Swooping In:YOU WATT YOU WATT YOU WATT!

SUNDAY 3/12/17 

NIHL SOUTH 1 

VS BRACKNELL BEES

The first time the Bracknell Bee's would visit SW16, this season. And it was a game with much riding on it. The Bee's looking to end a 6 game losing skid. With the return of Frankie Bakrlik from suspension, Scott Spearing dressing for the first time after returning from injury and the addition of Carl Thompson the Bee's presented a strong challenge for the Redhawks. However the loss of sniper Shaun Thompson for the night would mean the likes of James Gallazi, Alex Barker and most importantly Bakrlik would need to be on their game offensively.

Also in the Bees favor this evening was the fact they were rested. While the Redhawks had just come off a battle in Basingstoke where they held on to end the Bisons streak as the only ex EPL team to not lose to an original NIHL side. And with that scalp in hand they would fancy their chances against a strong looking Bee's line up.

1st Period

It would be a battle of David Vs Goliath, speed vs strength in this game. The Bee's boasted both size and skill. While the Redhawks would have to exploit their explosive speed to catch the bigger Bee's off balance. They would need to dig deep and find that same form that had seen them win 5 of their last 6, and helped them topple both Basingstoke and Swindon. Off the opening face off however the Bee's took assertive control penning the Hawks in their own end for several minutes. Thompson and Bakrlik routinely gave the Hawks D trouble, Alex Barker proved troublesome to. All forcing a series of desperation save from Matt Colclough. The Hawks D just couldn't get the puck clear and at 3:49 on the clock this lead to a Tripping Penalty  called on Brendan Miles.

However the following Bee's powerplay failed to make any impact, as the Hawks PK turned the Bee's best PP plans to chaos at almost every turn. However the Bee's offense at even strength soon began stretching Matt Colclough, as a pattern of puck movement combined with point shots from Bakrlik and Bendik became apparent. And at around 8 minutes that combined with the Hawks repeatedly thwarted attempts to clear lead to Barker putting the puck down low from the blue line,where Callum Best was waiting to slot it cross ice to a waiting George Norcliffe and despite Colclough trying his best he couldn't reach it in time. 1-0 Bees.

The pendulum of pressure would soon begin to swing in the Hawks favor, as they found a way to put speed and stretch passes to effect in the neutral zone. However the active stick work from both sides made this challenging at times, especially in the neutral zone. But it was working behind the net, something the Hawks have been masters of this season that lead to the equalizer. As Alex Sampford and Ben Paynter combined to win a puck battle and feed an open and waiting Michael Farn who fired in to the opening Alex Mettan had presented him with. 1-1

The rest of the period would see both goalies come under siege as both sides attempted to push ahead. One highlight being Ryan Watt making the entire line of Bee's look immobile as he skated away in to a 1 on 1 with Alex Mettam only for the experienced shot stopper to foil him. Meaning both teams headed to the locker rooms tied at 1-1

2nd Period 

Off the face off the second started much like the first, with the Bee's taking command of possession and pinning the Hawks in their end. But it would be the Hawks who would make offensive pressure pay 3 minutes in at 23:04 as pressure and a flurry of successive shots that were turned away by Mettam and the D lead to Ryan Webb feeding a rebound to Ryan Watt who fire it in to the net to make it 2-1 Redhawks.

This sparked a rash of end to hockey, as the Bee's urgently looked for an equalizer, Bakrlik at one point looked like he might provide that as he skated up with the puck and found a way to cut inside and found a waiting Josh Martin. But again Matt Colclough would frustrate the Bee's offence. The Neutral zone was becoming turnover central at this time, no sooner did one teams player have the puck then he was set upon by the opposition. One such turnover would release Tom Avery on the PP but again Colclough would stand his ground keeping it 2-1.

Eventually though the pressure paid off, unable to make a clearance the Bee's found themselves able to work the puck around the edges on the cycle. Ealey Newman would pass to Jared Lane who found a waiting James Gallazi skating in at the opposite post and like that it was 2-2.

