SUNDAY 30th SEPTEMBER 2018
STREATHAM REDHAWKS VS BRACKNELL BEES
STREATHAM HIGH ROAD
PRE GAME
One of the pre-season favorites, rolled in to Streatham Sunday night riding a wave of momentum. Having been undefeated in their opening 4 games the Bracknell Bee's would fancy their chances against a Streatham side that had just narrowly lost out to the Bee's just the week before. That being said it had been a close encounter and only won in the closing minutes of the game. Having seen the ghost of Frankie Bakrlik exercised the night before against Invicta the Bees would hand a debut to new import signing Niko Suoraniemi.
The Redhawks would look to jump start their season after 2 loses in a row on the road. And would see a full bench take to the ice. The key to beating the Bee's would be to play a physical and aggressive style that would choke off the speed and movement of the Bee's team.
1st PERIOD
Dean Skinns and Damien King would be handed the starts in net while in the face off circle Shaun Thompson would renew acquaintances with Adam Carr. In a shuffling of the lines Jacob Ranson would join the first line to provide energy and tenacity on one wing to match Alex Roberts speed and size down the other.
The opening phases of ply would see the Bee's assert themselves on the game, pinning the Hawks in to their own defensive end, unable to clear as Vanya Antonov and Thompson stick handled the puck around Hawks defense men. However the pressure would be removed when referee Blaine Evans called the Bees for a hand pass, that drew the ire of the Bee's travelling fan base. The Bees had all the offense in the opening phase of the game but were left frustrated by an inability to score a goal.
The disallowed goal served as a catalyst in the game giving the Hawks a way back in as chaos in the neutral zone saw Bailey, Webb and Siagris combine to create a break in, which was only denied by Dean Skinns making the save for the Bees. This would then be followed by Alex Roberts finding a way through, closing on net with a waiting Michael Farn the Canadian opted to shoot but it was fired in to a waiting Skinn's
The Roberts Carr Ranson line would get the fans on their feet in quick succession after this as Carr would feed a speeding Ranson through the neutral zone, cutting in to the net, with everyone beaten including Skinns all Ranson had to do was back hand it home. But carrying to much speed Ranson couldn't react quick enough and the puck sailed wide.
The game then descended in to a neutral zone war, as the active stick work of both turned the neutral zone in to poke check city. Turn over after turn over with no team able to create any cohesive offence. Eventually it would be the Hawks who would take advantage of this chaos to create some offence. First Ranson would go close again, before Webb Condren and Siagris would outwork the Bee's D to get a decent chance that Siagris fired high and wide. It seemed just like against the Thunder and Raiders the targeting sensors were just off the mark
The assault on Skinns net would continue as off a face off win in the Bee's end, Beesley would work hard to feed the puck out from behind the net to a waiting Wood. Who would exploit the space and time given to him by the Bees defense to beat everyone but the bar as his shot rang up and in to the wrong netting.
The Hawks would exploit space in the hash marks as the Bees D surrendered the middle of the ice, allowing Siagris and Roberts to test Skinns. Josh Bailey would have the best chance of this period of play as it rang off the post on a one timer off a Siagris pass. At this point the physical play of the Hawks and the speed of Siagris, Ranson and Webb was proving a nightmare for the Bee's to deal with.
However as the Bees looked to move the play back to the other end of the ice, an elbow by Rupert Quiney would see a crowd gather, however while there was no call on the play it would shift momentum the other way. Ringing a shot off the post before Shaun Thompson would think he had scored the go ahead goal, only for it to be washed out by referee Blaine Evans for a high stick.
