ENL South Round-up week 5

LONDON, UK – The hot weather across the South of England only served to heat up the action this weekend in the English National League South as another week of big hits, freak injuries and unusual news kept everyone busy.
 
Following a four point weekend, Oxford City Stars Coach Ken Forshee praised his player’s work ethic in the Oxford Mail during the week. Oxford have had a solid start to the year with Chris Douglas playing a big part in between the pipes.

 
In a busy week of news at Oxpens road, forward Fraser Hendry announced he was leaving the club. The former Romford and Peterborough winger has not been announced at any other club yet however he is a good player and a good guy so hopefully he is not lost to the game.
 
To counter the loss of Hendry, Coach Ken Forshee announced the signing of South African forward Cameron Birrell, who is by all accounts a quality pick up having trained and played in Canada recently. This is the second import Oxford have signed from the southern hemisphere with New Zealander Martin Lee already on the roster.
 
“This will allow me to concentrate solely on coaching duties and I believe this will help the team” commented Forshee on the new signing.
 
With Britain currently in the midst of an unusual autumn heat wave, what odds on Birrell and Lee combining and using their outdoor skills to host a City Stars bbq/braai for the fans on the meadow behind the rink over the next few weeks. Could be a real money spinner for the team?
 
In Essex, Danny Marshall clarified the Romford Raiders position, following the surprise return of the physical forward Shaun Wallis in the game against Chelmsford.
 
“Wallis has been training for quite bit, but it was just a case of when could he commit and slot into the team” said Marshall in an interview with the Romford Recorder.
 
“We speak a lot and I wanted him to play. He has got a physical presence that was a big key, and adds a bit of speed”
 
“For his first game back, he felt his timing was off a bit, but I felt he had a great game”
 
Invicta Dynamos Coach Kevin Parrish whetted the appetite of some fans by announcing to BBC news that he wants to turn the Gillingham Ice Bowl into a fortress.
 
“We don’t need to throw our gloves off left, right and centre and turn it into a fight-fest” said Parrish in reference to the upcoming game against rivals Romford.
 
“We want to make the other team intimidated by putting the puck in the net. We want to intimidate them by looking sharp, looking fast and playing as a unit”
 
Rumours that Invicta had turned off the hot water to the showers and taken a sledge hammer to the visitor’s locker room to make it look mean as part of ‘Operation Fortress’ were soon proven incorrect, when someone pointed out that this was already the regular state of affairs at the Ice Bowl (and most other rinks in fairness).
 
Cardiff ENL Devils revealed that the player scoring against Chelmsford last weekend with the ‘Burrows’ jersey on was not in fact the free scoring Elite league prospect but actually new signing   Adam Harding, who is no slouch himself in front of goal. This put to bed rumours that Burrows had stepped down as a guest for the ENL side and also any confusion that Burrows had managed to play in Chelmsford whilst also playing against the Hull Stingrays in Wales at the same time.
 
Cancer busting PHD marvel and ENL Devils forward Luke Piggott may be clever but he can’t quite arrange for a human to be in two places at once… or can he?
 
A trip to North London on Tuesday saw your correspondent skating on the lovely ice of the refurbished Alexandra Palace Ice Rink. With no league side playing out of the facility this season, it was still good to see former Haringey Greyhounds Captain Phil Myers strutting around with his radio and large batch of keys in his role as rink manager, and former Greyhound and Slough Jets goalie Tom Wills still stopping most shots that come his way for the London Rangers recreational side.
 
Two big personalities; and two good guys who have helped make hockey a sport worth playing over the years in these parts.
 
Hockey fans will also be disappointed to note that with the absence of league hockey at the palace, not only is the chance of seeing hockey at one of London’s most iconic venues denied, but also a quality mini golf course has been set up in the rink foyer, so period breaks could have been loads of fun for all.
 
If you are desperate for an excuse to visit the palace, you could head up in late October for ‘Alice Coopers Halloween Night of Fear’. In the pre event press conference, the veteran rocker said:
 
“It takes a lot to shock me, but last year even my stomach was churning, Britain really has got freaks. That’s what Halloween is all about. It’s my favourite time of the year, bring on the gore!”
 
