COVENTRY, UK – Oxford City Stars clinched the NIHL 2 National Championship with a 3-1 win over Sutton Sting at the Coventry Skydome.
Stars players and fans celebrate post-game
The match-up pitted North v South after Oxford clinched the Wilkinson Conference Championship last week, to earn a showdown against Sutton, who won the Laidler Conference. The game took place in front of an Arena full of hockey fans from around the UK, with the NIHL 1 National Championship taking place later in the same evening on the same ticket.
The unfamiliarity of the two teams led to a nervy opening with both sets of players understandably nervous in front of the big crowd. After a goalless opening period, the Stars got the crucial first goal in the second, as Joe Edwards burst into the Sting zone before finishing his own rebound past the stranded Warren Gilfoyle.
It was 2-0 shortly afterwards as Edwards won the draw in the Sting defensive zone and Mike Whillock found the bottom corner with a quick shot from the top of the circle.
The Stars went into the third knowing the Sting had to chase the game and whose Player Coach Simon Butterworth shuffled his lines to maximise the on-ice presence of his experienced players.
The ever present threat of Stan Lascek had been a thorn in the Stars defence for most of the game, and the Slovak finally converted with around 12 minutes to go on the powerplay as he fired high into the net from the slot, after Milan Ronai had made the initial stop.
The goal breathed life into the Sting players but they soon had the wind sucked out of their sails as a rebound from a snapshot from Dom Hopkins on the point was fired home by Conor Redmond at the near post.
Sutton visibly wilted and although Ronai was called into action a couple more times before the end of the game, the Stars comfortably saw out the regulation time before bundling the Stars young stopper in celebration as the final buzzer sounded.
“We came into the unknown today” admitted Head Coach Kenny Redmond after the game. “We tried to research them as best we could, we knew they had danger men who could put the puck in the net and of course Lascek, but we have three lines who can score and it’s that depth that’s been key to our success this season. We were all tired from the game last night on the South Coast in Solent but the boys did the job and we are all delighted.”
Redmond is in his first season with the Stars and was a long time player himself, having experienced atmospheres of National Finals weekends in the past. This is the first time in a long time that the NIHL 2 Championship game has been played as part of the Coventry weekend and the wily Glaswegian believes it was a positive experience for his players.
“As I said before we were a bit fatigued from the previous night but I thought the atmosphere certainly gave the guys a lift. Without being harsh on the boys I don’t think it was our best display of the season but they got through it and did what we asked of them.”
Redmond has been joined on the bench this season by fellow Scot and Stars legend Scott Gough. The former City Stars player took up the role of Assistant Coach to give the squad the unenviable task of understanding two Glaswegian accents rather than one, but he was equally happy to steer the City Stars to their second trophy of 2017/18.
“I’m ecstatic to be honest” Gough admitted. “Oxford brought around 150 fans up here today, and we had fans from Swindon and other teams cheering for us, so to play in front of a big crowd was great for all the guys. Kenny has installed a good work ethic in the team and we have a structure to our play. We knew Lascek had the ability to cause us problems but we made sure we shut him down as best we could”
Oxford’s season is not done however and despite being National Champions they now enter the Play-Off phase of the season where they will face Bristol Pitbulls in the Quarter Finals next weekend.
Oxford City Stars NIHL 2 National Champions 2017/18
Milan Ronai (NM), Mark Duffy (NM), Andy Cox, Jake Florey, Paul Gore, Martyn Gray, Will Harrison, Dom Hopkins, Jason Ikin, Andy Shurmer, Alex Staples, Stewart Tait, Theo Bundock, Joe Edwards, Griff Eden-Parrish, Darren Elliott, Josh Florey, Dax Hedges, Matt Lawday, Josh Oliver, Conor Redmond, Mike Whillock.
Head Coach – Kenny Redmond, Assistant Coach – Scott Gough
Contact the author: carrsy2@gmail.com
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