This would shift the momentum back the Hawks way, and further to that a bench minor penalty to the Bee's would see them on the PK at 12:43 It would take 8 seconds of that power play for the Hawks to capitalize, off a face off win the puck would be passed from point to point between Jamieson and Farn. Jamieson would fire the canon and Adam Carr would tip it in front of the net to deflect the puck up and over Dean Skinns to make it 1-0
The Bee's would almost instantly regroup and capitalize on trapping the Hawks in their own end. As Vanya Antanov and Shaun Thomoson ran the Hawks defense ragged. All the chaos around the net would pay dividends at 13:45 Aidan Doughty and Zack Milton would move the puck around the net and find Roman Malnik who would fire it home to tie the game at 1-1
The period would close out 1-1 with both sides going close to adding one more. Tom Soar came close to opening his account on home ice with a good effort at one end, before Thompson would use Smith as a mobile screen to squeeze in a shot that only just got padded away by King.
2nd PERIOD
The second would start with the Hawks forcing the momentum in to their favor. Once again the Neutral zone would turn in to turn over central as Beesley,Roberts and Webb would generate scoring chances off turnovers in the middle third.
The Hawks had shifted to a more physical style of play here, and were now working hard in the corners of the Bee's end. Ranson would come up with the puck from one such battle feeding it back to Farn at the point who's shot looked to be heading goalward till Dean Skinns gloved it.
Going back the other way Ryan Sutton would break 2 on 1 with Spearing in support. Sutton would get the shot off but the save would see Spearing digging around under King for a lose puck till the whistle blew. This was then followed by a close attempt by Thompson cutting in close across the crease area, but King would make the save.
The Bees would go on the power play soon after this as at 26:17 Andreas Siagris was called for hooking. However the Bees would not be able to convert on the resulting power play. The best chance coming when Antonov and Malnik combined for a point shot that went high and wide. But the Bees power play was kept mostly to the outside, as the Hawks well drilled PK once again went to work.
The Power play would be converted to even strength however at 28:52 as Scott Spearing decided to board Ben Russell behind the Hawks net and give up a penalty. The Redhawks would then go on the power play as Siagris returned to the ice, and looked to go ahead as Michael Farn blasted from the point to seemingly beat Dean Skinns. However once again Blaine Evans ruled no goal, this time for a foot in the crease.
This would shift the momentum in the Bee's favor, and at 30:20 they would build on it as a turnover at the Bees blue line by Farn would release Roman Malnik 1 on 1 with Damien King. Malnik would fire it by King to make it 2-1 Bees with a shorthanded marker.
But the Bees lead would not last long, as the puck was moved around the Bees net, in all the chaos at 30:58 after a chance by Russell was denied the puck would find its way to a waiting Siagris. This time Siagris would make no mistake as he roofed the puck by Dean Skinns to make it 2-2
The Bees would then get another chance to try and score on the advantage, as Leigh Jamieson would be called for charging after an awkward hit on Vanya Antanov as he was battling for the puck with Beesley. However despite the Bees working the puck round quick and looking for tip shots, and creating garbage around the net none could find a way through and the Hawks would keep clearing the puck.
Once off the Penalty kill the Hawks would once again see themselves in control of the game, after a hit from James Warman laid out Scott Spearing, Andreas Siagris and Scott Bailey would find themselves with Skinns at their mercy only for the puck to be deflected wide and then saved by a sprawling Skinns
However off the next face off, the Hawks would take the lead in spectacular fashion as Carr's face off win would find Alex Roberts waiting in the face off circle. Roberts with all the space, all the time and a clear line of sight would release the puck with such power that as it sailed goalward it connected with the tip of Dean Skinns stick knocking it clean out of the goalies hands and in to the back of the net at 38:06
The Bees would try to answer back as Harvey Stead, Josh Smith and Vanya Antonov but a forced turn over would release Webb, leaving the speedster in off a stretch pass from the Hawks end in 1 on 1 with Skinns only to fire it wide.
The Bee's would close out the period trying to create garbage goals with close in net crashes and chaos but no matter what they tried the Hawks kept taking out the trash and clearing the crease. The buzzer would sound and see the period end with the Hawks up 3-2
3rd PERIOD
The third period would begin the way the first had, with the Hawks being trapped in their defensive end. With Vanya Antonov and Shaun Thompson once again creating chaos moving the puck around. Sutton would also cause problems linking up with Galazzi on a drop pass attempt but once again King would deny the Bees, furthering the frustration after Shaun Thompson would go around everyone before a lay off to the point only to see the resulting shot sail in to Kings glove.
