ENL South Round-up Week 9

LONDON, UK – This was an eagerly awaited weekend for many fans with old rivalries renewed, new ones created and two talented players left looking for new clubs.
 
The life of a hockey coach is not always a pleasant experience. Whilst both are at varying stages of their coaching career, the fledgling Bracknell Hornets coach Ben Pitchley and experienced Invicta Dynamos supremo Kevin Parrish will probably have not enjoyed their conversations with players Greg Martyn and Grant Bignell respectively last week.

 
The release of Martyn was of particular surprise given his natural speed and hockey pedigree, but with no win in six games, Pitchley clearly believes that the Hornets are better off making the change sooner rather than later. Martyn’s roster spot was quickly filled by former Cardiff and Basingstoke forward Tom Smith from Slough ENL Jets.
 
The departure of Bignell was more predictable. The 18 year old prospect had found himself cast adrift on the Dynamos’ third/fourth line and was spending a bit too much time ‘riding the pine’ so to speak. The move should work out well for both parties, with Bignell likely to find a roster spot elsewhere, and the Mo’s left with some free resource to sign an alternative better suited to the squad (Prohockeynews predicts a defenseman being the next arrival rather than a replacement forward).
 
Saturday
 
A rare Saturday home fixture for Invicta was further proof of the hockey clubs’ good relationship with new rink owners Silver Blades. Historically, a difficult proposition under former rink management Starburst, Saturday ice is at a premium in Gillingham and the Dynamos made good use of it, as Cardiff came to town.
 
Joe White started in goal again for the Mo’s but he didn’t have a busy night as the Devils were brushed aside 6-1 by the home side. Daniel Calitri continued his recent goal scoring form with two goals, and Liam Chong, Andy Smith, Daniel Borges and Tom Dennis all got a goal each for the Mo’s. Tim Burrows got the Devils lone marker.
 
Former London Racers team mates Jeremy Cornish and Richie Hargreaves met head to head on the Isle of Wight as the Wightlink Raiders and Bristol Pitbulls did battle. Both players have a big influence on and off the ice at their respective clubs, but it was Cornish who was smiling at the end of this game.
 
The Raiders had Geordie forward Nathan Taylor’s two goal display to thank for helping them to a 4-2 win, with Alex Murray and Jason Gorrie also getting on the score sheet. Bristol’s goals came from Dan Mann and Mike ‘Killer’ Hargreaves.
 
The first Essex derby of the season took place at the revamped Riverside rink in Chelmsford as the resident Chieftains hosted their fierce rivals Romford Raiders. Both sets of fans had been looking forward to this clash for some time, given that they last met competitively at the back end of the 2007/08 season. The Chieftains management were so excited they installed a countdown clock on the club website, and branded the match up as the “Halloween Face-Off”, promising, amongst other things; ‘Fang-tastic fun’ and ‘Spook-tacular action’.
 
Both rosters look very different nowadays from their English Premier League days, but there still remains an edge to these encounters. If fans turned up expecting goals, what they got instead was a net minding master class from Michael Gray and Ben Clements, who managed to keep both sides at bay until one minute into the third, when Aaron Connelly fired home a Ross Brears pass to effectively seal the game for the Chieftains.
 
It is rare to see a 1-0 score line in the ENL but sadly the same can’t be said for a Blaho Novak high sticking penalty. The young Chieftain was given a match penalty this time, for an offence that left Romford player – coach Danny Marshall with ‘claret all over his boat’ as they say in this part of the world. No need for fake blood after all, at the Riverside!
 
Bracknell Hornets and MK Thunder have both been disappointing of late, but as the two sides clashed at the Hive, one of them had a great opportunity to put an end to their consecutive losses. MK were again without star goalie Mark Woolf so youngster Jake Scriven started his second consecutive game between the pipes.
 
The man smiling widest at the end of this game turned out to be Hornets Coach Pitchley, however Bracknell’s 7-4 win came at a price. Seven different scorers for the Hornets with Grant Rounding, JJ Pitchley, Radek Simicek, Tony Barclay, Luke Reynolds, Tom Avery and Alan Lack all scoring. MK’s goals came from Jamie Line – against his old club, Matt Roberts and Paul Jamieson.  
 
Luke Reynolds, Danny Hughes, Tom Smith and most notably Gareth Wheeler all needed medical treatment, with the latter the most serious with a broken collarbone that will rule him out for up to 14 weeks. A broken collarbone is one of the most sickening injuries a hockey player can get and is possibly the most uncomfortable (aside from a twisted testicle), so best wishes to Gareth and hopefully he is back on the ice soon.
 
Sunday
 
Sunday saw more Halloween themed hockey nights, most notably at Bristol, where the Pitbulls crossed swords again with Wightlink. Fans were encouraged to attend in fancy dress for this one but any party spirit was soon dissolved when Luke Merrick and Dan Scott tangled in the first, and Jeremy Cornish was kicked out for being the third man in on the fight. Cornish had already got himself a goal before his early shower, and Robbie Brown had netted twice to give the visitors a 3-1 advantage after the first period.
 
