LONDON, UK – After an exciting opening week of action, hopes were high that the NIHL 1 South would continue to deliver the goods in its second week.
Dangerous Rose (David Trevallion)
Invicta Dynamos fans hailed the return of a familiar face as defenseman Arran Strawson decided after missing the opening weekend win over the Junior Raiders, he couldn’t stay away from National League puck whacking a minute longer.
“I’ve played here for seven years now and I love this club” said the 32 year old who was described in the press release as ‘physical yet amiable’.
“I’ve also known Leone (Coach Anthony Leone) for a long time, I like the direction he wants to go with the side and I really want to be a part of it. This year I see my role as bringing some experience to this young but promising roster whilst continuing to do what I’ve always done – wear my heart on my sleeve and leave it all out there on the ice.”
Highlights of the Mo’s win over the Raiders can be viewed here.
Streatham’s hat trick hero in the 8-2 win over Slough, Vanya Antonov, gave an interview to the South London Press ahead of the RedHawks trip to Oxford.
“We couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season” said the former GB junior international, who signed in South London in the summer.
“It took a great team effort to overcome a strong Slough side and send a message to the rest of the league. Obviously, it takes some time getting adjusted to a new team, however the Streatham family have made me feel welcome from the very start.
Bicknell’s bloody visor
“There is an amazing atmosphere in the changing room and you can feel that this season is going to be special.”
The build up to the upcoming action across the league also had plenty of reflection, summarised neatly by the dreaded EIHA disciplinary press release midweek.
Oxford City Stars forward David Manning stole the headlines with a whopping six game suspension thanks to a high hit on Bracknell’s Adam Bicknell that left the Hornets’ man with a cracked visor and in need of medical attention.
Bracknell’s Coach Mark Saunders and player Michael Stratford received a one and two game suspension respectively for incidents in their game against Slough, and Streatham’s Adam Wood was handed a two game ban, again for misdemeanours against Slough (not in the same game obviously).
If Slough’s players were feeling a little picked on over the opening weekend, some had no escape in training either as Captain Dan Rose fired the sweetest slapshot of his life straight into defenseman Matt Jordan’s arm. On the plus side PHN has its winner of bruise of the week. Keep them coming to the address below.
Jordan takes a clapper
Hornets’ coach Saunders spoke about discipline in an interview with the Chasing the Puck website.
“We need to be better at controlling ourselves” said Saunders, once famed for his outrageous footwear.
“Like I said to the boys, it’s personal accountability. Guys aren’t here to fight and I don’t want us to go chasing after it – I don’t want it to be a fighting league, nor do a lot of coaches around the league. We have to question ourselves before we do anything.”
Despite the suspension of Manning, Oxford Head Coach Simon Anderson was upbeat in the press as he looked forward to their game against Streatham.
“Everyone was in great spirits in training this week and we had a great session together working on our game plan” said Anderson to the Oxford Mail.
“The squad is bonding well, and we have got a lot of great characters in the camp. Streatham are a very strong team, but these are the sort of fixtures we want to be playing in and we’re pumped for it.”
Saturday review
Solent Devils began their season with a tricky looking home tie against Chelmsford Chieftains. With four full lines and two goalies named on the roster, the small locker room and bench would certainly have been intimate for the visiting Essex side, but ultimately their trip would only yield a point.
The Devils had taken a 3-2 lead into the final ten minutes of regulation time before a late equaliser by Grant Bartlett took the game to overtime and eventually penalty shots.
Veteran match winner Drew Campbell and star goalie Chico Cole were the heroes in the shootout to take the points for the Devils. Prior to overtime Alex Trendall, Richard Facey and Alex Cole had scored for the Devils, with Cameron Bartlett and John Connolly posting the other two Chieftains goals.
Raiders go down to Mo’s (Nicola Day)
After the game Player Coach Alex Murray and Trendall gave a post-match interview with the latter clearly much quicker out of the shower. Watch it here.
In Romford, the Junior Raiders lost to a single goal against the Invicta Dynamos for a second week running in a 5-4 defeat at the Sapphire.