The Bee's wouldn't have long to enjoy being level though, 1 minute later, the Hawks ex EPL trio would combine to put the home side back in front. Michael Farn would find Adam Carr. A pass to Ryan Watt at the half way mark so Watt head off on his own personal impression of Bobby Orr, as he went outside before cutting inside across Mettams crease stuffing it home, flying head over heels in the process. This had many arguing there was contact and it should not stand. But referee Hewitt ruled it was a good goal,and the score now stood at 3-2 Hawks

Jared Lane would benefit from another turn over this time in the Hawks end, a miscue between Sampford and Baird found the Bee's forward in on Colclough.But again the Hawks shot stopper was equal to the challenge. While the Bee's were using a mix of crips pass play and ranged fire, the Hawks had settled on getting in Mettams face repeatedly trying for tic tac tip plays in and around the net. But Mettam would bat these aside or his D would break the play up.

The Hawks would close out the second extending thier lead at the 38 minute mark, a delayed penalty call enabled the Hawks to go to 6 skaters, Farn very intelligently stayed back until his team mates had set up before firing an up ice pass to Alex Sampford, crisp passing to Ryan Watt found the puck back on Sampfords stick who would tuck it home to make it 4-2 Hawks. And once again the Hawks had the hardest lead in hockey. Coach Cornish wold have the whole 2nd intermission to now plan. Would he park the bus or go all out offensive?

3rd Period

The game plan for both going in to the third, was simple. Both needed to score first. Bee's to claw back the momentum, Hawks to kill it off. As with the 1st and 2nd the Bee's would begin by piling the offensive pressure on the Hawks net. The Hawks did themselves no favors by failing repeatedly to clear the zone, or make any connecting passes. The Bee's took control of the neutral zone in the early going. Soon though the lack of a goal and the Hawks frustrations at not being able to break out lead to some chippyness, as Brendan Baird and Barker almost came to blows after Colclough had saved a close shot from Jan Bendik. Soon after the Hawks found an offensive stride again, Andreas Siagris and Aiden Doughty found themselves in 2 on 1 but couldn't convert. Alex Sampford would find himself alone, in on Mettam but again Mettam would make the save. Frustration was really beginning to show, if the hand bags between Alex Barker and Jacob Ranson weren't an indicator. Frankie Bakrlik deciding to try out for the Czech Olympic Javelin team mid period, by launching his stick in to his own bench was a clear sign of this.

With 4 minutes remaining the Bee's would opt to use their time out to regroup. This worked, as off the following face off Bakrlik would work his way up ice, before passing it to Thompson who from down behind the net would find Josh Martin skating in. Taking advantage of the slight gap afforded to him by Colclough and it was 4-3. The Bee's were back in the game it seemed.

With 1:33 left on the clock and seemingly in command of the neutral zone and the game at this point the Bee's gambled. Pulling Mettam for the extra attacker. However the gamble failed. Once again Michael Farn would turn defense in to offence as he released Ryan Webb skating up the near side boards. With explosive speed he would leave all in the dust and shoot in to the empty net to make it 5-3 Hawks

Any lingering hopes the Bee's had of a late comeback took a further blow when at 58 minutes Alex Barker was assessed 2 for tripping. And so the game ended, a 4 point weekend for the Hawks and a further defeat for the Bee's.

Post Game thoughts

This was another incredible game of hockey, real edge of the seat stuff from both sides. The Bee's did look like they could take it at times, but they just seemed to lack that final touch and killer finish on too many of their chances.

Jared Lane took MOTM for the Bee's and I feel that was a deserved choice, along with Alex Barker and Carl Thompson he was a continuous thorn in the Streatham defenses side. Alex Mettam also I think deserved it maybe as despite the 4 goals he let in he stood on his head to keep them in it. Especially when the Hawks where looking to kill the game off. What really cost the Bee's was the loss of the 50/50 battles in the corner, which if you lose those against Streatham in particular is not going to lead to a win. Bee's would have hoped the return of the second highest points scorer in the league would've helped them break the skid. But Bakrlik was pretty much a non factor for most of this game. He came alive to spark the 3rd goal. But for large chunks of the game seemed invisible.