By the end of the second it was 5-1 to the Raiders courtesy of two goals from Brad Watchorn, but in the third the Pitbulls mounted a good comeback but narrowly lost 5-4. Bristol’s goals came courtesy of a brace from veteran Mike Smith and one each for Alan Armour and Shannon Taylor. Other notable events included Ali Band and Brad Watchorn dropping the gloves, plus Wightlink’s Robbie Brown missing a penalty shot. The Bristol crowd certainly get their moneys worth despite the losses at present.
 
After the previous evening’s heartbreaking loss, Romford aimed to bounce back against another of their fierce rivals, the Invicta Dynamos. In front of the biggest crowd seen at Rom Valley Way so far this season, this game was even going into the third before the Mo’s showed their class by winning the period and subsequently the game. Anthony Leone continued his remarkable goal scoring form this season with another two goals for the Raiders, however Daniel Calitri, Liam Chong, Andy Smith and Anthony Lennon netted to give the Dynamos a 4-2 win.
 
The game also marked the 600 points mark for Invicta forward Andy Smith. It is certainly a fantastic achievement for any player and given that he is still only in his mid twenties, Smith could well go on to hit a thousand at this rate.  
 
Chelmsford made the long trip to Cardiff still on a high from Saturday. Cardiff on the other hand were desperate to get a win under their belt, so it was no surprise that these two cancelled each other out in the Big Blue Tent.
 
Luke Piggott got two goals for Cardiff to continue his good form of late but goals from Jerry Pavlus and Danny ‘The Mayor’ Wright ensured that neither side took two points home.
 
Milton Keynes Thunder finally got the win they had been searching for in recent weeks, with Swindon ENL Wildcats the victims. Times have been tough at the Thunderdome lately and it was imperative that they bounced back from the Bracknell game in winning fashion.
 
Ross Bowers and Martyn Snape each scored two goals, along with a lone effort from Aram Todd to set the Thunder on their way to a deserved 5-2 victory. Swindon scorers were Sam Feeney and Ryan Burgess.   The result puts the Thunder three points ahead of basement side Bristol and also Swindon, so the MK coaching staff of Darryl Morvan and Lewis Clifford can breathe a little easier this week.
 
The final game of the evening took place at Oxpens Road with the Oxford City Stars taking on visiting London side Streatham Redskins. There really is not too much between both the Stars and ourselves (the Redskins) so it was important that we grabbed the win, especially given that this was the first of four away games on the bounce.
 
I have to say the happy birthday serenade from both the Oxford Green Army (during the game) and then of course the Redskins fans (at the end) was a touching if somewhat embarrassing moment for me but I have always said I loved playing at Oxford for many years, and whilst I always want to win when I play against my old team, any victory is always tempered with a tinge of guilt, I’m a bit too soft to completely enjoy watching the Stars lose even if it may be irrational.
 
The game itself was a strange one, we punished the Stars mistakes and took a 4-1 lead, only to let them back in it and end up hanging on at the end. Redskins’ goals came from Joe Johnston, Michael Ranby, Peter Molnar and Liam Rasmussen. Stars scorers were Darren Elliott, Richard Wojciack and Alan Green. A special mention to referee Simon Brown, who sadly we have not seen much of in recent times in the ENL. In my experience Simon is one of those referees who works with the players to create an entertaining game of hockey, without letting the game get out of control nor conceding any authority. As my team mate Richard Hardy stated this evening: ‘That bloke (Brown) is old school’ and from a player like Hardy, that’s a compliment if ever I’ve heard one.
 
Stefan Nubert was the star of the show however, with another great performance in goal for the Redskins. Despite looking like he has just walked out of a swamp when he takes his helmet off and staggers around with that wet long hair, Nubert is probably the most improved hockey player I have seen in a long time, although Michael Ranby is showing a lot of people how good he is this season too.
 
Talking of Ranby, anyone who has seen the toothless, mullet headed, lanky nutter may be wondering why he has some crazy moustache going on at present. The reason is ‘Movember’ which starts on 1^st November and is a moustache growing charity event to raise awareness for prostate cancer. In typical Ranby fashion, he clearly did not read the rules, which dictate you must grow a moustache for thirty days starting on the 1^st, and has decided to start his moustache a week early to get a head start on everyone. Expect to see a few players from various teams across the ENL looking a bit odd in the weeks to come.
 
Another reason to get excited this week is the release of this year‘s The Ice Hockey Annual by Stewart Roberts. Last season I exclusively revealed in this very column that I regularly read the ‘Bible of British Ice Hockey’ whilst sitting on the pan, and I have already done so with this year’s version, especially as it features a review of the English National Leagues and has colour team photos of Invicta, Chelmsford, Wightlink, Streatham and others.
 
Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com