftains with Ben Clements getting the shut out.
 
In the league, Bristol travelled to Slough and were dealt a serious blow as Richie Hargreaves was carried off after hurtling into the boards at high speed.
 
Thankfully for the visitors, they still managed to edge through with a 5-2 win thanks to two goals from Steven Fisher and one each from Steve Osman, Jamie Newton and Eggy Bauba. Slough scorers were Stuart Mogg and Stas Prokofiev.
 
Cardiff came away with a solid 7-4 win in Bracknell as the Hornets capped off a zero point weekend. With Cardiff missing Luke Piggott, Jason Stone, Neil Browning and Adam Harding, Bracknell must have fancied their chances but alas it was not meant to be.
 
A hat trick from Jamie Hayes and one goal each for Chris Jones, James Preece and Rob Sedlak did the business for Cardiff with Cameron Birrell also hitting his first goal since his move from Oxford.
 
Bracknell scorers were Nick Minhinnick, Ryan Webb, Danny Hughes and Tom Carroll.
 
The league table now looks great if you are a Romford fan but less so if you support Streatham or Slough. By next week, deadline day will have passed so all eyes will be on the ENL for any last minute transfers.
 
 
Results
 
Saturday 28 January 2012
 
Invicta Dynamos 12 – 1 Slough Jets  
Bristol Pitbulls 7 – 1 Bracknell Hornets  
Wightlink Raiders 10 – 2 Milton Keynes Thunder
 
Sunday 29 January 2012
 
Bracknell Hornets 4 – 7 Cardiff Devils  
Slough Jets 2 – 5 Bristol Pitbulls
Chelmsford Chieftains 5 – 0 Invicta Dynamos (South East Cup)
Romford Raiders 4 – 4 Wightlink Raiders (Raiders Cup)
 
 
Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com