Going back the other way Jamiesons outlet pass would find Siagris, stick handling by every Bees player on the ice with Webb in support. Siagris would release from the face off circle, Skinns would make the initial save but Webb pounced on the rebound lifting it over Skinns to make the score 4-2 Hawks at 44:11
And so the Redhawks found themselves with the hardest lead to defend in hockey. The 2 goal lead, this present Jeremy Cornish with 2 choices, attempt to play defensive shut down hockey or go all out to get a 5th goal and seal things up. The problem being either would open the team up to allowing the Bees more offensive pressure.
The Hawks opted to park the bus and soak up the pressure, this would be complicated further by Adam Wood taking a boarding penalty at 48:49 however the power play would again not last long as after some successful defensive work by the Hawks, Shaun Thompson would hook a breaking Andreas Siagris.
The next face off would see the Bees get another shot at pulling one back as Josh Martin found himself free breaking at speed with the puck however again Damien King was equal to what the Bees forward could throw at him. The Bees would look to use speed on the puck to their advantage working the puck round quickly in the Hawks defensive zone. Using this approach Vanya Antonov would find a waiting Ben Paynter but Paynters release would find only Kings glove.
Once again after this the game would become pendulum like as the neutral zone shifted control from one side to the other, as turn over was repaid with turn over. Bees attempts at drop passes and centering passes were routinely intercepted, while Redhawks attempts at off the board plays were intercepted.
But the Redhawks had decided at this point to kill off the game, switching to a game of dump and chase. Opting to try and catch the Bees on the break and soaking up the pressure by parking the bus at the blue line. This would see a hit on Webb near the Hawks blue line release Bailey and Jamieson. Bailey would find himself in with Skinns at his mercy, but this time Skinns would make the save on both the initial shot at Ryan Webb's rebound attempt
With 51 seconds left on the clock Dough Sheppard would call a time out for the Bees. And with a face off far from his own net would decide to pull Dean Skinns for the extra attacker. Again Antonov and Thompson would cause chaos around the Hawks net as they had done all night, and with seconds to go both would ring shots off the posts. But it was not enough, and the buzzer sounded to end the game 4-2 to the Streatham Redhawks
POST GAME
A much needed win for the Streatham Redhawks here, after 2 consecutive defeats this will have been a huge confidence boost to the team. This was another incredible game to witness first hand, and will have hopefully hooked in any new fans we had in attendance. I happened to notice several new fans who had been enjoying the game up in the top block with us checking the fixtures banner as I left the arena.
I said at the start of this article the Hawks needed to play a physical aggressive small rink style game, and that was exactly what they did. They exploited what I think is Doug Sheppard's weakness, physical small rink games. All the years I spent in Basingstoke the one thing I noticed was if the Bison tried to match teams like Guildford or Telford who play in the corners, on a small ice pad they often lost. And just as I predicted tonight, his team tried to beat the Redhawks in the corners and lost out.
Not to discredit the Bees of course they played an incredible game, and hung in there to the end. Vanya Antonov and Shaun Thompson were well worth the entry fee alone making things happen and running the Hawks D ragged. However the Hawks did a good job of closing off their passing options and ways out of the corner when they were forced wide. But Thompson was well deserving of his man of the match beers, as he was a constant source of offensive creation all evening.
Looking up and down the roster tonight there wasn't anyone on the Hawks roster I felt wasn't deserving of the man of the match beers. Andreas Siagris was well deserving of them, he was an offensive thorn in the side of the Bees all night and took his goal well. Alex Roberts, Ryan Webb, Scott Bailey and James Warman to me all had stand out nights that deserving of man of the match too. Its good to see the goal scoring spreading around now, as in the early games it was worrying that certain players were struggling to get on target. Things are most certainly starting to take shape well for the Redhawks, hopefully they can now build on this and put a run together.
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