Invicta and Wightlink to lock horns in crunch clash

GILLINGHAM, UK – Every season there is at least one game dubbed as a must win for either hockey team whether it be for a trophy, play-off qualification or to avoid the pain of relegation. This weekend there is silverware in the mindset of both the Invicta Dynamos and Wightlink Raiders as they go head to head at the Gillingham Ice Bowl on Sunday afternoon.

 
This game is arguably the match up that the ENL has missed over the last eight or nine years, with the Raiders capable of stepping into the all conquering   Dynamos barn and potentially taking two massive points towards a league title. Jeremy Cornish and his men are not the first credible challengers to the Dynamos crown but they are the most dangerous.
 
Over the years the Dynamos have resisted Dan Prachar’s talented Oxford City Stars, Dean Birrell’s Streatham Redskins and Mark Cuddihy’s Cardiff ENL Devils, with only Peterborough Islanders making any dent in the armour due to a league shake up in 2007/08. Even in that season, the Dynamos won their respective league to maintain an incredible run of success that has seen the trophy cabinet at the Gillingham Ice Bowl extend year on year.
 
Invicta have another strong team in 2010/11 but they are not alone by any stretch. Aside from the Raiders, the likes of Romford Raiders and Chelmsford Chieftains have taken points from the Mo’s and indeed Romford could snatch an unlikely league title if they can win all of their remaining games in hand (seven at the last count) and hold their nerve. Predicting the outcome of any game between these top four sides is a lottery and all of them are rightly wary of the likes of Streatham, Milton Keynes, Oxford and Bracknell, who between them have caused upsets.
 
No team can match the speed skill and poise of the Dynamos Brit core of Liam Chong, Callum Fowler and Andy Smith but they can come very close, and with the right tactics and discipline can and will nullify the threat these three pose. Enter the Wightlink Raiders with their solid defence and hard working forward lines typified by Robbie Brown, Nathan Taylor, Richard Bentham and the much maligned Brad Watchorn.
 
Jeremy Cornish may not be a high scoring flair import, but the player opposition fans love to hate has managed to galvanise a club stuck in the mire of being a plucky English Premier League (EPL) underdog into an English National League power house. Dropping a league can make the competition easier but Wightlink aren’t the only ones to do so, and all four sides that occupy the top of the ENL were previously competing in the EPL.
 
The Raiders defence has been a key part of their success conceding only 68 goals making them the meanest blue line corps in the league. The experienced duo of Steve Gannaway and Dom Hopkins know what it takes to succeed and form a considerable barrier alongside the likes of Damon Larter. The battle between the youthful Invicta forward line and the solid Raiders defence is just one of many intriguing battles to look out for in Sunday’s game.
 
The leaders:
 
Kevin Parrish – Invicta Dynamos
 
Long serving coach who has led the Kent club to numerous titles in his eight season reign. A former player himself, Parrish faces the biggest test of his coaching career as for the first time his rivals have the same resources and squad depth needed to mount a real challenge to the Mo’s supremacy over a league campaign.
 
Despite upheaval in the summer Parrish’s recruitment strategy appears to be paying dividends and in Fowler and Chong he beat competition from other suitors to snap up two of the most exciting prospects in their age group. With youth though, there are challenges and with elements of immaturity to deal with amongst a much younger squad than normal, Parrish has had his work cut out to keep the team together amidst a crippling injury list.
 
Key defensemen Anthony Lennon and Tim Smith are injury doubts along with Chong and Parrish could do with these guys returning to action against the Raiders. Mid season signings of Streatham key man Jack Tarczycki and import blue liner Chris Borges will need to step up against the Raiders and assist youngsters Tom Dennis and Zach Sullivan.
 
Parrish has the advantage of being on the bench to orchestrate his side but on the down side his animation and passion are restricted to the sidelines.
 
