SATURDAY 15TH SEPTEMBER 2018
STREATHAM REDHAWKS VS MILTON KEYNES THUNDER
STREATHAM HIGH ROAD
PRE GAME
1st Period
Damien King and Tom Annettes would start things out in net for thier sides. It was now down to the next 60 miinutes to see wich Annettes would show up, as has been noted by Anthony Russell he can be a tad streaky as a net minder.
The early going would see much of the Hawks offence repelled at the blue line, following the theme from the game last week. It was off one of these that the Thunder got the first real chance of the game as Ross Bowers would force a turn over that saw him fire just wide to test King early on.
The Hawks would return fire with Leigh Jamieson and Andreas Siagris combing thorugh the neutral zone and in to the offensive zone before fireing wide. This would then be followed by a Rupert Quiney point blast dinging off the post.
Soon after the majority of fans, and Joshua Condren would think it was 1-0 Hawks as a well worked series of moves saw Michael Farn get in and shoot the puck back hand at the has marks. Only to see Annetts rebound it out to a waiting Condren at the back door who was robed. The first of many spectacular saves Annetts would make
The tactical theme appeared to be setting up here at this point. The Thunder would allow the Hawks the neutral zone and the offensive pressure then catch them on a counter attack, utilizing thier strength in the speed of Jamie Line and Rio Grinell-Parke. One such move like this would see Thunder catch the Hawks on the break with Grinell-Park and Lewis English combining for a 2 on 1 effort that was fired wide. The Hawks would answer back as Michael Farn was allowed time and space at the other end to pinch down after Soar and Siagris had caused chaos around the net, to fire a back hand from the hash marks that was saved.
The pressure would continue to mount, Beesley, Webb, Siagris and Jamieson would all take shots at breaking the deadlock in this early going but Tom Annetts was a wall. The best chance came when Ryan Webb was able to feed a waiting Alex Roberts on the doorstep, his 2 stabs at the puck however were smothered.
The game would take an ugly turn on the next shift as Adam Wood was boarded by Michael Stratford in the Thunder end. Unharmed by the experience Wood took exception to the check and decided to deal out some justice as both he and Stratford dropped the gloves and had a good scrap before the refs broke it all up. The boarding and following fight would leave neither team with a man advantage. During the next shift things would get heated further as Tom Carlon would interfere with Damien King, sparking a violent reaction from Michael Farn. The two would both get 2+2 for Roughing.
This round of penalties would see the game become a bit more balanced and back and forth than it had been. Any Redhawks foray forward would be met with a counter strike by the Thunder. It would see a busy period for Thomas Beesley who worked well with Siagris to create chances and generate offence. The Thunder would again get another 2 on 1 following this that saw Jamie Line and Grinell-Parke go close but again no one could get their sights zeroed in.
The period would round out with Thomas Soar going through almost everyone and firing high and wide. As the teams headed to the dressing rooms the game was on a knife edge at 0-0 with both teams looking for that way to score. It simply was a case of both goalies having a good night combined with the offenses of both teams unable to get a shot on target.
2nd Period
The period would begin with the pendulum swinging back and forth as Alex Roberts went extremely close on an early chance before Rubes of Thunder almost found the net going the other way. Shortly after this however the Thunder would be on the PK as Grant McPherson would be called for Slashing. Roberts would then try his luck again blasting from the half boards on the power play only to see the puck padded wide. With no one to pounce on the rebound the puck was cleared.
With Annetts coughing up rebounds the Hawks soon switched to close in net tactics in order to exploit this. James Warman would fire a blast from the point that would see Bailey,Condren and Beesley scramble to stuff it home. However the Thunder D were doing a strong job of clearing the crease of players and pucks.
Soaking up a lot of pressure the Thunder were ensuring that even though they had surrendered the neutral zone, and were allowing puck carriers in. They were making sure that active stick work and harassment of the puck carrier was choking off passing and shooting lanes. The Redhawks however would do the same on an ensuing Powerplay after Josh Condren was given 2 for interference. Keeping the puck carriers out wide and unable to make any impact.
The focus on rebounds and garbage in front of the net would soon pay off for the Hawks though as at 31:43 they would go 1-0 up. Ben Russell wold fire a shot in from the point that would bounce off the boards behind the net to a waiting Adam Carr who's shot would rebound off Anetts, to a waiting Alex Roberts. Who made no mistake putting it home to make the score 1-0 Hawks
Shortly after this Siagris would try to make it 2-0, but once again the Canadian speedsters sights were not zeroed and the puck flew high over the bar. With a lot of shots going high it was becoming apparent the Hawks were attempting to beat Anettes high as apposed to 5 hole. However the exception to this would be an attempted tic tac toe play with Webb trying to redirect the puck off a pass by Roberts.
