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The Inferno
NIHL 1 Devils weekend roundup
17th Oct 2012 | Posted by Geraint Walters
Saturday 13th October
NIHL Devils 3-0 Chelmsford Chieftains
Chelmsford Chieftains came to Cardiff for the 2nd time this season being the only team to beat Cardiff in the BBT so far this season. That was the 1st game of the season though and Cardiff had signed a team late who had barely trained together at that stage. Since then they have gone on to gel as a side that has got the big boys looking over their shoulders. It is always a close fought battle against the Chieftains and this was to be no exception. Chelmsford welcomed back Danny Hammond to their side recently, the free scoring Brit missing the 1st couple of games with a niggling injury. This is a hockey team with no shortage of attacking talent and it would require a disciplined effort in defence in order to keep their snipers from finding the back of the net.
The 1st period was a tight affair and both sides took turns to attack and defend. Mistakes were few and far between and it was evident that both teams were tactically organised. In addition both goal keepers seemed in fine form meaning that despite a decent number of chances coming to either side, the score remained 0-0 at the end of the period.
2nd period and the Devils upped the intensity a bit with both their speed and physical efforts. Another clinical performance defensively meant that they continued to go without conceding and this time the break through came at the other end. Sean Scarbrough continued his fine start to his career on these shores by bagging the 1st goal, no need to speed round a defenseman and beat the goalie with a top shelf finish this time though as he positioned himself in front of the net for a relatively simple rebound tap in after some sustained pressure on the Chieftains goal. Louis Lockwood doubled the advantage with a clever tip only minutes later.
Going into the final period the game had a certain familiarity about it. Last time round the Devils held a 2 goal lead heading into the final stages last time and their fitness and concentration let them down. There was to be no repeat this time round however, as the resilient Devils held strong to continue to deny their visitors. In the closing minutes Chelmsford pulled their ‘keeper in the usual last throw of the dice, but they couldn’t make the extra skater count and Louis Lockwood had the composure to bag his second of the night, sliding the puck into the vacant net to secure the 2 points. Not many teams will shut out the Chieftains this year and a well deserved man of the match went to Brabon for an excellent performance between the pipes.
Sunday 14th October
Streatham Redskins 3-3 NIHL Devils
After a great home result the night before the Devils made the long road trip to London in their newly provided mini bus. The Redskins are playing out of a temporary home like Cardiff, as they await the construction of their new home. The Brixton arena is smaller than the BBT in seating capacity but a great little temporary facility. Crowd attendance was unusually low for the Redskins with the fans perhaps put off at the prospect of facing the side the dismantled this London based team 2 weeks earlier in a 12-3 thrashing. However as any fan in this league will testify all teams on their home ice are a different kettle of fish. Streatham rang the changes after that Cardiff encounter, changing their head coach as Barry Spours moved to a back room role and Warren Rost is now running the bench.
1st period and the combination of a change of coach and a team on home ice saw that the Redskins were a different beast to battle. They came out strong and physical and chasing hard to the 50-50 battles. Cardiff seemed a bit disjointed perhaps feeling the combination of a hard night’s work the day before coupled with some bus legs. They also were missing influential captain Gareth Dixon who was running the Cardiff half marathon as part of a charity event committed to before the fixtures were released. It was the Skins who took the lead when their Captain Joe Johnson used a defenseman as a screen and found the top corner of the net from the defensive zone face off circle. Cardiff threatened on occasion but found their chances going slightly wide or at Sanderson in the Streatham net who seemed in good form.
2nd period and the Devils continued to chip away, carving out some good chances that continued to go begging. Ricky Deacon was a key supplier to his line mate Alan Armour, the experienced forward going agonisingly close on a number of occasions. A 2 on 2 counter attack for the home side saw the pass go out wide for a one timer, Wilkinson throwing his body at the puck in an effort to block and it some how squeezed past him and Brabon in the Cardiff net was caught slightly off guard and beaten down low. This made it 2-0 to the Redskins, their confidence growing with every passing minute. The Devils did manage to notch up a goal of their own though, Parsons shooting from the point after a centring pass by Osman from behind the net, Scarbrough being credited with the final touch although Louis Lockwood assures me that it was his stick that got the decisive tip on his return against his old side.
3rd period and the Devils were really against it now, chasing the game as the clock ticked away. Blaine Evans was wearing the stripes and continued to frustrate the visiting Cardiff side who seemed to be on the receiving end of some dodgy blows and calls. It would be the home side that scored next though when Import Valko was found free on the edge of the crease to quickly slide home their 3rd goal of the night. With the Devils facing a mountain to climb in order to get back in the game and minutes ticking away they applied constant pressure for the last few minutes. They earned a power play with 3 odd minutes to go and came so close to making the break through but the Skins defence held strong. Cardiff had to go for it and when the penalty expired they sent out their 5 on 3 unit full of attacking presence and supplemented it with forward Deacon as they pulled the goalie. The decision almost immediately paid dividends and Scarzy scrambled home a shot on the blocker side to make it 3-2 with 50 seconds to play. Brabon was then briefly re-installed and as soon as the opening face off was won he made to the bench again immediately. Its an incredible feat when pulling the goal keeper produces that all important goal, even more rare for it to happen twice in one game. But that is exactly what happened as the Devils bench erupted when Fisher got that dramatic equaliser less than 30 seconds later and the Cardiff side turned a 3-1 deficit into a 3-3 draw all in the last minute of the game. Definitely a point gained to cap off a successful 3 point weekend from the NIHL Devils.
