Siberian dreams, flying fists and a Morrissey vibe

LONDON, UK – With the cold bite of January nipping at the toes of the UK, the NIHL South 1 decided to bring some heat at last.

Cats purr (Kat Medcroft)

It has been a while since we’ve seen some serious beef in the NIHL South, so when Bracknell Bees coach Doug Sheppard went public (twice) with his criticism of DJ Daren Bavister’s antics during the Bison v Bees fixture the previous weekend, eyebrows were raised.

“You talk about the derby intensity and building up the clash, that’s fine, we’ve got no issues with that,” Sheppard told The Wokingham Paper.

“But the minute you go after people and start talking about personal appearance, it certainly crosses the line.”

Fans from across the league logged on to The Hockey Forum to get the inside track on what had been said and to who.

Captain Cookie goes to Russia

Three pages of discussion later, no one was any the wiser and those that knew weren’t talking. Maybe the only audible speaker was above the Bees bench, or attendees signed a non-disclosure agreement on exiting the rink. Either way, Sheppard was livid, Bavister conciliatory and the Wokingham paper up a few clicks on their usual weekly output.

The GB University Men’s roster was announced for the upcoming FISU World University Games in Krasnoyarsk and included a number of NIHL South 1 players. Basingstoke’s Chris Cooke will captain the team icing alongside Ivan Antonov (Bracknell), Andreas Siagris (Streatham) and Josh Crane (MK Thunder).

For those unfamiliar with geography, Krasnoyarsk is located in western Siberia and is forecast to reach a balmy -25 degrees centigrade in the next couple of weeks. The city is not far away from the legendary throat singers from Tuva, who would be an excellent choice to do the pre-game anthems. Don’t say you don’t learn anything reading this column dear reader.

Talking of students, there was positive news out of Cambridge as the much anticipated new rink was finally given an opening date of May this year. The back story is as heart-warming as the free fudge doled out in the city centre each day to tourists, as the Cambridge News highlighted in an article this week.

With a 500 seat capacity, dreams of a top level team aren’t realistic but the NIHL might well see a team competing out of the rink in the near future. Peterborough ice rink will certainly take a financial hit when the University teams switch venues to be closer to home.

MK Thunder boosted their squad with the signing of Oxford City Stars forward Joe Edwards.

“I’m really happy to have signed Joe, he will help us a lot in many areas where we are desperate for support” said Coach Lewis Clifford.

“I’m not into giving guys ready-made excuses for losses, however we have been playing short benched a lot recently and this has shown in our results and how we fatigue in games, Joe is a skilled guy who can play across the forward lines and add to both our collective skill set and our strength in numbers and I’m looking forward to having him as a part of our team and seeing what he can do in a Thunder shirt.”

Great Britain Bandy team

Edwards (along with new Stars signing Mike Whillock) was also announced as being called up for the GB Bandy team scheduled to play in the World Championships in Sweden against Latvia, Somalia, China, Japan and Slovakia.

For those of you unaware of bandy, it’s basically like hockey but played on ice the size of a football pitch and not for the slow of foot. It has roots in the East of England and is passionately supported by locally based President Lyn Gibb de-Swarte.

You can check out more about the sport and the GB team by clicking HERE.

There were lots of NIHL related interviews to read during the week with Raiders goalie Michael Gray demanding a four point weekend, Streatham stopper Damien King talking homecomings, Bristol Pitbulls Mike Hargreaves insisting he isn’t a traffic cone and Phantoms goalie Jordan Marr talking up his new home town of Crowland.

Saturday review

A goal within the first two minutes of the game set Bracknell on their way for a shock 8-2 win over the league leaders Peterborough.

Tyler VanKleef was the early riser with the first of two goals, added to a brace from Josh Smith and lone goals from Harvey Stead, Zack Milton, Stuart Mogg and Ryan Sutton.

For the Phantoms, the goals came from Ales Padelek and Martins Susters.

Swindon Wildcats drafted in a familiar face to the bench for their home clash against Streatham as Ryan Aldridge made a return to coaching for one night only.

Cossack celly (Kev Slyfield)

The Cats purred in the third to take a 7-3 win thanks to a hat trick from Floyd Taylor, a brace from Chris Jones and lone efforts from Sam Bullas and Loris Taylor. A double from Alex Roberts and a solo goal for Ryan Webb made up the RedHawks tally, with Roberts later tangling with Sam Jones in a fight you can watch HERE

JJ Pitchley scored after just 14 seconds in the Raiders win over Invicta Dynamos in Kent. The visitors went on to win 4-1 as Jake Sylvester hit a brace and Aaron Connolly bagged against his hometown team.

For the Mo’s it was Arran Strawson with the consolation effort.

In Basingstoke, the Bison beat MK Thunder 7-2 in a match where both netminders saw less than 30 shots each.

Liam Morris bagged a hat trick for the Bison with Adam Harding, Oscar Evans, Hallam Wilson and Alex Sampford all on target with one goal each. For the Thunder it was Ollie Stone (with his first goal for the club) and Tomas Rubes with the goals.

Read the Banners on the Wall report of the game HERE

Sunday review

After all the press build-up during the week, the Bees and Bison met at the Hive knowing that their rivalry had moved up a notch towards its former intensity.

It was the Bison however who made it back to back wins over the hosts with a 6-2 victory thanks to two goals each from Adam Harding and George Norcliffe, plus lone efforts from Tommy Ralph and Alex Sampford. Bees scorers were Zack Milton and James Galazzi.

Ryan Watt and Danny Ingoldsby captured the spirit of the game with one of the best toe to toe bouts seen this season, followed by a grapple between Ben Paynter and the less interested Adam Harding. You can watch it HERE

Novak’s nipple and belt

Watt was later sent for an early shower after picking up two misconduct penalties against his former team.

The second half of the Raiders v Dynamos double header took place at the Sapphire with the hosts delivering a four point weekend thanks to an 8-3 win on the night. The warm up ended on an amusing note as the superstitious pair of Dan Scott and Oskars Ancitis had a game of rock paper scissors to decide who would have to leave the ice first, saving the big crowd a longer night!

A brace each from JJ Pitchley, Aaron Connolly and Blaho Novak, plus lone efforts from Mason Webster and Jake Sylvester completed the scoring for the Raiders with a Lewis English double and Callum Best effort making up the Mo’s tally.

Youngster Brad Windebank got a taste of NIHL 1 action between the pipes for the Raiders as he replaced Ben Clements at the half way stage to add to the good vibes felt in Essex.

For the second time in 48 hours, Streatham endured a third period collapse as Peterborough bounced back from their defeat in Berkshire with a much needed 5-2 win over the RedHawks.

Romford, paper, scissors (alfie30839602 on Twitter)

Alex Roberts and Tom Soar had given Streatham a 2-1 lead going into the final 20 minutes, however a brace each for Petr Stepanek and Martins Susters plus an effort from Nathan Pollard did the business for the hosts.

MK had Swindon on the ropes at the Thunderdome before the Cats sneaked ahead and skated off with a 5-4 win. Player Coach Aaron Nell bagged a brace on his return from Estonia to add to efforts from Max Birbraer, Floyd Taylor and a first Wildcats goal from youngster Elliot Randall.

For the Thunder it was a Ross Bowers hat trick that sent mainly set the Cats scurrying and a lone goal from Rio Grinnell-Parke. Birbraer was also sent to the showers for slew footing in the second period.

Next weekend’s fixtures give the Phantoms the biggest test of their title credentials so far as they visit Swindon on Saturday then host the Bison on Sunday. Not many could confidently predict the results of those games, which is how we all like it.