Rumours that former Greyhound and now Romford Fury forward Dave Richards had appeared in auditions bouncing on a pogo stick wearing his own blood stained jersey from the 2008/09 season whilst reciting the lyrics to ‘Don’t mug yourself’ by the Streets were not confirmed, and therefore entirely made up.
 
 
Saturday
 
Struggling Bracknell hosted a strong Chelmsford side at the Hive knowing that the odds were stacked against them. The Hornets were predictably despatched 12-0 as Chelmsford players padded their stats in emphatic fashion.
 
Jakub Klima hit a hat trick with Gary Clarke and Danny Hammond scoring two goals each for the Chieftains. Other goals came from Ross Brears, Michael Ranby, James Ayling and Cameron Bartlett.
 
Ben Clements got his shut out but it wasn’t all good news for the Essex side though as they lost Alan ‘Steamy’ Green thanks to a spearing penalty. Bracknell will be left wondering where they go from here after a winless start to the season.
 
There is no denying the league has got harder since the Hornets lifted the play-off trophy at this level in 2009/10 but they have some decent players and there is a lot of the season remaining for them to turn things round.
 
Another side who are struggling at the moment are Streatham, and after a sweltering and delayed five hour bus journey to Bristol, it was no surprise that we started the game against Bristol badly and the Pitbulls took full advantage. Bristol came at us with an aggressive game from the first whistle and by the end of the first we were 4-1 down.
 
Lacking in that little bit of quality you need to turn games around, it was downhill for the next forty minutes with the final score of 10-1 in Bristol’s favour well deserved.
 
A fight between Redskins debutant Norm Pinnington and Bristol’s Steven Fisher provided a decent talking point in an otherwise one sided affair. Steve Osman had a good night as he hit a hat trick and there were brace’s for Egidijus Bauba and Jamie Newton. Bristol’s other goals came from Henrik Sahlin, Sam Feeney and Fisher.
 
To top off a shambolic day for the Skins, our Captain Ed Koral was knocked out and split his head open in the shower after the game meaning the coach had to wait while he was seen in hospital. Thankfully it was Fresher’s week and a particularly rowdy Saturday night in Bristol so the views on show were a real boost for a downbeat hockey side hunting for post-game food.
 
With much relief Koral was released from casualty to travel to a London hospital, and just when we thought the day could not get any worse, the DVD on the coach was switched on and we all had to endure the movie Piranha in 3D, except without the 3D television. Epic.
 
Wightlink bounced back from the previous frustrating weekend by thumping Slough ENL Jets 7-0 on the island. Slough have travelled light to their past two road games but the Raiders were keen to avoid any complacency issues and made no mistake.
 
In form import Joe Rand and Arran Strawson hit two goals for the Raiders with Jeremy Cornish, Richard Facey and Dom Hopkins also on target. Most pleasing for Cornish will be that his goalie Liam McAllister earned a shut out that should give him a boost of confidence.
 
In a day of one sided games, Romford added their name to the winners list and cemented their best ever start to a season with a 9-0 win over the Milton Keynes Thunder. The Thunder lost import defenseman Pavol Valko during the week and had a few players missing but the Raiders were rampant.
 
AJ Smith and Danny Marshall scored two goals each with the Raiders other scorers being JJ Pitchley, JJ Mcgrath, Anthony Leone, Matt Turner and Grant Taylor.
 
Taylor was ejected midway through after jumping Harrison Goode following a fracas.
 
Thankfully at least one game provided some competition as Oxford skated away from Cardiff with a surprising 2-2 tie. The Stars were leading 2-1 with only minutes remaining before the ENL Devils equalised through Jamie Hayes.
 
Luke Piggott had scored Cardiff’s first goal with Dale White and Dax Hedges on target for Oxford. Oxford had goalie Chris Douglas to thank again for a sterling performance between the pipes as he turned away nigh on sixty shots to deny the Devils a win.
 
