Nachos and Referees

LONDON, UK – Whilst the league season started for most players over the weekend, some of us were left with that empty feeling that comes with the dreaded ‘weekend off’. Never a happy time due to the conundrums and options it throws up. When you play hockey every weekend your life is organised for you and there is little need for thought, which is probably a blessing for most hockey players, me included. The weekend’s results were utterly predictable unfortunately. I was hoping that a surprise or two would have been thrown up, but with the exception of the margin of defeat Haringey suffered I think I could have predicted most scores within a couple of goals. The beauty of online betting websites, aside from being able to watch some Argentine league football match at 3 in the morning, is the intricate odds they offer and statistics they throw up. If ‘Bet365’ or any other online gambling site featured the match at the Ice Bowl on their coupon, a neutral looking at the results of Oxford’s last 5 visits (read losses) to Invicta would likely pile all the money they own on a home win. And we all know the bookies always win. I decided in my wisdom to attend the Ice Bowl despite giving it a less than complimentary review last week. Some of you may snigger but my visit reminded me very much of watching my beloved Sunderland at Old Trafford against Manchester United. No prawn sandwiches in the café but they had nachos and smoothies which is a step up from the usual options of rollover hot dogs and slush puppy. All the other ingredients were there including a large expectant home crowd, a nervous visiting side and some suspect refereeing decisions. I guess the danger of writing any column is to get bogged down complaining about referees as they are an easy target, but I will admit I was a frustrated spectator. Maybe it was the Dynamo holding Oxford defence man Will Skaife’s stick for 9 seconds in front of the net and indeed the referee, just before slotting home the second goal, or maybe the Dynamos player’s trailing knee that caught Richard Wojciack shortly afterwards, that had the roles been reversed would have surely seen Invicta coach (Sir Alex Ferguson?) Kevin Parrish send on an enforcer to appease the no doubt baying crowd. What really did it though was the elbow to the head of Oxford’s Shannon Taylor on the boards by the otherwise excellent Peter Vaisanen – who later got kicked out for a much less serious offence in a classic case of delayed retribution. In amongst the first two incidents Oxford shipped 5 goals as they and their net minder fell apart spectacularly. Maybe the reason I was so irked was the fact that it was an all too familiar story that I have experienced first hand over the last few years. The referee, who is actually the leagues best in my opinion, improved as the game went on and so did the Stars, but by then the game was over as a competition which was a shame. Refereeing is very difficult and I can personally vouch for this. It looks simple but actually its not. With this in mind I will do my best not to criticise them too often I promise. Much like Sunderland football club the Stars have some very good players and showed glimpses of excellent hockey but when you are playing Manchester Utd or indeed Invicta then you have to show more than just glimpses. The Wayne Rooney of the piece was Andy Smith whose quick feet and agility seemingly danced in to the slot at will and he was a constant menace. The role of Berbatov was played by the classy Joe Johnston whose link up play was excellent even if he does look a bit odd in an Invicta shirt. There was even a Ben Foster moment when goalie Shane Kemp let in a slap shot from the red line by Stars debutant Dale White. Oxford had their own Darren Bent in Shannon Taylor, a real threat up front but little chance to shine and of course the outstanding Richard Wojciack at the back who I wont insult by comparing him to the gaff prone Anton Ferdinand. I saw nothing in that game to suggest that my prediction of silverware for the Dynamos this year should be changed. The final score was Invicta 11 – 3 Oxford. In my second part of the column will contain a review of the other games in the ENL this past weekend. Thanks for reading and stay safe Carrsy
Contact david.carr@prohockeynews.com