LONDON, UK – With the Cup semi-finals providing relief from league action, four NIHL South teams went head to head whilst the others ticked off another week of the regular campaign.
Chieftains ease past Raiders (Steve Sutherland)
Jermyn Street in Central London is usually famous for being the back entrance to Fortnum and Mason and Piccadilly Waterstones and during a usual week it is full of tourists and shoppers with enough cash to enjoy its wares.
This week it saw a number of children in hockey kit from the Isle of Wight protesting outside the office of AEW UK. The company were the landlords of the Ryde Arena and closed it last year leaving no ice facility on the Isle of Wight. The Isle of Wight County Press reported on the event and the online piece also featured a video of the young hockey players and ice dancers being backed up by a musician busking outside the office of the investment company. Check it out here.
Anyone visiting Chelmsford ice rink during the week wearing a blindfold may have, for one brief moment, imagined they were in Epping Forest after the staff reportedly deep cleaned the matting inside the facility with a pine fresh cleanser.
The similarities between what could be considered two of the top attractions in Essex do not end there of course. Both Epping Forest and the Riverside rink offer visitors physical activity, decent cafes and a tranquil atmosphere. Only wildlife and dogging are missing from the rink’s tick box. At Pro Hockey News we prefer our rink matting to smell of filth and damp, but we understand the need for a refresh every decade or so.
Flags of Streatham
Streatham fan Steve Phillimore is well known across the league for his flags and recently added a Vatican one to his collection. Until now he has had little competition from fans of other teams but London Raiders supporters decided to up their game ahead of their semi-final against Chelmsford.
Using a design not seen since souvenir shops in Newquay and Blackpool lured in football fans in the 90s with the cheeky kid urinating on a rival’s jersey cartoon scene, the new Raiders fans flag was unveiled at Lee Valley on Saturday.
Streatham announced that they would be collecting during their home game at the weekend for the Sandcastle Trust. Pro Hockey News photographer and general good guy Rick Webb had organised the link up after the trust helped his granddaughter. You can often spot Rick at Streatham Arena wearing what can only be described as a canoe helmet. Check out the Just Giving page HERE
Saturday action
Rehak on fire (Rick Webb)
The first of the Cup Semi-finals took place at Streatham as the home side tried to continue their good decent form against the Invicta Dynamos. The Mo’s welcomed back Ashley Jackson after his spell in India and he slotted in straight on the first line.
The Mo’s won the game 7-2 thanks to a hat trick from Adam Rehak, two goals for Josh Condren and one each for Scott Bailey and Bailey Wootton. Streatham struggled to finish their chances throughout, but did get some consolation through efforts from Sean Scarborough and George Norcliffe.
The five goal cushion was better than even the most ardent Dynamos fan could have imagined, but across the Thames at Lee Valley Ice Centre, the other semi-final was a lot tighter.
London Raiders had suffered an 11-3 thumping at the hands of rivals Chelmsford the previous weekend but put up a far better display before going down 3-2 this time round.
Chieftains in the line of fire (John Scott)
Maybe it was the new flag, or the big puddle down the middle of the ice that changed their fortunes, but the Raiders gave themselves hope in the second leg with goals from Tom Davis and Brandon Miles. For Chelmsford it was Grant Bartlett, Jake Sylvester and Anthony Leone with the goals.
The Solent Devils are chasing Milton Keynes Thunder for 6th spot and did their cause no harm at all with a 4-3 win at the Thunderdome.
Matt Lawday, Richard Facey, Aidan Doughty and Drew Campbell were the scorers for Solent whilst Tom Mboya scored two for MK and Jakub Klima got the other.
Solent celebrated the victory with some drag racing in a nearby shopping centre car park with forward Alex Trendall leading the way with some doughnuts.
Cole and Trendall go cruising
EPL side Basingstoke Bison sought to address the hole in their budget thanks to the lost fixture against the Manchester Phoenix by playing a challenge game against an NIHL Select. The select side was largely made up of NIHL 2 players and were captained by the evergreen Wightlink man Blair Dubyk.
