Raiders beaten and Hammill departs

ROMFORD, UK – Romford Raiders stuttered into 2010, losing their first two games of the New Year.
 
After enduring a season to forget so far with only four wins from 30 games, the Raiders opened the New Year looking for a new start against Milton Keynes Lightning. The Lightning went into the game in great form, having won 6 of their last 7 games, to propel themselves to the top of the table.
 
Romford withstood the Lightning pressure through the first two periods, and went into the third period just two goals down. However as the short-benched Raiders side tired, MK stepped up a gear, and eventually ran out winners with a score of 6-1. The lone bright spot for Romford was new import defenceman Jozef Sladok grabbing his first goal for the club.
 
The following day Romford played their first home game of 2010 against Peterborough Phantoms. After a slow start to the season the Phantoms have put together an impressive run of results, including an 11-2 mauling of Bracknell Bees the night before.
 
The Phantoms were a lot quicker out the blocks than Romford, and were 2-0 up inside two minutes, with Tom Carlon and James Knight capitalising on defensive mistakes. The Raiders finally found their stride though, and made a game of it with 25 seconds of the first period left when Dallas Costanzo slotted home a rebound.
 
The second period saw the Phantoms extend their lead through Brent Gough, before young Matt Turner replied for Romford. Peterborough forward Joe Miller restored the two-goal lead before Romford player/coach Jesse Hammill pounced on a loose rebound in the slot to bring it back to a one-goal game going into the third period. The goal looked to be particularly sweet for Hammill, as he played in Peterborough for several years earlier in his career.
 
However Romford could not complete their comeback. Tait and Miller effectively killed the game off with goals for the Phantoms early in the third, and a late goal from the Raider’s hard-hitting defenceman Jon Sitko was only a consolation, as the game finished 6-4.
 
It was a hard working and gutsy performance, but the defeat leaves the Raiders rooted to the foot of the EPL table on nine points, 10 points behind Swindon Wildcats in 9^th place. They are also 11 points out of a playoff place, but do at least have a game in hand over Swindon and Bracknell, who separate Romford from a playoff spot. For the Raiders to make the playoffs they will need a very strong second half to the season which, while unlikely based on form, is not impossible, as they proved last year.
 
In the 08/09 season Romford were adrift at the bottom of the table at Christmas, but surged up the league with the help of 13 consecutive home victories to qualify for the playoffs. A turn-around of that nature is exactly what the Raiders need now.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Since the writing of this article, Romford Raiders have parted company with head coach Jesse Hammill who has taken on a non-hockey job back in his native Canada.

A club statement read:
In a season where almost everything has been thrust upon the team, Raiders management are saddened to have to advise that Coach Jesse Hammill has decided to leave the UK and British ice hockey to take up an unmissable employment opportunity back home in Canada. It is a decision completely unrelated to his hockey activities and we are aware of how difficult a decision this has been for Jesse. Jesse will make himself available to us for the next 3 weekends and after that work outside of the sport beckons for the RVW “Guvnor”. We are sincerely sorry to see him go and grateful for his efforts and dedication to the Raiders in a season that started in far from ideal circumstances. His passion for the game and the team is clear to see and that will be a difficult benchmark for his successor to match up to. We think that the club still offers a great deal for any potential successors and we are confident that however big his boots, we will fill them and adequately too! We have to grasp this as an opportunity to try something new and set about the task of reaching the playoffs from another direction and anyone taking on the role will have that as their “job description”. This latest development has not diverted us from the task of signing an import forward, and we are confident that an announcement will be made shortly on this front as well. – The search begins for a new coach as well as a replacement forward, before the rapidly approaching transfer deadline.
Contact the author dave.lambert@prohockeynews.com