LONDON, UK – It was firework season across the UK with the NIHL having to put on a decent display to compete for spectators.
Miles and Webster battle it out (Rick Webb)
All eyes were on Bracknell midweek as Bees fans and players flocked to the Hive to celebrate the clubs’ 30th Anniversary. As far as fundraising events are concerned, a race night is always popular, although amusingly the Bees management referred to the event specifically as a digital race night. Perhaps some disappointed punter from a previous occasion moaned that they expected to see real horses galloping round the upper tier of the rink, so expectations were managed this time round. In British Hockey nothing would surprise us.
South London basked in the glow of an unexpected Streatham defeat of Swindon the previous weekend. RedHawks Coach Jeremy Cornish told the South London Press the result ‘had been coming over recent weeks’ and that his four lines ‘proved they could skate with any team in the league.’
Wild.. wild.. horses.. couldnt drag fans away !
In contrast Wildcats defender Sam Zajac told the Swindon Advertiser a ‘few home truths’ were said in their locker room after the game.
Swindon Coach Aaron Nell moved quickly to shuffle his squad by bringing in defenseman Sam Godfrey from MK Lightning, who started the season in Guildford.
Invicta Dynamos Coach Kev Parrish also raised a few eyebrows (in a pleasant way) as the Dynamos announced the signing of former Chelmsford forward Tom Long. Long-time readers will recall Long quit the game a number of years ago to join the Royal Marines, but not before a topless pic of his chiselled frame delighted a number of our readers.
London Raiders defenseman Julian Smith spoke of his disappointment of missing the upcoming game in Peterborough due to a family wedding.
‘It will be a tough test for the Raiders as Peterborough are the team to beat’ said Smith. ‘They’ve got great strength and depth, they’ve got people like James Ferrara and his brother on the back end.’
Banners On The Wall published their latest podcast featuring a mystery NIHL player who wished to complain about a number of issues to the EIHA via a third party. The ever diligent host Anthony Russell took the liberty of hiring a North American to do a voice over of each complaint on behalf of the aggrieved player before inviting NIHL South League Manager Richard Carpenter to answer each point. Sadly Carpenters answers weren’t narrated in a Fonejacker style voice over, to re-create a hockey version of the BBC’s Points of View (yes it still exists).
In truth we much prefer a Facebook player rant in these type of situations, although the subject matter did seem pretty un-controversial in this instance i.e some rinks are crap and a bench coach level 2 is a waste of time in practice.
If you want to listen to the audio click HERE
Saturday action review
After the success of the previous week, and seemingly no threat of legal action from Coldplay, Peterborough once again asked their fans to welcome the team on to the ice using the torches of their mobile phones.
The visiting London Raiders team were clearly not fazed and took the lead in the first two minutes through Juraj Huska. To the delight of their travelling fans they didn’t look back and posted a stunning 6-3 win to end the Phantoms 100% record in the league.
Kinger on form (John Scott)
Huska added to his tally later in the game to add to goals from Brandon Ayliffe, Marek Nahlik and JJ Pitchley. Phantoms scorers were Owen Griffiths, Rob Ferrara and James Ferrara. Raiders’ goalie and Peterborough native Euan King got a deserved man of the match and faced 21 shots more than his opposite number Adam Long, who was also controversially tripped up in the game.
Thanks to the lucky intro the Raiders were rumoured to be considering a similar request of their fans the following evening but in an East London style. Unfortunately a ban on blow torches at the Lee Valley rink scuppered the plan.
Around 30 years ago the Bracknell Bees hammered Medway Marauders 13-2 in the old English League under the tenure of Jamie Crapper. Thankfully Cardiff Fire put up a little bit more fight in 2017 but went down 8-1 thanks to a hat trick from Shaun Thompson and lone goals from Jan Bendik, Alex Barker, Frankie Bakrlik, Steven Osman and Josh Ealey-Newman. Jackson Price scored the consolation for the Fire whose goalie Jordan Lawday faced 70 shots over the sixty minutes.
For those readers feeling old after our trip down memory lane, it may interest you to note that hat trick hero Thompson was born in the same year the Bees were formed, and the Pet Shop Boys were number 1 with ‘It’s a Sin’. A true golden age of pop, and indeed rink openings in the UK.
Basingstoke Bison scored four goals in a ten minute period to see off a spirited effort from Milton Keynes Thunder and win 7-2. Goals from Ivan Antonov, Oscar Evans, Grant Rounding, Roman Malinik, Aaron Connolly, Dan Davies and Tomas Karpov made it 8 wins out of 8 for the Bison in the league, with Tom Carlon and Gareth O’Flaherty getting the consolations for the Thunder.
Streatham made it two home wins in a row with a convincing 5-1 win over Invicta Dynamos in the Cup. A blistering opening from the RedHawks set them on their way with an Alex Sampford brace and lone goals from Adam Carr, Michael Farn and Joe Allen completing the scoring. For Invicta Mason Webster got the consolation.
Webster also dropped the gloves with Brandon Miles to provide additional entertainment for the supporters, and there were two ejections with Callum Fowler (butt ending) and Ben Paynter (roughing) each getting an early shower from Mr Matthews – not literally of course.
