Week 9 ENL round up

LONDON, UK – There are some things in life that just cannot be explained. One such mystery is why in 2009, with such advances in technology, it still takes weeks to break in hockey skates. More mysterious or indeed spooky was the fact that the winning raffle ticket at our game this Halloween weekend against the Milton Keynes Thunder was number 666.

The mood was upbeat in the Redskins locker room prior to the match and this was understandable given our 2-0 victory in Milton Keynes last week. Rousing pre game speeches by the coach Barry Spours and captain Ed Koral were tempered by a bizarre cry from forward Richard Hardy who urged the team to; “Send Milton Keynes packing, back to their grid system and good night clubs”     If Hardy is a closet MK fan he certainly didn’t show it as he put in his best performance of the season alongside the brilliant pairing of Louis Lockwood and Peter Molnar. With a brace each, the Redskins first line was the difference between the two sides and the quality of the goals scored must have impressed the Streatham faithful and coach Spours. The highlight reel would certainly feature Molnar’s coast to coast effort where he finished into the top corner on his backhand, Louis Lockwood’s mid air volley for the first goal and finally Richard Hardy’s full length swan dive and subsequent slice over stranded Thunder goalie Mark Woolf for goal number six. So Milton Keynes Thunder return home after losing 6-4 but at least they have good nightlife in their city to drown their sorrows. In much the same way that many people won’t fly on Friday the 13th, I wouldn’t be too surprised if Invicta’s goalie Shane Kemp is unavailable for selection when Halloween comes around next year. Only mystical witchcraft could explain how an innocent shot off the plexi glass by Bracknell’s Matt Ovenden, took a freak bounce and ended up in the net, although less superstitious fans may point to poor rink maintenance. Poor Kemp was pulled by Kevin Parrish straight after the goal and the former Streatham goalie will be having nightmares about it I’m sure. The Witchcraft not withstanding, Ovenden’s third period strike sealed Invicta’s first loss of the season and gave the chasing pack hope of gaining ground in the league title race. Two of the aforementioned chasing pack faced each other in Cardiff on Saturday, with the home side taking on the Chelmsford Chieftains. With Cardiff looking comfortable at 4-1 up in the third, Chelmsford coach Dean Birrell must have weaved some magic as the Chieftains rallied to tie the game 4-4 courtesy of late Ross Brears goal. Danny Hammond also notched a hat trick for the visitors who must have been ecstatic with their comeback. On Sunday, Chelmsford completed a satisfying weekend by thrashing the Wightlink Raiders 8-1 in Essex. Hammond scored two more goals to make it five for the weekend and the often maligned Jerry Pavlus bagged a hat trick. It spells worrying times for the Raiders who are slowly slipping out of the title race with some suspect form on the road. Invicta bounced back with an 11-2 demolition of bottom side Peterborough Islanders in Kent. Peter Vaisenan notched four for the home side who were never in any danger of losing this game. The only surprise was that the Islanders managed to score two goals. Oxford City Stars caused the weekend’s second major surprise when they beat Cardiff 7-4 at Oxpens Road. The much anticipated return of Oxford old boys Alan Armour and Andrew Shurmer in Cardiff colours helped boost crowd numbers for this fixture, but it was their long time team mate and former colleague Grant Bailey who stole the headlines with an empty net goal to seal the win for the City Stars. Voted the leagues most hated player last season in an unofficial internet poll, Richard Wojciack (or Wo-jerk as he was dubbed at the time) scored two goals to show his value to the home team. Other scorers for Oxford included new signing Ken Forshee, Dean Francis, Darren Elliott and utility man with the tan Mark Krater. Cardiff will be unhappy at not taking advantage of Invicta’s dropped points over the weekend but they have too much quality in their line up to be ruled out this early. I said at the start of the season that consistency will be Oxfords biggest problem and it is proving to be true. They have lost close fought home games against Chelmsford and Wightlink yet have managed a victory in Bracknell and now a home win over the highly fancied Devils. Head coach Simon Anderson has a tough but not impossible task to lead the Stars to a top four finish. Bracknell made it a four point weekend with a convincing 9-2 victory over Haringey at Alexandra Palace. Hornets pair David Wride and Blair Dubyk faced their former team for the first time since quitting the Greyhounds and despite the one sided score line, this was a bad tempered affair. Greyhound’s marquee signing of the summer Perry Richardson got kicked out of the game to add to coach Sergei Smollenko’s woes. A close friend of mine remarked recently that I was turning into a bit of a misery so I thought I would save my final words this week to dish out some praise. First in line is the referee of our game on Sunday Mr Meekison. I thought he did a good job and was consistent throughout. Secondly I would like to praise the non stop drumming and chanting from the Streatham fans at the game. They have had to watch some pretty heavy defeats on the road recently so it was great to see their loyalty rewarded by the teams display. It was also important that the club put on a good show in front of some local politicians who were in attendance following the ‘Save Streatham Ice rink’ appeal. Lastly I would like to thank all the players, supporters and officials from across the league for their well wishes regarding my injury. The consultant has said December/January should be the time I can put a skate on again. I really can’t describe how happy that will make me. I would like to apologise to any one who has tried to email me following my request last week. The link has now been fixed so you should be able to contact me again. Thanks for reading and stay safe. Carrsy Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com