Ryan Watt was fully deserving of the MOTM honors as well for the Hawks. With 2 goals and an assist Watt was spearhead of another resilient performance from the Redhawks. Michael Farn deserved consideration as well, his hard work at the back end both in defending and creating offence was the catalyst to several of the Hawks goals. Matt Colclough's performance in net helped keep the team in contention for the win. And special congrats to Ryan Webb, from his reaction and the celebrations both on and off the ice you could see how much that goal meant to the lad. He's really having a break out season, and his partnership with Ryan Watt is entertaining to watch.

Up next for the Hawks its the local rivals the London Raiders. Another possibility here for a close game. London coming off the back of beating Cardiff Fire 6-1 on Saturday. Then the Hawks return home to another tough test in Basingstoke. The Bison will be looking to exact revenge for the 2-0 loss the Hawks inflicted on them last week. But after a 4 point weekend against ex EPL opposition the Hawks will fancy their chances.

Swooping In:The most difficult lead in hockey.

Sunday 26/11/17

National Cup Group C

With qualification to the next round of the cup sewn up for the Redhawks, the term dead rubber could be given to this game. However as Coach Cornish has said in mid week "this is a team that doesn't take a night off" and with the opposition being The London Raiders, there was the pride of victory in a London derby at stake.

Games between these two teams had been close affairs this season. With the Raiders missing out via the shoot out during their last visit to SW16. Unlike last weeks weakened opposition, the Raiders arrived with a nearly full bench. Only missing Julian Smith and Michael Gray. Once again the Red Hawks would be minus the services of Ryan Watt, his spot being taken by 3rd Generation Redhawk Alec Goldstone.

1st Period

Both teams have been evenly matched this year, and the opening 5 minutes showed this as both sides probed and tested each other defenses. However nothing would give. Raiders net minder Zach Grandy-Smith would turn away repeated ranged Michael Farn efforts and snipes from Andreas Siagris. It was very much run and gun hockey as both sides attempted to match speed and skill with speed and skill. Zonal control was not a thing in this period as the pendulum swung one way then the other in the neutral zone. Olegs Lascenko and Marek Nahlik would combine to generate much of the Raiders offence. However despite gaining the zone, and being allowed to set up, no one could apply the final touch and Matt Colclough was barely tested in any threatening way.

It would be the Redhawk's though who broke the deadlock. Joe Allen working the puck behind the net was able to feed Aiden Doughty, who then found space to skate to the hash marks turn and shoot to fire it home under Smith and it was 1-0 Redhawk's at 7:25 in the 1st(G 19 A 11)

Minutes later the Raiders looked to have a window to get back in the game as James Warman sat for an interference call AT 8:59. But despite the man advantage the Hawks, would find the majority of the offensive pressure as they chose the ultra offensive PK plan. On 3 occasions forcing turn overs at the blue line leading to Ranson,Hayes and Miles all getting 1 on 1's with Smith. Luckilly for the Raiders none found the net.

The Redhawk's offence eventually found a way through though, after sustained pressure from Hayes and Sampford's line, Michael Farn was able to work the puck around to Jamie Hayes. Who found Alex Sampford skating in on support, Sampford potted the puck and it was 2-0 Redhawk's at 15:06(G 7 A 77 A 55) Earlier in the game on a break in Alan Lack and Brendan Miles had almost come to blows. Now possibly seeking to spark something from his team mates Lack challenged Miles off the following face off.

It looked like Lack had gotten the better of his bigger opponent. However when the linesmen jumped in to break things up a bit prematurely the balance of the tilt shifted. Leading to Miles getting the upper hand. Seemingly this did spark the Raiders offence in to life as they began buzzing and crashing the net, working the puck low behind the net. At one point Lascenko found enough space to work down low, and found Turner alone dead center but he could only fire it right at Colclough's chest. The first would end with the Redhaks holding the hardest lead in hockey up by 2.