NIHL media outlet 482 Days attended the game and clearly had a frustrating evening, not helped when they broke the rink car park machine by “accidentally” putting a Bulgarian Lev coin into the slot.
The Pirates mascot oozing culture with happy Swindon fans
They later boasted of dining at London’s 7th best restaurant on Twitter which by our rankings suggests they were at the Streatham branch of Chicken Cottage. The favourite haunt of many NIHL players and fans visiting Streatham ranks behind The Ivy – Covent Garden, Bodeans – Tower Hill, The Crosse Keys – Monument, The Gaylord – Isle of Dogs, La Porchetta – Muswell Hill and of course the Earl Ferrers – Streatham in the capitals hottest eatery list.
Swindon enjoyed a trip to the UK City of Culture and beat Hull Pirates 6-3 in the Autumn Cup. The Wildcats shook off the bus legs just a minute into play thanks to a goal from Aaron Nell and didn’t look back. Chris Jones, Floyd Taylor, Luc Johnson, Jordan Kelsall and Max Birbraer scored the other goals for the visitors, while Matt Davies, Lee Haywood and James Chilcott were on target for the Pirates.
Hull’s player Coach Jason Hewitt may be getting a call from the EIHA after racking up 79 minutes in penalties which takes some doing at any level. Hewitt had already tangled with Swindons Sam Bullas earlier in the game and then presumably told referee Andrew Miller exactly what he thought of him and more to earn a Game + Game + Match at the final buzzer!
Sunday action review
Invicta bounced back as they took Bracknell Bees to penalty shots and bagged another bonus point before losing out 3-2 thanks to a Bees winner from Shaun Thompson.
Thompson had missed a penalty shot in an overtime period that also saw Bees star man Frankie Bakrlik ejected for a check to the head on Mason Webster who had to go to hospital as a result. Webster had also earlier dropped the gloves with Josh Tetlow in a slug fest. Everyone at Pro Hockey News wishes Mason a speedy recovery.
The Mo’s had been leading 4-2 at one stage in the game thanks to a brace each from Callum Fowler and Josh Condren, before goals from Bakrlik, Callum Best, Danny Ingoldsby and Josh Martin tied things up in regulation time for the Bees.
Papa Johns added spice to the game by offering a free pizza to the loudest fan in the building. Pro Hockey News understands the infamous “Dynamos Wallbangers” were out sung by a smiling young child and will say no more on the subject.
Bryant and the Fire almost grab the win (CS Media)
Cardiff Fire almost pulled off their first win of the season as they led Streatham 3-2 going into the final third. The points looked even more likely when former Cardiff player Jamie Hayes was ejected for abusing referee Deana Cuglietta, but the Londoners bounced back to kill off a 5 minute major and go on to win 5-3.
Adam Carr scored two for the visitors with Michael Farn, Alex Sampford and Ryan Watt also on target. Cardiff scorers were Sam Bryant, Michael Stratford and Jordan Powell.
The result made it 3 wins in the last 3 games for Streatham who are recovering well from an earlier run of losses.
Peterborough were in no mood to make it a pointless weekend as the league leaders squeezed out a 5-4 win at the Link Centre against Swindon. The Phantoms had Darius Pliskauskas, Will Weldon, Ales Padelek, Nathan Salem and Owen Griffiths all to thank as they grabbed a goal each. For Swindon it was Sam Zajac, Sam Bullas, Neil Liddiard and Chris Jones with their goals.
The result leaves the Wildcats a little off the pace in the league and keeps the Phantoms just above the Bees in the table.
The final game of the night saw London Raiders top off a memorable weekend with a penalty shoot out win over MK Thunder.
Goals from Ross Green and Rio Grinell-Parke looked to have sealed the win for the Thunder before JJ Pitchley equalised adding to an earlier effort from Matt Turner. In the shootout Michael Gray saved from Grinell-Parke to win the two points.
It capped a 4 point weekend for the Raiders who certainly enjoyed the 48 hour period and caused envy across the league by meeting Amber off Love Island before the game..
This column is dedicated to Michael Cowie. Michael tragically passed away this morning and was a former junior player in his home city of Sunderland. He always had a beaming smile on his face on and off the ice as a teenager, and was another very good player who sadly left the game too soon. Thoughts are with his family and friends and we will miss you Michael. Thanks for being a great team mate all those years ago.
Results
Saturday 4 November 2017
Bracknell Bees 8 Cardiff Fire 1
Streatham 5 Invicta Dynamos 1 (Cup)
Peterborough Phantoms 3 London Raiders 6
Basingstoke Bison 7 MK Thunder 2
Hull Pirates 3 Swindon Wildcats 6 (Autumn Cup)
Sunday 5 November 2017
Cardiff Fire 3 Streatham IHC 5
London Raiders 2 Milton Keynes Thunder 2 (Raiders win on penalty shots)
Invicta Dynamos 4 Bracknell Bees 4 (Bees win on penalty shots)
Swindon Wildcats 4 Peterborough Phantoms 5
Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com
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