LONDON, UK – The National Ice Hockey League South 1 delivered thrills, spills and the sub-plots that make it what it is this week.
Bordowski bangs in for Bison (David Trevallion)
Invicta Dynamos haven’t had the best of starts to the season so posted what appeared to be a snippet of Bonnie Tyler’s iconic Total Eclipse of the Heart video on their Facebook page. On closer inspection however, the muscle bound topless character surrounded by smoke and mood lighting was in fact star defenseman Ondrej Zosiak taking cutting edge treatment for his groin injury by Cryojuvenate UK.
Familiar NIHL face and friend of PHN Ryan Giles was announced as re-joining the club after spending a year out to help Coach Kev Parrish address a defensive crisis made worse by a suspension to Harrison Lillis.
Zosiak feels the freeze
Lillis was the unfortunate loser in a week that saw Raiders Blaho Novak and Basingtoke’s Michal Klejna both have their bans quashed as a result of video evidence. Whilst there is nothing wrong with using cameras to overturn decisions it does raise the question as to how this can be consistent, especially for away teams unless the EIHA are receiving full game footage of every fixture.
In Milton Keynes it was announced that the much loved Mark Woolf would have his jersey retired by the Thunder at a ceremony before the home game against Bracknell.
Woolf stood between the pipes for the Thunder for many years and stepped up for the Lightning when needed too. His performances were often the difference between his team winning and losing and his commitment a lesson to kids coming through.
The Thunder also announced the signing of new Canadian import Trevor LeBlanc from Swedish side Malungs IF, plus youngsters Sean Norris and Sam Talbot from Slough Jets.
The legend of Woolf
On a more sobering note, NIHL forward Gareth O’Flaherty posted a thought provoking and brilliant piece on his battle with depression that rightly earned kudos from all corners of British hockey. We are grateful that he chose Pro Hockey News as an outlet and you can read it here.
In Bristol there were cheers of joy as a new ice rink had planning permission granted for a facility at Cribbs Causeway.
The reports in the Bristol Post are great news and fully deserved for Richie Hargreaves and his Pitbulls team who have played on the road for many years since Frogmore Street closed.
In true Pitbulls fashion we look forward to the club launching a blimp of their Jackie Moon-esque leader at the world renowned Bristol Balloon Festival next year in celebration.
So before we begin the weekend review. Sit back, relax and enjoy the talented Courtney sing the National Anthem in Romford.
Saturday review
In scenes normally reserved for later in the season when one inch of snow brings the country to a halt, the Raiders and their fans were left guessing until 3pm as to whether their game against Swindon Wildcats would go ahead in Wiltshire. Not even a Gregg’s meal deal at Newbury Services would’ve been adequate consolation for a potential wasted journey, but thankfully the game went ahead after rink staff sorted out the ice issue.
The Wildcats showed that the less than perfect ice would not disrupt their flow with a 6-0 shutout of the Romford side, who slumped to their third consecutive defeat.
Webb scores past Mo’s (Rick Webb)
Edgars Bebris bagged a hat trick for the Cats with Sam Jones, Max Birbraer and Aaron Nell also on target. Swindon goalie Renny Marr earned a 29 shot shut out.
MK Thunder gave league leaders Bracknell the fright of their lives in front of watching legend Woolf and also EIHL media mogul Rob McGregor who took time off from tweeting about the big show and Brexit to support his former team mate. Get the pads back on Rob!
It took a 3rd period powerplay goal from Ivan Antonov to seal the two points in a 3-2 win for the Bees, with Zach Milton scoring his first goal for the team and Ryan Sutton also notching. For the Thunder it was the evergreen Greg Randall and Tomas Rubes with the goals.
In Streatham, things went from bad to worse for the Dynamos as their old rivals from South London did them no favours easing to a 7-0 win, their fourth on the bounce. Ryan Webb scored a hat trick for the RedHawks to add to goals from Adam Carr, Andreas Siagris, Tom Soar and a first goal of the season from Ziggy Beesley. In the Streatham pipes Damien King and Nate Gregory shared the shut out.