2nd Period

The Hawks would go in to the second with a choice to make tactically. Go all out and risk conceding or sit back and try to soak up the pressure defending the 2 goals. They chose offence, the second period began with sustained pressure on the Raiders net, but despite the pressure Grandy Smith was equal to everything being thrown at him, and the D were doing a good job killing off the rebounds. While Huska and Nahlik lead the charge when the Raiders were on the offensive. The Redhakws would run in to penalty trouble early in the 2nd though as first Dan Rose was sent to the box for Delay of game, and then James Warman for boarding.

The Raiders would set up for ranged fire on this PP, looking for a rebound and chaos around the net to try and shovel it home. The best chance came when Huska was able to get the puck to Ollie Baldock, with a seemingly wide open back door. But amazingly Colclough manged to get across and close the door on him.

The Raiders would continue to utilize the crash the net approach for the rest of the period, with Alan Lack going close as he rushed down the boards cutting across in to the crease. The best chance the Redhawks would get came at 39 minutes when Joe Allen collected a turn over directly out of the box finding himself in 1 on 1 but unable to convert. And so the second wold end 0-0 with the score still 2-0 to the Hawks

3rd Period

The 3rd period would see Raiders break the shut out in unusual fashion. As Jake Sylvester broke down the win he would be forced wide. Allowing Sean Barry to collect the puck as it came lose, he would attempt a centering pass. Unfortunately for Adam Wood, trying to cover the far side of the net, left open by Colclough, it would bank in off his skate to make it 2-1. This energized the Raiders offence and they began peppering the Hawks net.

Eventually at 51 minutes the Raiders would get a chance to push the advantage and try to get an equalizer as Ben Paynter took a boarding penalty. However far from giving the raiders a chance to pull another one back the Powerplay would gift the Redhawks a return to that 2 goal lead.

Attempting to set up the puck at the blue line, Marek Nahlik would turn the puck over to Andreas Siagris. At first it would seem Siagris was just going to try running down the clock. But the 3 Raiders attempting to steal the puck from the Canadian left Alex Sampford free to skate in 1 on 1 with the puck. Beating Grandy-Smith to make the score 3-1 Redhawks (G 7 A88)

Minutes later it looked like Ryan Webb was going to put the game to bed, skating around everyone on his way to the net, only to lose an edge at the vital final moment. This failure to convert would lead to the Raiders once again clawing one back as Lascenko would intercept an attempted clearance. Crashing the net, with Marek Nahlik crashing in with him. Getting the puck across Colclough's crease to make it 3-2 with 4 minutes on the clock (G 83 A 23)

With minutes to go any hope the Raiders had of a complete come back were ended when John Conolly took a high sticking penalty at 58 minutes. The Redhawks would put the Raiders under sustained pressure trying to kill off the game. And the game would end with a last desperate bid by Nahlik to get the equalizer. First shooting the side netting and then trying to shove the puck home. But it was to no avail and the game ended 3-2 to the Redhwaks.

Post Game thoughts

This was a great hockey game, it had a bit of everything, and was not one sided at all. Man of the match for Raiders went to Callum Burnett. If I am honhest I felt this should have gone to Oleg Lascenko or Marek Nahlik as they were the driving force behind a lot the Raiders best offensive chances.

For the Redhawks, Matt Colclough was very deserving, as he had a solid game in net and realistically but for a freak bounce would have only been down 1 goal on the night. Others of note were Alex Sampford who ran rampant on the offensive for the Hawks. Special mention as well to Ryan Webb who had another strong night, and really deserved a goal.

Next up for the Redhawk's its a 3rd weekend of nothing to do on Saturday. The Hawks will be well rested for the Bracknell Bee's. Sitting 3rd in the table the Bee's will be no push overs, and a returning Frantisek Bakrlik will add more spice to the game. The Redhawk's having turned over Swindon a few weeks ago may fancy their chances in this game, especially with the bees looking to snap a now 6 game losing streak.

Swooping In:Out of Steam

As my main weekly dose of Hockey is going to be at Streatham from now on I have decoded to separate posts on the Redhawks in to a new category. Swooping In will from now on will be the section for posts on the Hawks. While Love Hockey Will Travel will cover games I attend in Basingstoke, Coventry and further afield.