Jeremy Cornish – Wightlink Raiders
 
In his second year with the Raiders following spells in the Elite League with Newcastle, London and Basingstoke, the big Canadian has his critics but shown just what can be achieved with a bit of far reaching scouting. Frustrated with looking within the usual confines of the South for young hungry talent, Cornish looked North and returned to a recruitment strategy that worked so well for the club seven to eight years ago.
 
After an average league campaign in his first season as player-coach in 2009/10, Cornish went all out to recruit a team that he felt would give the Raiders a chance of challenging the Dynamos in 2010/11. Friends from the North Robbie Brown, Richard Bentham and Nathan Taylor add firepower to last season’s regular scorer Alex Murray, and the likes of Richard Facey, Stewart Tait and Brad Watchorn add feistiness and grit.
 
Fellow Canadian Jason Gorrie has shown good form in front of goal for Cornish who will be relieved his import has not departed mid season like Jon Sarno did last season. Cornish is desperate to win in Gillingham and he can play a pivotal part on the ice alongside his talented team mates. Parrish will have a plan for the game and Cornish will need to ensure he maintains a balance of passionate play and calculated aggression throughout.
 
Key men
 
The goalies:
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Andy Moffat – Kirckaldy native and former Wightlink star Moffat is known for an abundance of natural talent and a ferocious temper. Sitting in third place in the top ten goalies in the league courtesy of a 91.95 save percentage, Moffat is the most likely to start out of the three goalies in the Mo’s squad, however a late call up for Joe White is not unfeasible.
 
Matt Colclough – A steady influence who dislodged former number one Toby Cooley from the Raiders crease. Colclough’s form and fitness has been a vital ingredient to the Raiders success so far this year. His impressive save percentage of 92.74 gives him the second best average in the league and as the only goalie in the Raiders squad at present; he has had to clock up nigh on 1680 minutes of ice time this year (more than any other goalie in the league by a long stretch).  
 
 
The rock at the back:
 
Jack Tarczycki – With new guy Chris Borges still settling in and Tim Smith out injured, Tarczycki plays a big part on the Mo’s blue line. Strong, agile and deceptively quick, Tarczycki is also posing somewhat of a goal threat on his return to the Ice Bowl, notching four goals in his first three games.
 
Dom Hopkins – A man mountain whether on the Raiders reduced sized pad or on a normal rink, Hopkins brings a wealth of experience to the island side. Possessing a massive reach and good positional sense, Hopkins is also deadly from the point on the Raiders power play and has already scored an impressive thirteen goals so far this season.
 
The sniper:
 
Callum Fowler – Despite posting good numbers in the EPL with Peterborough, the speedy winger finds himself in the league below posting even better stats. With a natural poise and balance combined with speed, Fowler can cause any ENL defence a whole host of problems when he is focused. Twenty one goals and thirty seven assists in twenty six games tells its own story.
 
Robbie Brown – A proven scorer north of the border, the former Solway Sharks and Belfast Giants forward has shown already this season that he has adapted to island life in the south. Twenty four goals and twenty assists in twenty eight games puts Brown as the leagues eighth top points scorer. Quick and agile, Brown has also appeared for Basingstoke Bison in the EPL this season.
 
The import:
 
Daniel Borges – Hailing from Brampton Ontario, the Canadian has settled into life on the Medway Riviera and is proving a potent goal threat of late. Ranked fourth in the league scoring charts with eighteen goals and forty assists, Borges has played on both the first and second lines this year and provides a depth of quality to complement the likes of Andy Smith.
 
Jason Gorrie – Born in Etobicoke, Canada, twenty five year old Jason Gorrie is the Raiders top scorer and is fifth in the league scoring charts with twenty seven goals and twenty nine assists. An ever present in the Raiders line up this season, Gorrie joins Coach Cornish as the foreign talent on the island this year.
 
Friends to rivals:
 
At least two of the players in Sunday’s clash know each other well, as Dynamos goalie Andrew Dickson and Wightlink forward Robbie Brown both played in the Belfast Giants side that lifted the Elite League Play-Off championship in 2009/10.
 