 
Sunday
 
Streatham hosted Cardiff in London in front of a sparser than usual crowd on yet another baking hot day in the capital. To be honest our performance was excellent for two periods with goalie Shane Kemp in sparkling form and we gave the Welsh men a real scare leading 2-1 going into the final third, but they turned things around inspired by our former forward Louis Lockwood (isn’t that always the way) to win 5-3 with an empty netter sealing the game on the buzzer.
 
To say the officiating was interesting is an understatement but I am sure those watching will make their own opinions clear on the various forums on the net. We all know officiating is a difficult task and we need to encourage referees and officials to stay in the game and be part of the game but in honesty it was very fortunate that the Streatham and Cardiff players kept a lid on things in general.
 
Stevie Balmer, Russ Stevens and Tomas Valko were on target for Streatham, with Louis Lockwood and James Preece getting two each for the Devils and Jamie Hayes getting the other.
 
Oxford’s good result in Cardiff on Saturday was tempered by a slightly disappointing 4-4 tie at home to Slough. Slough’s equaliser was timed at 59.59 which is not something you see every day and is a real sickener for the team conceding.
 
Oxford goals came from Andy Cox, Gareth Endicott, Ken Forshee and Dale White. Slough scorers were Zoran Kozic, Andrew Melachrino, Lewis Tribble and Stuart Mogg.
 
Bristol secured a four point weekend with an impressive 5-3 win in Milton Keynes against the Thunder. MK scorers were Tom Mboya, Maros Stefanco and Joe Edwards. Steve Osman capped off a five goal weekend with a brace and Egidijus Bauba, Richie Hargreaves and Sam Feeney got the other goals for the jubilant Pitbulls, who will be hoping to kick on and push up the league following a poor start.
 
Wightlink faced a tough game on the road for the second week running as they made the relatively long trip to Essex to take on Chelmsford.
 
Chelmsford are always going to be a tough proposition on home ice and Wightlink pushed them hard in the first two periods before tiring in the third and going down 6-3.
 
Two goals apiece for Jakub Klima, Gary Clarke and Tom Long did the damage for the Chieftains with Joe Rand, Dom Hopkins and Rich Facey all getting a goal each for Wightlink.
 
Experienced official Dave Cloutman reportedly ended up lecturing both Captains after Chieftains forward Michael Ranby inadvertently knocked him over and then shortly afterwards another player managed to shoot a puck at the linesman. It can be dangerous wearing the stripes that is for sure.
 
Invicta Dynamos welcomed back goalie Joe White to their line up for the South East Cup game against Romford Raiders. The highly rated White was a busy man after replacing starter Moffat in the third, as the in-form Raiders inflicted the Dynamos heaviest home defeat since 2007 with a 10-5 scoreline.
 
Raiders Player Coach Danny Marshall smashed in a hat trick; Andrius Kaminskas scored two with Anthony Leone, Billy Phillips, Juraj Huska, JJ Pitchley and JJ McGrath all getting one each. Ryan Ellis scored two for the Dynamos with Corey Watkins, Justin Noble and Richard Bentham also scoring.
It is safe to say that Romford are flying at the minute and look like they will take some stopping. The only consolation for Invicta is that it is a cup game and the priority for all clubs tends to be the league.
The addition of White adds much needed competition for Andy Moffatt between the pipes, but with White having issues with commitment don’t be surprised to see the Mo’s adding a new death mask covered face to their roster sooner rather than later.
 
 
Saturday 1 October 2011
Romford Raiders 9 Milton Keynes Thunder 0 Bristol Pitbulls 10 Streatham Redskins 1 Wightlink Raiders 7 Slough Jets 0 Bracknell Hornets 0 Chelmsford Chieftains 12 Cardiff Devils 2 Oxford City Stars 2 Sunday 2 October 2011
Oxford City Stars 4 Slough Jets 4 Milton Keynes Thunder 3 Bristol Pitbulls 5 Chelmsford Chieftains 6 Wightlink Raiders 3 Streatham Redskins 3 Cardiff Devils 5 Invicta Dynamos 5 Romford Raiders 10 (South East Cup)
 
Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com