A first senior goal from Kieron Jones added to efforts from Elliot Farrell, Owen Dell and Juraj Huska to earn the win for the Mo’s, with a brace from Alan Lack and lone goals from Joe Allen and Callum Burnett the response from the Raiders. Farrell also earned himself an early shower as he was ejected after 36 minutes on a slashing call.
The final game of the evening saw Slough win their second consecutive home game with a convincing 6-1 win over a short benched Cardiff Fire.
A brace each from Sean Norris and Lewis English did the bulk of the damage for the Jets, with youngster Bradley Hildreth getting his first senior goal and Ryan Handisides also notching.
For the Fire it was Iwan Davies with the goal, while Lewis Davies faced 58 shots in between the pipes on a busy evening for him at the Hangar.
Sunday review
After two pre-season defeats to the Jets, Anthony Leone’s Dynamos side were keen to show it was simply a rusty blip as the two teams met again in Kent. A much improved showing followed but it wasn’t quite enough to take two points.
A crazy final three minutes of the game saw Slough recover from 4-3 down to equalise through Ryan Handisides after pulling goalie Matt Smital for the extra skater. A Mo’s powerplay followed and the Jets hit the post, before eventually winning 5-4 a few seconds into overtime thanks to who else but Sam Talbot for his hat trick. The fact it was shorthanded made it the more dramatic.
Dan Rose atoned for one timing a puck at his team mate earlier in the week by scoring a lone goal to make up the tally for the Jets. For the Mo’s Arran Strawson scored on his return to add to goals from Owen Dell, Juraj Huska and Elliott Farrell.
The result sent Slough to the top of the league… for now.
3 goals for the Streatham Coach, alongside Morvan and Hopgood
Hot on their heels are unbeaten Streatham who posted a convincing 8-1 win in Oxford against the City Stars. Prior to the game Oxford revealed on their website that former Captain/club legend Darryl Morvan and former Sports Therapist Kirsty Hopgood have been battling cancer this year.
Those that know the pair will tell you that they are both amazing people, passionate about hockey and a positive force to anyone they meet. Everyone at PHN wishes both of them well, and there was a collection for Macmillan before the game at Oxpens Road.
On the ice, RedHawks Player Coach Adam Carr led from the front with a hat trick to add to goals from Michael Farn, Brandon Miles, Danny Ingoldsby, Jonathan Wallius and James Warman.
Jake Florey scored the consolation for Oxford, who were 3-0 down within ten minutes.
Chelmsford Chieftains bounced back from defeat on the South Coast to despatch local rivals the Junior Raiders 7-2 at the Riverside.
Darren Brown top scored for Chelmsford with two goals to add to efforts from James Ayling, John Connolly, Elliott Dervish, Adam Jakopin and Andy Munroe. For the Raiders it was Callum Burnett and Tommy Huggett with the goals.
Happy Hornets in MK
Solent made it a dream start to their season after a low scoring 2-1 win in Cardiff gave them a four point weekend. Matt Colclough made his first start in between the pipes for the Devils replacing Chico Cole.
James Hounsome and Mark Pitts were on target for the visitors with Ben Smith grabbing the consolation for the Fire. To add to the report Ellis Sheppard and Ralfs Circenis dropped the gloves in the second period.
Bracknell Hornets posted their first win of the season with a 3-0 win on the road against MK Thunder. Josh Ealey-Newman, Ben Ealey-Newman and Kyle Goddard scored the goals for the Hornets, with netminder Tom Annetts enjoying the shut out.
Results
21 September
Slough Jets 6-1 Cardiff Fire
Solent Devils 3-3 Chelmsford Chieftains (Devils win on penalty shots)
Raiders 4-5 Invicta Dynamos
22 September
Oxford City Stars 1-8 Streatham IHC
Invicta Dynamos 4-4 Slough Jets (Jets win on penalty shots)
Cardiff Fire 1-2 Solent Devils
MK Thunder 0-3 Bracknell Hornets
Chelmsford Chieftains 7-2 Junior Raiders
Contact the author davidcarr_2@hotmail.com
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