LONDON, UK – As deadline day approached the rumour mill went into overdrive, but when the puck dropped there were even more surprises this week. Three clubs also banished unwanted records to the history books.
Scarbrough flies in to score for Streatham (Rick Webb)
After Invicta Dynamos title winning hopes appeared to have gone up in smoke thanks to a 6-1 defeat in Chelmsford last Sunday, two of their key defenders Charlie and Billy Phillips quit hockey, with their father announcing it with no further explanation on The Hockey Forum.
This was followed by an ambiguous and uncharacteristically short press release from the Mo’s that insinuated the club had made the decision to release them but fell short of confirming it.
“Following recent events the Invicta Dynamos wish to announce the departure of defencemen Billy and Charlie Phillips with both players leaving the team with immediate effect” said the club statement.
“As a club we will now be focussing all of our efforts on ensuring a successful end to the 2014/15 campaign”
In true NIHL fan fashion, the reaction to the news (and a YouTube video that attracted over 6000 views) made sure the blame was spread around with the ‘fat’ and ‘clueless’ officials, the ‘disgusting’ Chelmsford fans and most bizarrely the Dynamos Twitter feed all in the line of fire, along with the EIHA of course.
Did anyone hold their hands up and admit mistakes had been made? Of course not, because in this increasingly ill-disciplined league, after any controversy, it is always somebody else’s fault.
Tea with Mark McGill
Mo’s Coach Kev Parrish moved quickly to address his hole at the back by calling up solid blueliner Peter Beerling once again, and then snapping up Dundee Comets goalie Mark McGill.
“Mark joins us having already sampled game day and the more rigorous training of the Elite League in his career and I’m sure that experience will prove invaluable as he looks to make an impression in the NIHL South” said Parrish, who must be sick of making phone calls to find replacement players this season.
“Having played in front of large crowds at a higher level he will be used to the pressure that comes with his position and will offer us an assured set of hands with Mark Lee unable to commit to every fixture”
“He is already keen to get going and, as a former teammate of Adam McNicoll, is having little trouble settling in with the side. I’m sure all the supporters will join me in welcoming Mark to Gillingham and we look forward to him making his debut in the near future”
London Raiders teased their fans with an ‘imminent signing announcement’ tweet that had the NIHL rumour mill in motion.
Disco is back in Gold and Blue
Could it be that the Phillips boys were making a return to blue and gold, or that popular forward JJ McGrath was returning to the ice? Just as some of the Raiders fan base were salivating at the prospect of a return of rock-em, sock-em hockey, Coach Alan Blyth unveiled a signing from leftfield.
Enter Chris ‘Disco’ Douglas, the former Romford junior and highly rated goalie that last played for the Raiders back in 2003 and whose father Erskine was involved heavily with the club for many years.
With back-up goalie Michael Gray needing surgery and current starter James Tanner needing some competition, it is a shrewd move by Blyth to persuade Douglas to commute from Wiltshire to East London each week.
“Michael’s knee recovery is being hampered by playing and a proper rest is what is required as part of his reparations” said the club statement.
“We have to thank Michael for sticking with it and he has risked long term issues for the team and appeared in a supporting role even though playing was not possible”
“We have a great tender in James Tanner, but for instances where he is not available an extra pair of safe hands is very welcome indeed”
The joy within the Raiders camp was extended further as they held a race night at Fairlop Power League on Friday night to raise funds for the club. The Raiders fans like to operate with a mantra similar to Las Vegas, so what happens at Fairlop Power League stays in Fairlop Power League.
Therefore we will not be reporting any events from the race night, which appeared to differ from the traditional Northern affair of offering pie and peas and a free bet for less than a fiver.
It’s…. Robbie Brown !
Streatham’s form has been poor lately and Coach Warren Rost added to his recent signing of defenseman Stuart Bates with the capture of former Wightlink, Invicta and Belfast forward Robbie Brown.
“Robbie comes highly recommended and he has gained a lot of experience at the higher levels where there is more pressure” said Rost in an interview with the South London Press.