Pre Game Thoughts

So my last trip to Streatham for a dose of hockey had been, against the Invicta Dynamos for a flash point filled bad tempered affair. In that game the Mo's had looked disorganized, and lacking in any strategy. So after seeing that the night before this Mo's side had pulled off the huge upset of beating Bracknell 5-1 I was looking forward to a better game. However the Mo's arrived in SW16 with only 1 and a half lines,mid week the team had lost import Adam Rehak, they would also be without Calum Fowler,Tom Long, Harrison Lillis and Mason Webster.

The short benched Dynamo's team were facing a fresh and rested Redhawks, who though missing Ryan Watt had called up Alec Goldstone from the Junior ranks to take his place in the line up. Invicta would need to dig deep and find something extra, as they had done the night before. 

1st Period

However in the first 12 seconds of the game, that something extra seemed to desert the Dynamo's. As the Redhawks broke in quickly cycling the puck to Michael Farn who would feed Ryan Webb who blasted it home for the opener. 1-0 Redhawks. One criticism that could be levelled at the Dynamo's last visit was the team never regrouped after conceding. Tonight that was different as the Dynamo's regrouped and soon would find themselves on the power play. Focussing on buzzing the net and getting in starting net minder Nate Gregory's space.  While Gregory seemed calm in the face of this, the Redhawks high energy offence, seemed to be throwing Dibble for a loop at the other end. As time after time he seemed to be struggling to see the puck and track his rebounds. Then the games tone took a bit of a shift as Ben Paynter blindsided Seb Downing. In the ensuing melee Paynter and Downing went 1 on 1 while Brendan Miles held Strawson at bay. 

The Dynamo's would convert the following power play, as a well organized unit quickly cycled the puck round. Finally Strawson fed Ryan Morgan who got the puck back to Ondrej Zosiak who would roof the puck over Gregory and tie the game 1-1. But shortly after the Redhawks would pull away again. A neutral zone turn over would lead to Ryan Webb collecting the puck, Andreas Siagris would break in and get a shot off, that was tipped in front by Adam Carr making it 2-1. 

2nd Period

The second period began with the Dynamo's on the back foot as they had 1:21 of PK to play. It looked like the Hawks had punished them within 55 seconds of the start of the period. As Jamie Hayes collected the puck off the cycle at the point and was given space to skate in from low. However it was just a couple of inches wide and wound up ruffling the outside of the net. However despite this the Dynamo's PK looked good and the team seemed to be more focussed and energetic than the Hawks. One bright spot of this was George Hoang who at one point found himself in 1 on 1 but he missed a step and fell. Yet still getting the shot away. 

But despite this new focus, Nate Gregory was withstanding everything the Dynamos could throw at him. Then just after the half way mark the Redhawks won a face off the puck escaped back to Joe Baird at the blue line, who skated in to space and fired towards the net, the puck would take a deflection of a Mo's player on the way in but it made it past Dibble and it was 3-1 Redhawks

In quick succession the Redhawks would look to kill off the game, as it was becoming apparent the short bench and the performance the night before had taken it out of the Dynamo's at this point. As Danny Rose and Alex Sampford combined in a game of tic tac toe, after a lapse in concentration lead to two Mo's defencemen colliding at the point. With only Dibble to defend the net the two passed back and forth drawing him out of place before Sampford fired home 4-1 Redhwaks. The period would end 4-1, with the Redhawks very much in control. 

3rd Period

The 3rd period would begin with a continuation of the Hawks dominance of the game, as Aidan Doughty found a way in from the boards after collecting the puck from Baird. Firing high it again found its way past Dibble and it was 5-1 Streatham. Shortly after this coach Parrish would use his time out,most likely just to get a breather for his exhausted players. Streatham would keep applying the pressure though, and the Dynamo's cause would not be helped by Brandon Webster taking a checking from behind penalty near the 46 minute mark. Though the penalty would be killed, the energy had been drained from the limited number of bodies on the bench as Webster would sit for 10. Eventually another defensive lapse would see Joe Allen fire the puck down low to Siagris who would find Adam Carr alone in the slot area who who put it away for 6-1.