The period would round out 1-0 to the Hawks, Cernych would go agonizingly close for the Thunder as he was allowed time and space to cut down low and across the crease area but King was able to make the save. The buzzer would sound and the Hawks would be 1-0 up having found a way through the Annetts shaped wall that was soaking up almost everything thrown at it. Meanwhile the Thunder would need to find a way to turn the chances they had been getting in to something
3rd Period
The Thunder would finally get the goal they had been looking for the start the 3rd period of the game. After causing a turnover by the Thunder bench Oliver Lord would get the puck up the boards to a waiting Carlon who would break in to the Hawks zone with Thomas Rubes waiting in support up the middle. A centering pass from Carlon would find Rubes and his shot would sail by King to make it 1-1 at 40:19
The Redhawks would immediately fire back forcing a series of spectacular saves out of Anetts. But as before the targeting systems were not zeroed and the puck either flew wide or straight in to Annetts waiting glove. Carr,Farn,Siagris and Bailey would all see chances denied from close range. But all this pressure was seeing nothing in the way if conversion on to the scoreboard. The best chance of them all saw Alex Roberts go end to end, and only be denied as he was harassed by Whyte as he closed with Annetts.
In answer to all this pressure, the Thunder would continue to attempt breaking on the counter. However as the game went on they were becoming more and more entrenched in their own defensive zone, and were struggling to get out. The speedy trio of Jamie Line, Grinell-Parke and Lewis English did break out and create a chance however it was fired straight in to a waiting Kings chest.
All this time trapped in their own end, defending what was essentially an artificial power play took its toll and at 50:57 a tired Grinell-Parke would be called after he hooked Michael Farn attempting to stop the mobile defense man converting an up ice rush in to a goal. In quick succession at 51:16 however Ross Green would turn the 5 on 4 to a 5 on 3 as he would be called for a cross checking penalty.
With all the extra space to play with, Cornish deployed his best puck movers to the ice on the power play. Pretty soon Michael Farn would quarterback a cycling of the puck around the outside that would see him and Rupert Quiney combine to set up Alex Roberts. With extra space to move in to Roberts would pinch down from the point and blast the puck in to the net from the face off circle to make it 2-1 at 51:39
Still with a penalty to serve on the clock the Thunder quickly found themselves under offensive pressure again. Roberts would almost complete a hat trick as he fanned on a pass through the crease that saw him with an open back door and Annetts at his mercy. In the follow up play Soar would squeeze two shots off from close range but Annetts would once again save these.
With the penalty killed the Thunder would fire back and tie the game. A failed clearance by Warman would generate a turnover intercepted by Grinell-Parke. King would make the save however with the rebound falling to a waiting Alex Whyte who would fire home to tie the game at 2-2 at 53:46
Despite plenty of pressure that would see Roberts, Webb, Carr and Soar all test Annetts, and a time out called by MK the game would end in a tie at the end of regulation. We would need an extra stanza to decide who took home the W in this one.
OVERTIME
Overtime would see Farn,Carr and Roberts start out against Rubes,Carlon and Whyte. The Hawks would win the opening face off and would take control of the puck. Roberst puck moving skills would see him go by everyone only to be hauled down as he crashed the net, with no call the play woyld see Carlon break the other way only to be denied by King.
Next the pendulum would swing the Hawks way as Leigh Jamieson would do all the work going end to end dangleing past everyone before laying off to a waiting Andreas Siagris. However Siagris would fire high and wide, Siagris would collect a rebound for a second chance but again this would go high.
The play would swing back the other way however the puck would be turned over as a Rubes shot would go high and over. While the Thunder were changing on this play, Alex Roberts would collect the puck behind the Hawks net, with only y Rubes to stop him Roberts would skate the puck out and feed a waiting Michael Farn who would skate in unopposed and blast the puck high in to the net over Annetts shoulder to win the game for the Hawks and make it 3-2 Streatham at 62:23 on the clock.
POST GAME
WOW! What a game this was, a perfect example of the best elements of hockey on display for all in attendance. The drama of a game held on a knife edge while two coaches play tactical chess,if only every game at the High Road this season could be like this. For any new fans attending this was a real treat and one I am sure will have them coming back for more.
For the MK Thunder the game plan of adapting a siege mentality, catching the Hawks on the break didn't really work for large parts of the game. The goals they created off this were highlight reel, but the fact they were under the constant bombardment of the Hawks offence for large parts of the game meant that they were relying heavily on Annetts to save the day. If this had been later in the season I think the Hawks would have run up a higher scoreline as the scoring touch would be there. Unorthodox as a road plan this was it got them a point out of it, catching a slower moving Hawks D with speed bursts from the likes of Line, and Carlon was an effective way to generate offence and it avoided the corner and hitting war that the Hawks would aim to utilize.
Last week the team looked tanked after a short benched weekend against Swindon, but with the additions of Thomas Soar and Andreas Siagris the energy was definitely there in the roster and was apparent in the play. Soar and Siagris looked like a lethal combo when working together and when both get those sights dialed in the team is going to have two more legitimate scoring threats. Alex Roberts continues to impress and once again his combination with Carr and Webb ran the opposition defense ragged. I was again impressed with new faces Bailey, Beesley and Condren, all worked hard when called upon, and were generating plenty of offence.The Power Play unit looked a bit shaky early on but eventually clicked to score the go ahead goal on the 5 on 3. The PK unit looks solid just like it did last season, overall the signs are all good from where I sit as to how this team is gelling. As Coach Cornish said in his pre game article the team had 1 session together before Swindon last weekend. The Hawks worked hard tonight and thoroughly deserved to take home the win.
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