“For us it’s not just about his ability to play but his ability to cope with the pressures of the big games”
“We are coming into the business end of the season and his example is going to be one for others to follow”
Streatham have never had much luck with jerseys since the Rasmussen/Raswussen saga, and Jakub Klima was the latest victim as he was renamed by the manufacturers.
‘Hip hiphop hip hop anonymous.. damn you give him all the easy ones’ said an un-named source at Rhino as the 5 letter Czech surname sent them into waves of confusion.
Kil.. kilimin.. Kilimanjaro.. kilima.. er no, its actually Klima.
Kilimanjaro smiling but fuming inside
Oxford City Stars decided to stick with their yellow kit after a fan poll. Whilst the local football team Oxford Utd are well known for their yellow kit, the hockey team have switched from white, to green, to maroon and then orange and black suggesting something of an identity crisis.
Pro Hockey News has long been a fan of hockey team’s wearing green jerseys with Minnesota North Stars, Hartford Whalers and Sunderland Chiefs all rocking quality jerseys over the years. Let’s hope the yellow is only temporary as it stains easily and looks like margarine.
Former Chelmsford Coach Gary Clarke may be living the dream eating Tim Horton’s donuts and shivering in sub-zero temperatures in Canada, however that didn’t stop him picking up the Essex Chronicle’s ‘Essex Coach of the Year’ award for his quadruple winning achievements last season.
Nolan Smith picked up the award on Gary’s behalf at an awards ceremony on Wednesday at Essex Cricket club, to follow on from the previous year when the team won erm… ‘Team of the Year’.
We like to pride ourselves on our diligence when seeking out ice related stories in the South of England but it seems we missed out on an absolute belter over Christmas and feel duty bound to report it now.
Cold Clarke
One of the sacrifices that many hockey players make during the season (well the sensible ones at least) is to miss out on a lovely Sunday roast dinner as most games start in the early evening.
One team that may have been able to get away with it however would have been the Solent Devils, whose proximity to the Toby Carvery in Bishopstoke gave them a unique opportunity not possible to the rest of the league.
Everyone loves a Toby of course with its choice of meat, unlimited veg and and steaming hot gravy only slightly dampened by a snaking queue of salivating zombies getting more and more agitated as the wait gets extended by small children and pensioners taking forever to ladle mashed potato on to their plates.
Anyway, the Bishopstoke Carvery laid claim over Christmas to be the first pub in the UK to have an ice rink installed in it’s car park. This made it perfectly feasible for Alex Murray and his squad to have a solid lunch, before skating it off immediately in hired death wellies.
Saturday
The form book suggested an away win for Chelmsford Chieftains as they visited Streatham but the league has seen a lot of upsets this season and the Redskins pulled it out of the bag with a 2-1 win.
Jakub Klima and Joe Johnston scored the goals for Streatham, with Matt Turner on target for the Chieftains.
The game saw two scraps with Jack Tarczycki dropping the gloves with Ryan Giles and then Steven Fisher going with Sean Barry.
Giles v Tarczycki (Rick Webb)
Chieftains Cameron Bartlett was ejected for a hook to Joe Johnston’s nuts, that were under the watchful eye of Blaine Evans.
Solent Devils pulled off an impressive win in Wales as they won the battle of the Devils with a 6-1 win over Cardiff.
It marks a big moment for Solent who by our records have never previously won in Cardiff, and it was import Andrew Magee who top scored with a hat trick for the South Coast club. Drew Campbell, Alex Murray and Ralfs Circenis scored the other goals for Solent, with William Morris on target for Cardiff.
Milton Keynes Thunder condemned Invicta Dynamos to a rare home defeat as they skated off from Silverblades with an impressive 6-2 win.
Tom Castle got a brace for MK with Jamie Line, Jamie Randall, Alex Whyte and Tom Mboya also scoring. The Invicta goals came from Callum Fowler and Juraj Huska.
