LONDON, UK – With one trophy lifted and three remaining, the Britton Conference returned to focus with the jostling for Play-Off seedings and the title the main talking points.
Solent douse the Fire (James Coleman-Powell)
Celebrations continued in South London as Streatham made the most of lifting their first trophy in 38 years. The NIHL South Cup competition may be the lesser cousin of the four main trophies available, but that didn’t stop BBC London news doing a feature on the team for the first time in many years.
Team manager Graham D’Anger and players James Warman and Adam Wood were left to explain on prime time news that the team had lifted a secret santa trophy on the night rather than the real thing, after the EIHA reportedly failed to courier it to the arena.
Obviously those who were present for the post-game celebrations weren’t aware at the time but it does beg the question… where have all the trophies gone? Maybe Paula Cole should release a new song of the same title? No official statement on the situation has been made public by the EIHA but in truth, what justification can really be made when a team waits nearly 40 years to win a trophy and it doesn’t show up at the game and neither do any medals.
“I’m Adam Wood and you’re watching BBC 1”
If the EIHA are to order any new trophies they’d do well to model them on the amazingly detailed tattoo inked on to Streatham and Crystal Palace supporter Jason Perrott – pictured below. Tattooists across South London are surely praying that the two clubs go on a never seen before glorious streak of silverware with Jason ready to be inked again, cash in hand.
After six straight defeats, Oxford City Stars Head Coach Simon Anderson resigned from the club. Anderson had a recent spell in Sweden coaching and seemed the perfect fit when he joined the club, however a 3-2 reverse against Cardiff appears to have sparked his decision.
In the press release Greig Box Turnbull, Oxford City Stars director said: “We’d like to put on record our thanks to Simon for his contribution to the Stars.
“We are now welcoming applications for the head coach role. This is a fantastic opportunity for a progressive coach to join a great community club and take us forward.”
In truth it was always going to be a tricky campaign for the City Stars and scoring goals has been a real problem for the team. A Play-Off place is almost secured and any new coach is likely to be looking for consolidation rather than anything spectacular for the remainder of the regular season.
The EIHA disciplinary notice came out and it was bad news for Cardiff as Lewis Stevens picked up a three game suspension for kicking in the game against Oxford. Without wishing to jinx the Britton Conference it has been refreshing that not too many large bans have been doled out in recent weeks.
The Daily Express managed to break an interesting hockey story in between the usual thunder snow and polar vortex headlines as they revealed the coronavirus could disrupt the NHL.
It’s certainly true that a large percentage of hockey equipment is now made in China, what with it being a major hotbed of hockey and not at all because it’s cheaper to manufacture goods there. In any case, the lockdown caused by the virus in the country means that there is a real chance that shortages may occur for teams that bulk buy and have players who insist on using a new stick every week.
Bauer as one example, insist they are working on a back-up plan but how interesting would it be if hockey had to raid old warehouses of long forgotten equipment? Let’s see players using old Koho sticks with fibreglass splinters causing chaos, Cooperall trousers, Micron Mega skates and goalies having to wear leg pads heavier than bags of sand when wet. That’ll teach the young-uns.
Saturday review
Game of the night took place in Gillingham where Invicta Dynamos hoped to bounce back against Chelmsford Chieftains after the Cup final defeat the weekend prior.
It took just 15 seconds for the visitors to net through Grant Bartlett, but the Mo’s appeared to recover from the early wobble to lead 3-2 before conceding four unanswered goals, eventually losing 7-4.
Bartlett got another before the end to add to efforts from his brother Cam and Ross Brears, Adam Jakopin, James Ayling and Darren Brown.
Smith v Huska (David Trevallion)
For the Dynamos it was two goals each for Owen Dell and Tomas Banovsky.
Remarkably there were no penalties in the game which meant everyone could get home to watch Casualty, Ant and Dec or whatever other rubbish is on Saturday night prime time TV these days. In PHN towers we are usually far too busy preparing this column with the usual wit, flair and razzamatazz you are accustomed to, so are vague on the schedules these days.
Second placed Solent Devils put a short benched Cardiff side to the sword on the south coast with a routine 8-1 home win.
The Fire actually took the lead through Reed Sayers but it was the last joy they’d have as the hosts ran riot. Ralf Circenis and Drew Campbell each bagged two for the hosts with Alex Murray, Dan Lackey, Scott Cooper and Steven Osman also on target.
There was also time for a tilt as Joe Morris and Richard Facey dropped the gloves in the third.
Slough avenged their shock loss in MK with a 6-0 win over the Thunder at the Hangar.
Matt Smital was the hero between the pipes with a 33 shot shut out while at the other end Christian Mohr and Timo Lindgren scored two each to add to lone goals from Ryan Handisides and Jacob Soper.
Gloves were dropped in the second period as Harry Harcup and Aaron Bonsell went toe to toe to add to the drama.
Streatham overcame Raiders Junior at the Sapphire with a 9-1 road win.
Adam Carr scored two for the RedHawks with Brandon Miles, Ben Paynter, Scott Bailey, Luke Brittle, Ryan Watt, Danny Ingoldsby and Rhys McCormick also netting. Vilius Krakauskas got the consolation while Stevie Dunnage dropped the gloves with Bailey to add to the drama.
Sunday review
Game of the day took place in South London where 1st played 2nd with Solent hoping to inflict their second defeat on Streatham this season.
The Devils raced into a 2-0 lead to stun the South London crowd, before the hosts hit back, eventually winning 4-3 to make it a valuable four point weekend.
Ryan Watt continued his scoring form with two more goals, adding to efforts from Adam Carr and Michael Farn. For the Devils it was Ralfs Circenis, Richard Facey and Steven Osman with the goals.
Watt also had time to drop the gloves centre ice with Mitch Murray in a bout you can view here. RedHawks forward Brandon Miles was also ejected for fighting in the first period.
Chelmsford made it a four point weekend as they beat Invicta at the Riverside with a 5-2 scoreline. The Essex side recovered from an early Owen Dell goal to take the two points thanks to a brace each for James Ayling and Cameron Bartlett plus a lone goal from Darren Brown. The Mo’s second goal came from Juraj Huska.
Four point weekend comes in handy for Slough
Oxford slumped to another home defeat as Slough skated away from Oxpens Road with a 5-2 win.
The Jets made it a welcome four point weekend thanks to a brace from Timo Lindgren and lone efforts from Adam Rosbottom, Christian Mohr, Bradley Hildreth and Juha Lindgren. For the City Stars it was Dax Hedges and Matt Lawday with the goals.
Mike Whillock and Liam Underdown went toe to toe and dropped the gloves to add to the drama.
The results put Streatham in a good position at the top of the league with a four point cushion and a game in hand over Solent. At the bottom, Cardiff Fire have it all to do to snatch that final play off place from any of the middle pack.
Results
Saturday 22 February
Raiders Junior 1-9 Streatham IHC
Invicta Dynamos 4-7 Chelmsford Chieftains
Slough Jets 6-0 MK Thunder
Solent Devils 8-1 Cardiff Fire
Sunday 23 February
Chelmsford Chieftains 5-2 Invicta Dynamos
Oxford City Stars 2-6 Slough Jets
Streatham IHC 4-3 Solent Devils
Contact the author: davidcarr_2@hotmail.com
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