LONDON, UK – With the Christmas spirit entering the air, the NIHL paid no heed to the adage of goodwill to all men and promptly dropped the gloves, spilled blood and caused carnage.
Chiefs grab two points (Rick Webb)
There is nothing better than seeing an ‘unsung’ hero recognised for their contribution to British ice hockey, so it was great to see former Oxford City Stars supremo and now EIHA man Gary Dent pick up an award at the Oxfordshire Sports Awards during the week.
Dent is well known in the NIHL for presenting the Play-Off trophy these days on the EIHA’s behalf, but at Oxford he was a master on the microphone at games, often giving long winded explanations over the PA.
Well done Gary from all at Pro Hockey News.
Belgium has been in the news lately with Brussels on lockdown and security heightened across the country. Never mind the A-Team, what the land famous for waffles and a small statue peeing in a pond needed was the Invicta Dynamos supporters club rolling over the border.
The club organised a trip to picturesque Bruges as the team had only one fixture this weekend and as far as we are aware it was mainly officials and fans of the club in attendance rather than the full team.
It was probably for the best as Belgium is well known for its vast array of beers and techno clubs and given the moves Harrison Lillis is busting these days, it was a wise move. Check out him raving in full kit by clicking HERE
Belgium bound?
Pro Hockey News love a stealth signing so imagine our surprise when word reached us that top goalie Chris Douglas had been drafted in to the Chieftains team to replace the injured Euan King. Douglas is a larger than life character last seen at London Raiders, but there was no mention of his arrival aside from a cryptic tweet from fellow goalie Ben Clements on Tuesday.
The league will be a more entertaining place with him back at the Riverside and it certainly gives Coach Sean Easton a solid tandem in between the pipes.
Talking of characters, Streatham’s Chris Wiggins may have only played a handful of games so far this campaign but he has made a big impact when he has stepped on to the ice.
You can be my wing man says Clements to Douglas (Rick Webb)
The former EPL star gave a candid interview to the South London Press during the week about how he was finding life in the NIHL and the reaction of opposition fans to his style of play.
“I have been finding NIHL hockey very refreshing” admitted the 28 year old.
“Being able to turn up to the rink to play on a team of guys who are there by choice with no interference from ego’s and politics is great. Ultimately we are here for the same reason we love the game and we want to win and enjoy the process.”
“If the opposition are talking about me, chances are I have done something right for my team. It’s actually quite entertaining seeing some of what begrudged opposition fans can sprawl across social media, it breaks up the week and gives us all a good laugh.”
London Raiders looked forward to a visit of Oxford City Stars at the weekend with Captain Tom Davis wary of the threat posed by Simon Andersons high flying team.
“We take on the Stars this weekend, who are flying so far this season so we have no easy task ahead” said Davis in an interview with the Romford Recorder.
“But I feel we can take maximum points this weekend and keep the ball rolling.”
“I really thought we were unlucky not to take a point away from our game against the Isle of Wight. We came out hard and that was proved by us taking an early 2-0 lead.”
Davis ready for the weekend (John Scott)
“They clawed one back which gave them a bit of momentum finishing out the first and going into the second they got a lucky goal taking a deflection off the plexi glass which put them right back in the game.”
“They quickly found a third which really got them rolling, but we carried on battling hard and drew level. Unfortunately for us they got a break to score a fourth.”
“It was a good team performance just not enough on the night.”
Finally the appeal for the roof at Ryde Arena continues. If you can donate any funds please do so at the link HERE
Saturday’s Hockey
The big clash of the evening took place at Streatham Arena as the Redskins hosted league leaders Chelmsford Chieftains looking to get a much needed win in the title race.
Despite outshooting the visitors 44-28 Streatham’s pressure ultimately meant nothing as they ended up losing 5-4.
The clinical Chieftains had the excellent Juraj Huska to thank for a brilliant solo performance and two goals that added to efforts from Andrius Kaminskas, Matt France and Danny Hammond.
Florey and Orave start swinging (John Scott)
For Streatham it was Dom Hopkins, Kamil Kinkor, Joe Johnston and Callum Best on target.
The hosts lost Wiggins to injury after the first and then Joe Allen was stitched up on the bench during the second. Ben Clements started ahead of Chris Douglas in the Chelmsford net and earned his man of the match performance.
The only other game of the evening took place in Lee Valley as London Raiders beat a strangely subdued Oxford City Stars 7-4.
Marek Nahlik scored a hat trick for the Raiders with birthday boy Michal Oravec also getting two. Liam Chong and Tom Davis both scored one each for the hosts and goalie Michael Gray had a good game turning away 45 shots over the 60 minutes.
Ben Ealey Newman scored two for Oxford with Andy Cox and Darren Elliott getting the others.
Josh Florey and Michal Oravec dropped the gloves to add another talking point to the game.
Sunday Hockey
The big game at the bottom of the league took place in Milton Keynes as the Thunder hosted a Cardiff NIHL Devils side just one point above them in the league.
Milton Keynes were expected to be challenging at the other end of the league so perhaps the 8-3 win that followed will be a turning point for them.
Johnson ices for Thunder (Lucy McGill)
Coach Paul Gore brought in Luc Johnson and Glenn Billing from the MK Lightning for this game and the latter did score however it was Josh Nicklin who top scored with a brace for the Thunder to add to goals from Matt Roberts, Ross Bowers, Harrison Goode, Nathan Long and Tom Mboya.
For Cardiff it was Jon Nash, Harri Taylor and Thomas Stuart–Dant on the scoresheet. The result takes MK up two places to eighth in the league above both Cardiff and Bracknell.
Bracknell looked like they might pull off a shock result in Chelmsford with the scores tied 1-1 with a period to go, but a third period blitz by the Chieftains took the points with five unanswered goals and a 6-1 win.
Juraj Huska and Danny Hammond were again amongst the goals with a brace each, and Matt Turner and Darren Brown scored the others.
JJ Pitchley scored the Hornets only goal but there was also a fight as Brandon Miles dropped the gloves with Grant Bartlett in the closing stages of the game.
Oxford City Stars looked to be cruising at 3-1 up against Streatham before being hit by seven unanswered goals by the Londoners in 40 minutes.
Teddy Bear Toss at Oxford (Paul Foster)
Evander Grinell scored two for Streatham with Nicky Chinn, Kamil Kinkor, Joe Johnston, Ryan Giles, Steven Fisher and Callum Best also on target.
Joe Edwards scored two for Oxford with Shane Moore also on target.
Streatham lost Joe Allen who was ejected on a high sticks call and Ryan Giles who was ejected for headbutting after literally going head to head with Stars Alan Green.
The result takes Streatham back up to second place whilst Oxford drop to 5th.
Invicta fans had a good end to an entertaining weekend as their team beat Solent Devils 3-1 at Silverblades.
Ondrej Zosiak, Steve Osman and Connor Redmond scored for Invicta with Richard Facey on target for Solent.
Invicta Coach Kevin Parrish revealed in his post match interview that the door is always open for club legend Andy Smith to return should he so choose, but as yet he is not 100% committed to signing up for this season.
Perhaps the Mo’s fans might get to see a Fowler and Smith return come the latter half of the season.
Results
Saturday 29th November 2015
Streatham Redskins 4-5 Chelmsford Chieftains
London Raiders 7-4 Oxford City Stars
Sunday 30th November 2015
Oxford City Stars 3-8 Streatham Redskins
Invicta Dynamos 3-1 Solent Devils
MK Thunder 8-3 Cardiff NIHL Devils
Chelmsford Chieftains 6-1 Bracknell Hornets
Contact the author: david.carr@prohockeynews.com
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