Mo’s Thunder Struck (David Trevallion)
Fowler later dropped the gloves with Martyn Snape to add to the talking points for the Invicta crowd.
Our records also show that this is the first time MK Thunder have won in Gillingham in over a decade, but we are happy to retract if any stattos can tell us otherwise.
The final game of the evening took place on the Isle of Wight as Bracknell Hornets were beaten by the Wightlink Raiders with a 7-2 scoreline.
A brace from Alex Barker and lone goals from Jeremy Cornish, Ryan Webb, Jaroslav Cesky, Corey Watkins and Craig Tribe sealed the win for the Raiders, with Danny Hughes and Josh Martin on target for the Hornets.
Martin later dropped the gloves with Watkins to give the home support something else to cheer.
Sunday
Streatham may be leaving it a little late to mount a title challenge but they secured a remarkable four point weekend over Chelmsford with a 6-3 win in Essex. It marks the first time the Redskins have beaten the Chieftains at the Riverside in over twenty years, and indeed no one present could remember the last time it actually happened.
Hopkins and Ranby trade blows (Rick Webb)
Sean Scarbrough stole the show with a tireless performance rewarded with two goals, and Jack Tarczycki, Callum Best, Louis Lockwood and Adam Wood got the others for the visitors.
Martin Piecha scored two for Chelmsford with Matt Turner notching the other.
These two sides rarely have any needle between them but it was a feisty encounter with three fights taking place and lots of battles all over the ice.
Jack Tarczycki and Cameron Bartlett were the first to drop the gloves followed by a scrap on the boards between Steven Fisher and Julian Smith, but these both served as the undercard for the heavyweight clash between Dom Hopkins and Michael Ranby that had everyone in attendance on their feet.
The wins for Streatham left an avenue open at the top for Invicta Dynamos, and they emerged from what could have been a disastrous weekend, with an impressive win at Solent Devils.
Battle at the bottom Oxford tie with Cardiff (Paul Foster)
It shows just how entertaining the league has been this year that the Mo’s could pull off a 7-3 win in Gosport, after losing there just last week.
It was the old hero Andy Smith who stepped up to the plate with a hat trick to add to goals from Michal Oravec, Anthony Leone, Juraj Huska and Frankie Harvey.
For Solent it was George Norcliffe, Mitch Murray and Drew Campbell with the goals.
Invicta goalie Mark McGill celebrated his full debut with a win but it wasn’t all rosy for Invicta as Jack Lee was ejected on a check to the head call.
Arguably the biggest game of the day was at Oxpens Road as Oxford City Stars forward James Pentecost equalised in the last three minutes of the game to tie 6-6 with Cardiff NIHL Devils.
Oxford’s other goals came from Josh Oliver, Josh Florey, Tom Avery, Evan Mackintosh and Joe Edwards.
Cardiff scorers were Jamie Hayes, Jack Randall, David Sadler, Josh Haslam, William Morris and Giovanni Raffaelli.
All square in MK (Claire Stanton Photography)
Cardiff stay bottom of the league as a result but only one point behind the Stars, and they will probably be more pleased with the point on the road from this game, than the Stars will be.
The last game of the night took place in Milton Keynes in an intriguing match-up between the Thunder and the Wightlink Raiders that ended 3-3.
Ryan Coffey scored two for the Thunder with Harrison Goode getting the other. Wightlink’s goals came from Corey Watkins, Richard Facey and Jaroslav Cesky.
Next weekend should be a cracker.
Saturday 30th January 2015
Cardiff Devils 1-6 Solent Devils
Invicta Dynamos 2-6 Milton Keynes Thunder
Streatham Redskins 2-1 Chelmsford Chieftains
Wightlink Raiders 7-2 Bracknell Hornets
Sunday 1st February 2015
Solent Devils 3-7 Invicta Dynamos
Oxford City Stars 6-6 Cardiff Devils
Chelmsford Chieftains 3-6 Streatham Redskins
Milton Keynes Thunder 3-3 Wightlink Raiders
Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com
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