Hargreaves leads Bristol to fairytale title

BRISTOL, UK – Newly formed Bristol Pitbulls lifted the English National League South Division 2 title on Sunday, after an emphatic win over Streatham Bruins in South London. Despite this being their first competitive season in senior hockey, Bristol pipped rivals Swindon to first place in a campaign that has seen them lose only once in the regular season.

 
It ended a personal drought of twenty years without league winner’s medal for Pitbulls’ supremo Richie Hargreaves, and also sent a message that Bristol hockey is not only back, but successful as well. Hargreaves could not hide his joy when asked how the season had gone:
 
“To win the league is absolutely fantastic and I am struggling to actually put it into words. At the start of the season I will admit I was aiming for a top three finish but I am ecstatic with first place”
 
Player coach Hargreaves was expected to be a standout at this level given his pedigree and he has not disappointed; scoring 22 goals and making 29 assists in only 18 games. Mike ‘Killer’ Hargreaves has made the transition from forward to defence with ease and the experienced Mike Smith has been invaluable as a leader on and off the ice.
 
The three old heads have been key factors in the Pitbulls’ success however what has been more surprising and indeed satisfying for Hargreaves, has been the progress of the team’s youngsters and players making their debuts at this level. Steve Osman, Sammy Hayman and goalie John Dibble all swapped roller blades for ice skates this season and have proved invaluable in the campaign. Osman hit forty five points and Hayman even outscored his more illustrious coach with 23 goals. Dibble had a solid year in between the pipes and posted a 90% save average as the team’s starting goalie.
 
Hargreaves philosophy has always been about establishing long term hockey at Bristol and has given his junior players as much ice as possible throughout the season. Crowds are decent and the Pitbulls marketing and off ice activities puts some clubs in higher leagues to shame. Hargreaves puts the title win down to one thing, simple hard work:
 
“The guys have worked hard week in, week out and now they have something to show for it. You don’t win anything in hockey without putting in the effort and I think we deserve the success we have had. Every player that has worn the Bristol shirt this year has been a hero in my eyes, the guys have played for each other and that’s why we have finished where we have”
 
At the start of the season there were rumours of a number of Oxford, Swindon and even Cardiff players joining the Bristol revolution, however when this didn’t materialise, early season predictions of a Bristol demolition of the league subsided. Hargreaves insists that he wanted to build Bristol his way:
 
“Obviously I wanted us to do well, but bringing in a number of name players would have been an easy option. It would have defeated the object of what I was trying to do, and it has made our success all the sweeter for it. The guys who signed up with Bristol have deserved the plaudits and I am over the moon for them”
 
Bristol now move up a league to face an altogether tougher proposition in ENL 1. Hargreaves will need to strengthen his team without diminishing his long term aims for Bristol hockey. It will be a tough challenge, but with an obvious enthusiasm, on ice talent and contacts he has in the game, no one would rule out a solid Bristol side facing off at the start of 2010/11.
 
Bristol Pitbulls winning squad 2009/10:
 
John Dibble, Laurence Lawson, Craig Sutherland, Liam Williams, Richard Hargreaves, Mike Hargreaves, Mike Smith, Macroy Smith, Jamie Trigg, Steve Osman, Matthew Phelon, Luke Merrick, Miley McNama, Peter Korff, Sam Hayman, George Green, Tom Evans, Adrian Esposito, Phil Dibble, Paul Davies, Jamie Chilcott, Graham Chilcott, Ben Moody.
  Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com