ENL Week 11 Round up

I always smile when the opposition pull their goalie in the dying minutes of a game. Standing at the face off as a defenseman you will the centre man to win the draw, so that you can take that sweet shot towards an unguarded goal. The temptation is comparable to a water slide on a hot day or a bus lane in heavy traffic. The shot isn’t on, it’s a ridiculous angle and there are bodies in the way however that red light is flashing inside your head, you shoot, you don’t score and at best you concede an icing call. You are a selfish idiot!    Had I been on the ice in the game against Haringey, my eyes would have lit up earlier than expected. The Greyhounds Russian coach Sergei Smollenko pulled his goalie with a whopping four minutes remaining, to set up an exciting finish in the London Derby.  

I say exciting but really it was quite embarrassing watching the Greyhounds chaotic two man advantage create very little. Whilst at the same time the Redskins players were seemingly unable to hit a barn door with a beach ball. Poor Richard Hardy was the worst offender as he hit the post from the slot, and then followed it up in the last seconds by sliding the puck wide of the post from the point with no Greyhound in sight.   All in all a very scrappy game which the Redskins deservedly won 4-2, however I do feel a lot of sympathy for the Greyhounds coach Smollenko. His tactics are good, his knowledge of the game is excellent and I haven’t heard any player say a bad word about his training sessions. The sad fact is, he is coaching a team ravaged by injuries, suspensions and walk outs with no budget and no prospect of new recruits. I really hope things turn around for him and the Greyhounds. The only consolation is that the players who iced against the Redskins were putting in 100% effort.   On a weekend that saw much of the UK battered by heavy storms, two ENL teams soon discovered that they couldn’t rely on shelter in their own rinks either.   The heaviest battering was delivered to the beleaguered Peterborough Islanders, who were comprehensively thrashed 13-1 by the visiting Chelmsford Chieftains. Dean Birrell had moved to strengthen the Chieftains earlier in the week by signing defenseman Adam Copland from the Romford Raiders. Copland scored on his debut whilst apparently down on his knees, however all the plaudits undoubtedly go to Jerry Pavlus who scored four goals for the Essex side. The Islanders have also been deducted two points for icing an illegible player in a previous game.   The Chieftains title rivals Invicta Dynamos were also in rampant form as they travelled to Milton Keynes Thunder. The Mo’s paraded new signing Nolan Boike alongside an already impressive arsenal of firepower, and the Massachusetts born debutant notched a brace in a one sided 8-1 victory.   The other fixture on Saturday saw the Oxford City Stars catch a wave battered ferry across to the Isle of Wight to take on the Wightlink Raiders. The home side had allegedly tried to cancel the fixture with the league due to a bout of swine flu, however the game went ahead.   A close game was settled in the last two minutes as the ‘Tamiflu’ powered Raiders scored two goals through Dan Hughes and an empty net goal from Jeremy Cornish to seal a 5-1 victory. I did check to see if ‘winning’ was on the list of side effects for Tamiflu, however the product’s website states that the risks are only mild to moderate nausea and vomiting.     The rest of the league breathed a sigh of relief on Sunday as Cardiff, Bracknell, Wightlink, Chelmsford and Invicta were all given the night off by the fixture computer.   Oxford City Stars ground out a 4-1 win over the MK Thunder to bounce back impressively from their road trip the night before. Former Swindon and Invicta forward Ken Forshee scoring two goals for the Stars who faced former coach Darryl Morvan for the first time since his departure midway through last season.   Now at MK as assistant coach for the Thunder, Morvan was able to draw positives despite the loss:   “We knew Stars are a capable side, who if you give them time to move the puck effectively they can hurt you. So we had to try and close down their passing lanes and finish the hits. Unfortunately, like a few games so far this year, concentration errors allowed Stars to capitalise, and it’s always going to be difficult to get back from 4-1 down. That said the boys didn’t stop trying, and the forward line of Harrison and Connor Goode alongside Martin Snape really generated quality offence, but were just unable to get the finished they deserved, “At the start of the year everyone at Thunder knew it would be a tough year, but they are a good bunch of lads in what is a transitional season for them, plus I don’t think the results have reflected the way they’ve played. There are still a lot of games to play and I’m confident that the wins will come. I think some might argue with me, but I think we really pushed Oxford for the win, and ultimately it was our concentration lapses that cost us. This is something the team is aware of and we’re going to have to change”   The league is now at a crossroads in my opinion. Some of the score lines are damaging the credibility of the product and with the top two sides still adding to their already strong rosters, things only look like getting worse. I predict a few more transfer stories in the coming week, especially among the lower placed teams.     Thanks for reading and stay safe. Carrsy   Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com