So, how does it look now for Romford?

ROMFORD, UK – You may remember back in March I wrote this article regarding Romford Raider’s tough season in the EPL. Well, the new season has now begun and they took to the ice Sunday night in the ENL1, one tier below the EPL, against another new ENL1 side – Bristol Pitbulls. Richie Hargreaves put the Pitbulls together from nothing summer before last and then went and won the ENL2 South in their first season of existence. Over the summer they recruited veteran Alan Armour amongst others for their assault on the ENL1, in what will be a much tougher season than last year. 
Romford on the other hand loaded up with their top stars from their EPL season and added in some experienced ENL guys. Grant Baxter, Anthony Leone and AJ Smith all made the short hop across the Thames Estuary from Invicta Dynamos, while Reece Covington made the short drive down the A12 to help bolster their blueline. Late in the summer they added Pierre Wilhelmsson and Algimantas “Al” Visockas as their two non-EIHA trained players (‘Imports’ to the fan in the stand). 
When I attended in March the rink was fairly deserted and there was little if any noise apart from the then all too familiar grumblings and moans about a team that was struggling to get on the scoresheet, let alone win games. Even though the legendary Tony Hand MBE and former AHL’r Andre Payette were in town, there was still no atmosphere. Sunday night just gone saw the rink filled out with a good 550+ fans in at a rough guess, including a fair number of Chelmsford Chieftains fans who’d travelled down to cast their eye over their nearest and dearest, while also providing some much needed support to the visiting Pitbulls. The atmosphere was clearly back in the rink and on a night with a more partisan away following, the place will definitely be as hostile as the old days of ‘Fortress RVW’ (Rom Valley Way). The club had changed ownership in the summer and lost a lot of regular fans throughout last season, however many had returned to see what “this ENL lark is all about” and the players on the ice didn’t disappoint and that should bode well for the finances of the club and the future, as well as attendances.  Youngster John Dibble in the Pitbulls net did his best to keep the Raiders at bay, despite some suspect defending from his blueliners. The Pitbulls showed flashes of skills going forward, but their defence left a lot to be desired and will struggle to contain the top-end sides. Romford were peppering Dibble with shot after shot and he was equal to each and every one, including a classic move from Romford player-coach Danny Marshall which deserved the light to be lit with the silky skills shown. The Raiders eventually ran in 6 goals, including an empty-netter with 5 seconds of the game left when on the penalty kill. Dibble rightly picked up the MoM beers after some outstanding saves throughout the game. On the other side, Frankie Harvey was all over the ice and also rightly picked up the beers. Rarely do you get 2 obvious candidates in hockey, although to be fair Steve Paris and Mike Grey in the Raiders also deserve a shout. There was a bit of needle in the game, but nothing serious, which is what the Romford fans are used to and almost expect. As the old saying goes “If you can’t beat them, beat them” and to many at Romford that’s what they want their Raiders to be like. If there had to be any negativity on the performance it was that they were simply substantially better than the Pitbulls on the night not that they were outstanding in their own right. The difference also is that the Pitbulls have been playing for a couple of weeks now, whereas this was game 1 for the Raiders, so not everything is expected to have clicked just yet and no-one was expecting a flawless performance from the home side. Also missing a few key players like Ty Miller and Grant Baxter can’t have helped, but their presence on the ice will certainly lift the team that bit more. There is a team ethic clearly being displayed and that should grow in time, which will only add to the enjoyment of the game for both the players and fans.

As for the Pitbulls, well it’s tough to say it, but there should be warning sounds in Hargreaves’s head right now. It’s a big jump from ENL2 to 1, but some of the players just don’t look like they will be able to cope in the higher tier. Reliance on the veterans is only good for so much, but they simply don’t have the legs to be skating for 25-30mins a night. There is no doubt the heart and soul that Hargreaves has put into his hometown club, but there needs to be some long hard looks at the facts. Played 5 lost 5 and with a goal difference of -19 already, changes need to happen soon or they will find themselves in danger of heading straight back to division 2. It’s not all bad though as they created plenty, but just didn’t have a forward who can put the puck in the net as it should have been with the number of chances created and some of them would have been certain goals with a decent forward in front of the net. The Pitbulls will need some luck and there is no doubt that they have the potential and players to be a good side, but there is just that something missing from the lineup to take them from poor to average and so on. Has the fight and bite returned to the Romford Raiders and their fans? There are very promising signs there and the team will need a couple more weeks to gel properly, but once they get going properly and their missing players return to the line-up, it should be a much more enjoyable season for the Romford faithful than what they had to endure last season.  How do I think they will fare? Well, I’d say on that showing they will comfortably make the play-offs and should make a top 5 finish, which will be a success for most at RVW. They won’t be an easy side to beat home or away, but their defence and Mike Grey in the nets weren’t tested enough to get a true reflection on how good or bad they are, but what they did show was promising and as the old saying goes “You can only beat what’s in front of you” and Romford did that comfortably against a poor Pitbulls side. Owner Ollie Oliver and player-coach Danny Marshall and the off-ice staff are building a good set-up there and will not be easy to beat home or away and will be a very valuable addition to the ever-growing ENL1 South. Got a comment? Pete.lewis@Prohockeynews.com The views expressed in this article are that of the author only.