The Dynamos lost goalie Connor Morris to a nasty looking injury in the second period and star summer signing Edmund Piacka was unable to get off his sick bed for the game.
Weller Evans rests up
Basingstoke Bison Coach Ashley Tait handed goalie Dan Weller-Evans a start in their home game against Peterborough Phantoms but the long serving stopper had to retire injured after only six minutes played.
The Phantoms went on to win the game 2-1 thanks to goals from Ales Padelek and James Ferrara. For the Bison it was Liam Morris on target in a game the hosts outshot the visitors.
Everyone at PHN wishes Dan all the best in his recovery.
NIHL media outlet 482 Days snubbed NIHL 1 to take in the NIHL 2 crunch clash in Bracknell, where the Oxford City Stars ran out 9-6 winners in a goal fest with the Hornets. Joe Edwards was the hat trick hero for the Stars but it was the Yellow pin badge distributors making the headlines again after taking up two spaces in the car park with shoddy parking, dropping a dog poo refuse bag outside the rink and suffocating a rare red squirrel.
Sunday review
The most intriguing games of the night took place in Bracknell and Invicta for very different reasons.
In Kent the winless Dynamos and MK Thunder faced each other in a real edge of the seat encounter. The Thunder raced into a 3-0 lead thanks to goals from Ross Bowers, Tomas Rubes and Trevor LeBlanc. The Mo’s then hit back through Anthony Leone, Martin Susters and Callum Best to set up a crunch third period.
Rubes rules (Lucy McGill)
In dramatic fashion the Thunder stunned the home crowd in the final minute of the game with a second goal from Rubes to earn their first win of the season and no doubt leave the Dynamos with some decisions to make.
At the Hive, the top of the league Bees faced fellow touted title challengers Swindon in a game that lived up to its billing in the first two periods. Jan Kostal, Sam Bullas and Edgars Bebris gave the Cats a 3-2 lead with twenty minutes to go, before Josh Smith tied it up again adding to earlier efforts from Aidan Doughty and Roman Malinik.
The visitors showed their character however and it was left to Sam Jones to score a late winner in overtime for the Cats that certainly sends a message for the rest of the campaign.
The Raiders desperately needed a win against the Bison to arrest their recent slump in a game dedicated to St Francis Hospice. Ashley Tait and his team weren’t in the mood for charity and bounced back with a 4-3 win despite a late surge from the Raiders.
Charity night in Romford
Richard Bordowski, Hallam Wilson, Alex Sampford and Michal Klejna sealed the points for the Bison with Liam Chong, Juraj Huska and Filip Sedivy getting the consolation goals for the Raiders.
In Peterborough, the Phantoms faced an in-form Streatham team with both sides boasting wins in all of their four previous games. The game predictably went to overtime with a brace from Peterborough’s Petr Stepanek and RedHawks goals from Adam Carr and Adam Wood tying things up at 2-2 after 60 minutes.
The hosts grabbed the extra point thanks to a winner from Glenn Billing.
The results mean the Bees stay at the top of the league followed by Streatham with both looking over their shoulders at Swindon and the Raiders. At the bottom, Invicta remain winless but have only the one game next Sunday which gives them a little extra time to get their squad back to strength.
Results
Saturday 13 October 2018
Basingstoke Bison 1 Peterborough Phantoms 2
Streatham IHC 7 Invicta Dynamos 0
Swindon Wildcats 6 Raiders 0
MK Thunder 2 Bracknell Bees 3
Sunday 14 October 2018
Invicta Dynamos 3 MK Thunder 4
Peterborough Phantoms 3 Streatham IHC 2 (after Overtime)
Bracknell Bees 3 Swindon Wildcats 4 (after Overtime)
Raiders 3 Basingstoke Bison 4
Contact the author: carrsy2@gmail.com
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