It seemed that the Dynamo's were done at this point, however they still had some fight in them. With the Dynamo's attempting a break in Aiden Doughty would attempt a big hit, however despite knocking down Tom Ralph this was not enough to stop him giving the puck to Louis Colvin who would find Scott Bailey. Who would fire high in to the net beating Gregory to make it 6-2. 

It looked like the possibility of a late fight back would be on, as after successfully killing a penalty Ashley Jackson found himself with the puck upon exiting the penalty box in alone, with support from Bailey. Opting to pass cross ice than shoot Bailey couldn't beat Gregory to generate a 3rd goal. Combined with 2 Dynamo's delay of game penalties in the final minutes of the game meant that would be how it ended. 

Afterthoughts

Brendan Baird would collect man of the match for Streatham, one of many good choices from an overall good team performance. I felt Ryan Webb deserved a look in for this as well, as he not only scored one but generated plenty of offence, and was the one to step up and challenge Webster following the hit on Siagris. Siagris himself was another stand out to me, as whenever he got the puck he seemed to generate chances. But Baird had put in a solid performance at both ends of the ice all night and deserved it. 

John Dibble would get the beers for Invicta. Despite the 6-2 scoreline, John Dibble put in the best performance he could. He frustrated the Hawks offence as long as he could, and gave the Dynamo's a chance to try and claw things back. However in my opinion the whole Dynamo's team deserved the beers purely for putting on a performance that is not reflected in the scoreboard. As they were still doing all they could to generate offence and frustrating the Redhawks own forwards. However they just ran out of steam against the depth of Streatham

Streatham will look to keep the winning streak going next weekend, once again with no game on the Saturday the Redhawks will be well rested as they welcome the London Raiders to SW16. The Raiders should be a tougher opponent for the Redhawks as they have a fuller roster, and will be looking to bounce back from 2 defeats to ex epl sides. Though they did run Swindon very close they were shut out 6-0 by Bison on Sunday night. Having taken the last game in Streatham to a shootout and having taken the points the last time these two teams met the Raiders will be tough opposition. 

Love Hockey Will Travel Part 1: Hockey Is For Everyone

Pregame

Welcome to Love Hockey Will Travel, here on 2 For Flinching. So each weekend I try to attend hockey games, somewhere in the UK. So I have decided to blog about my experiences doing this.

So we begin, with a trip up the road, quite literally for me as I have recently moved to Streatham(more on this another time)

Streatham, have been a team I have had admiration for since the decision to rebrand last season following a fan vote. In a sport littered with examples of people defending offensive status quos surrounding team names and homophobia. The Streatham Redhawks have shown themselves to be beacon of hope against such thinking.

This game, would write them in to the history books for yet more positive reasons. As the Streatham Redhawks became the first British Hockey team to use Pride tape in open play. Holding a pride night. Where it was wonderful to see many of the local LGBT and LGBT hockey community in the UK come along and have a wonderful time.

If any of them were at their first hockey game, they got a very good and entertaining game. That had a bit of everything that a hockey buffet could offer up.

A look down both rosters showed the promise of a close game, Thunder had tonnes of size in their team, sacrificing speed for physicality. They also had a lot of high level experience with players such as Lewis Christie, Rupert Quinney, Tom Carlon and Grant McPherson.

Streatham would have to look to exploit the explosive speed of players like Alex Sampford and Jacob Ranson, and the skill, and early season goal gathering skills of Aidan Doughty and Adam Carr in the absence of player of the month Ryan Watt

The Game

The First Period of the game, was a quiet yet very tense affair. Thunder had the Streatham net under pressure from the start. The pendulum would swing each way with attack and counter attack as both sides probed one another for a weakness to exploit. Streatham utilizing its speed over the slower, much more physical Thunder players. Who in turn used their physicality to shut down that speed.

It was eventually though the Redhwaks who drew first blood. As a unit the team went end to end, with Alex Sampford leading the charge rushing to the net and forcing home the puck squeezing it past Tom Annetts pad after a pass from Ben Paynter.