Both moved south in search of extra ice time to develop their respective talents and enthusiasm is building for the weekend match up.
 
“I think the game will most likely be physical and played at a high pace with both goalies being key factors” admitted Dickson, who starred in the Mo’s 8-3 win in Bristol last week.
 
“The game on the isle had a couple of tussles and some great play and I thought was a great advert for the league. I’d be expecting more of the same this Sunday. For us to win I think we just need to take care of our own end and limit their chances”
 
“They scored eight goals in their last few games but in our rink we can shut up shop and since we last played we added Chris Borges which will help. We have great forwards too, but the same can be said of them so it will be close but if we play smart I have no reason to believe we won’t win”
With Dickson not expected to start the game against the Raiders, he is unlikely to face his former team mate barring injury or the starter being pulled midway, however Brown will clock up a lot of minutes and he thinks his side have enough about them to get a result.
 
“Its going to be a tough game that’s for sure but if we can stick to playing Raiders hockey we will come back with the 2 biggest points of the year” admitted Brown.
“The guys are pumped and ready we know what we have to do. We need to play tough, keep the legs going, win our one on one battles, just all the small things and things will go our way”
There is a friendly rivalry between the two, so if it came to a showdown between the two former Giants’ who would win?

Brown: “That’s a tough one for sure. Dicko and I would stay on the ice after a training session last year and do breakaway after breakaway until we were literally getting shouted at to get off the ice”
“I think I could turn him over but it would be a close one, I’d have to say 3-2 on myself”
Dickson: “We know each other’s styles and weaknesses so if we had five penalty shots I think I would edge him out 3 to 2 only cause I know his moves. He likes to go low blocker on me and if I can out-wait him and get him to deke I have him”
“If he gets me moving he has a habit of sliding them through my five hole or burning me high to the glove but I would ride my adrenaline and a bit of luck and predict that would come out on top”
What the league say:
 
Mark Cuddihy, Cardiff ENL Devils Coach –
 
“If we were not playing in Streatham on Saturday I would be calling Kev for some tickets for this game as it’s going to be fantastic. Breaking the two teams down I feel Wightlink are better defensively, they have the better goalie in my opinion and I’m a big fan of Hopkins”
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“Robbie Brown and Jason Gorrie offer great offense and will take some containing. Wightlink will have to play their best defensive game of the year to get anything at Invicta though, they play a left wing lock and I feel that system will require maximum discipline all night. Invicta on the other hand have added Borges who looks a very composed defenseman and should help them with some of their defensive problems, he played a lot of minutes against us and is a classy player”
“Going forward though Invicta have great talent, Andy Smith, Fowler, Chong, Borges, Lewis all have goals and pace to burn, you have to be 100% switched on at the back or you’re going to get scored on”
 
“For me it’s the best attack against the best defence and as it’s in Gillingham I’m going for Invicta by a goal or two in a low scoring game”
 
Ken Forshee, Oxford City Stars Coach –
 
“After playing Wightlink the past two weekends I would find it hard to bet against them as they kicked our ass in every aspect of the game. They are playing real solid right now. Their big defence men are real hard to get anything going against and their main offensive guys are producing”
 
 
Pro Hockey News verdict –
 
“Home advantage will be a key factor for the Dynamos who are simply not used to losing at the Gillingham Ice Bowl. Wightlink have all of the tools capable of getting a win and the game will be very close, however given the results between the two teams so far this year and the availability of their players, we are sitting on the fence and predicting a 4-4 tie”
 
Previous encounters so far:
 
18 September 2010 – Wightlink 4 Invicta 2
7 November 2010 – Invicta 3 Wightlink 2
22 January 2011 – Wightlink 3 Invicta 3
 
Form guide (last ten league games):
 
Invicta – WLWLWDWDWW
Wightlink – WDDWWDWWWW
 
Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com