The Bison advertised the game with a pizza theme by name dropping the resident Papa John’s Pizzeria and also offering a ‘Chuck a Duck’ prize of four main courses at Zizzi’s restaurant. For those fans without any mates it wasn’t clear whether the four meals had to be all eaten at the same sitting, but either way it was a nice prize to offer along with a bottle of wine.
At £15 a ticket it was certainly one for the hard-core but it was another good opportunity for the NIHL players to test themselves against EPL opposition. Dubyk rolled back the years to score in a 7-2 defeat that also saw Cardiff Fire’s David Christian net for the NIHL side.
Sunday action
The 482 days media team pulled the chute on their coverage of NIHL action early in the day, following in the footsteps of Hackney MP Diane Abbott by citing a migraine. The Oxfordshire based media outlet were allegedly spotted the previous night in the VIP lounge at Tiger Tiger in Croydon, drinking champagne out of their famous branded mugs. We will say no more.
Invicta fans piled into Silverblades in the knowledge that the 2nd leg of their semi against Streatham was likely to end in smiles. The Mo’s made sure there was no early wobble as they came out of the blocks quickest and didn’t look back.
Adam Rehak added to his weekend tally with two more goals to his name to add to efforts from Ashley Jackson, Ondrej Zosiak and Callum Fowler. For Streatham it was George Norcliffe and Steven Fisher with the goals. The Mo’s good form in the group stage meant that they got the first choice of home fixture in the final and chose Sunday 19th for their 2nd leg.
Chieftains look for trophy number 2 (John Scott)
Their opponents will be Chelmsford Chieftains who extinguished any hopes of a London Raiders final appearance with a 5-0 win over their near rivals.
Juraj Huska (who else) scored two, with Carl Graham, Jake Sylvester and Danny Hammond getting the others. In the Chelmsford net Sonny Phillips enjoyed a shut out to add to the good feelings around the Riverside.
Oxford City Stars came from behind to beat Bracknell Hornets in an edgy clash at Oxpens Road watched by a big crowd complete with a massive Alan Green facial tribute.
The Stars won 6-4 thanks to a brace from who else but Alan Green and a goal each from Jake Florey, Josh Florey, Joonas Liimatainen and Brendan Baird. For the Hornets it was Danny Hughes, Will Stead, Ben Ealey-Newman and Michal Oravec.
The crowd had even more excitement as Josh Martin and Josh Florey were ejected as tempers frayed towards the end involving multiple players including Jordan Gregory and Dax Hedges. Oxford’s Darren Elliott was also ejected earlier on a match penalty for slew footing, in an incident that sent Bracknell’s Harvey Hind Pitcher to hospital with a suspected broken ankle. Everyone at Pro Hockey News wishes Harvey a speedy recovery.
Hind-Pitcher spends the evening as guest of the NHS
On the South Coast, Solent looked to make it back to back victories over MK Thunder in a tense game at Gosport ice rink. As has often been the case on home ice in the latter half of the season the Devils got the points with a 5-2 win.
The result means Solent climb up level on points with the Thunder and have a game in hand, albeit with a tough run in.
A brace each for Mark Pitts and Drew Campbell, added to a lone goal from Aidan Doughty to seal the points for the home side, while Hallden Barnes-Garner continued his good form with a lone goal for the Thunder and Jakub Klima got the other.
It capped off an impressive 4 point weekend for the Devils who host Invicta Dynamos next week. The Thunder have only three games remaining and travel to Bracknell next Saturday.
So after a week of goals, hits and fat lips, it’s a Dynamos v Chieftains cup final ahead plus some more jostling for play-off positions for the rest of the pack.
Results
Saturday 25 February 2017
MK Thunder 3-4 Solent Devils
Streatham IHC 2-7 Invicta Dynamos (Cup Semi-final)
London Raiders 2-3 Chelmsford Chieftains (Cup Semi-final)
Sunday 26 February 2017
Invicta Dynamos 5-2 Streatham IHC (Cup Semi-final)
Chelmsford Chieftains 5-0 London Raiders (Cup Semi-final)
Oxford City Stars 6-4 Bracknell Hornets
Solent Devils 5-2 MK Thunder
Only one Alan Green (Paul Foster)
Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com
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