Streatham would end the period 1-0 up over Thunder. But the second period would see the game, which had been poised upon a knife edge shift in the Thunders favor. As a combination of physical play and poor discipline on the part of the Hawks cost them bodies on the ice and the bench.

Shortly in to the Second, Ben Paynter boarded Hallen Barnes Gardner, in the aftermath of this both had a few words for one another, which lead to a dropping of the gloves. The fight was more of a hugging match than a fight. But it served its purpose as Paynter got 2 for boarding and 2 for roughing, with Gardner 2 for roughing. But this meant Brandon Miles having to cover the roughing call. Depleting the roster corps coach Cornish could call upon.

Streatham managed to weather this storm for a while, however the game took a turn for the chippier minutes later. Heading in to the corner for a lose puck, Chris Cooke and Grinell Parke had a collision. In the aftermath Parke jumped on Cooke and another small scuffle ensued. The fallout of which left the home fans perplexed as Cooke picked up a 2+2 while Parke only received 2 for roughing.

Streatham continued to weather the storm, as Mathew Colclough stopped everything thrown at him. While equally the Thunder continued the trend of this game of squandering chances. However eventually Thunder found a way to break the shut out.

The puck took an odd bounce in the bottom corner of the rink, landing on Tom Carlon's stick who fed Grinell-Parke who backhanded home, to tie the game at 1-1. Thunder would then take the lead 7 minutes later. An attempted clearance took a bad deflection off referee Thompson to the feet of Jamie Line. Who fed the puck to a waiting Ross Bowers who went top cheddar to make it 2-1 Thunder.

Thunder would end the period 3-1 up as a contentious roughing penalty on Brandon Miles,lead to a PP conversion. The build up would see Matt Colclough do all he could to hold the puck out twice having to make desperation saves at open back doors. However it was Gareth O'Flaherty's speed that would lead to the puck finding Tom Mboya who fed Ross Bowers who sniped to make it 3-1 Thunder.

Despite being 3-1 down Streatham would enter the 3rd period with some hope. An extremely soft tripping penalty call at 39:56 on Ross Green had give Streatham 1:56 of power play to try and break through the wall Tom Annetts and the Thunder defense had erected.

Thunders PK began, what would turn in to a shut down master class in the third. Michael Farn would lead a ranged bombardment of the Thunder net, with plenty of traffic in front as the less mobile Thunder defense, collapsed in on Tom Annetts. However rebounds, loose pucks none of them found a stick with Pride tape.

Despite the only goal for the Redhawks having been from close range, the Thunder D forced the Hawks continue to fire the puck from range. They we were winning their fare share of the face offs these ranged shots were generating, however no sooner did a Hawks player take possesion of the puck he was presented with a human wall in a Thunder jersey. Thunder had begun to amp up the physical stuff, taking the Redhawks speed out of the game as a factor.

As a last gamble, with just under 2 mins left Coach Cornish called a Time out and pulled his net minder. But Tom Annetts, and the physical play of the Thunder meant it was a gamble did not pay off. And the buzzer sounded on what had been a tense, but entertaining game.

The Aftermath

Thunder came in and played a great road game here, they dominated physically. Not only that but they controlled it to keep themselves out of the box, later on when they needed to close out the game.  Too often teams will pick up the hitting and draw needless penalties as a result. They kept the Redhawks to the outside and denied them the slot area. Forcing the Hawks to rely on shots from the point and out wide. Despite the traffic and chaos this generated around his crease at Streatham went looking for a rebound, especially in the later stages of the game. Tom Annetts really deserved his MOTM beers. Dan Rose got the beers for Streatham and I feel that was justified as he did the thing I look for in a D-Man, I barely noticed him. I would've considered Alex Sampford and Jamie Hayes as they seemed to be the main creative outlets for the Redhawks all night

Both teams came in here looking to snap 2 game losing streaks. Thunder have now done this and with a game next weekend against Invicta they'll fancy their chances to push on and claim another 2 points. For Streatham however it may be a tough weekend as they face both Basingstoke Bison and high flying undefeated Peterborough. However if Jeremy Cornish can coach a similar performance to the one seen against Swindon Wildcats, out of the team it may be a different story