NIHL Devils 3-0 Chelmsford Chieftains
Chelmsford Chieftains came to Cardiff for the 2nd time this season being the only team to beat Cardiff in the BBT so far this season. That was the 1st game of the season though and Cardiff had signed a team late who had barely trained together at that stage. Since then they have gone on to gel as a side that has got the big boys looking over their shoulders. It is always a close fought battle against the Chieftains and this was to be no exception. Chelmsford welcomed back Danny Hammond to their side recently, the free scoring Brit missing the 1st couple of games with a niggling injury. This is a hockey team with no shortage of attacking talent and it would require a disciplined effort in defence in order to keep their snipers from finding the back of the net.
The 1st period was a tight affair and both sides took turns to attack and defend. Mistakes were few and far between and it was evident that both teams were tactically organised. In addition both goal keepers seemed in fine form meaning that despite a decent number of chances coming to either side, the score remained 0-0 at the end of the period.
2nd period and the Devils upped the intensity a bit with both their speed and physical efforts. Another clinical performance defensively meant that they continued to go without conceding and this time the break through came at the other end. Sean Scarbrough continued his fine start to his career on these shores by bagging the 1st goal, no need to speed round a defenseman and beat the goalie with a top shelf finish this time though as he positioned himself in front of the net for a relatively simple rebound tap in after some sustained pressure on the Chieftains goal. Louis Lockwood doubled the advantage with a clever tip only minutes later.
Going into the final period the game had a certain familiarity about it. Last time round the Devils held a 2 goal lead heading into the final stages last time and their fitness and concentration let them down. There was to be no repeat this time round however, as the resilient Devils held strong to continue to deny their visitors. In the closing minutes Chelmsford pulled their ‘keeper in the usual last throw of the dice, but they couldn’t make the extra skater count and Louis Lockwood had the composure to bag his second of the night, sliding the puck into the vacant net to secure the 2 points. Not many teams will shut out the Chieftains this year and a well deserved man of the match went to Brabon for an excellent performance between the pipes.
Sunday 14th October
Streatham Redskins 3-3 NIHL Devils
After a great home result the night before the Devils made the long road trip to London in their newly provided mini bus. The Redskins are playing out of a temporary home like Cardiff, as they await the construction of their new home. The Brixton arena is smaller than the BBT in seating capacity but a great little temporary facility. Crowd attendance was unusually low for the Redskins with the fans perhaps put off at the prospect of facing the side the dismantled this London based team 2 weeks earlier in a 12-3 thrashing. However as any fan in this league will testify all teams on their home ice are a different kettle of fish. Streatham rang the changes after that Cardiff encounter, changing their head coach as Barry Spours moved to a back room role and Warren Rost is now running the bench.
1st period and the combination of a change of coach and a team on home ice saw that the Redskins were a different beast to battle. They came out strong and physical and chasing hard to the 50-50 battles. Cardiff seemed a bit disjointed perhaps feeling the combination of a hard night’s work the day before coupled with some bus legs. They also were missing influential captain Gareth Dixon who was running the Cardiff half marathon as part of a charity event committed to before the fixtures were released. It was the Skins who took the lead when their Captain Joe Johnson used a defenseman as a screen and found the top corner of the net from the defensive zone face off circle. Cardiff threatened on occasion but found their chances going slightly wide or at Sanderson in the Streatham net who seemed in good form.
2nd period and the Devils continued to chip away, carving out some good chances that continued to go begging. Ricky Deacon was a key supplier to his line mate Alan Armour, the experienced forward going agonisingly close on a number of occasions. A 2 on 2 counter attack for the home side saw the pass go out wide for a one timer, Wilkinson throwing his body at the puck in an effort to block and it some how squeezed past him and Brabon in the Cardiff net was caught slightly off guard and beaten down low. This made it 2-0 to the Redskins, their confidence growing with every passing minute. The Devils did manage to notch up a goal of their own though, Parsons shooting from the point after a centring pass by Osman from behind the net, Scarbrough being credited with the final touch although Louis Lockwood assures me that it was his stick that got the decisive tip on his return against his old side.
3rd period and the Devils were really against it now, chasing the game as the clock ticked away. Blaine Evans was wearing the stripes and continued to frustrate the visiting Cardiff side who seemed to be on the receiving end of some dodgy blows and calls. It would be the home side that scored next though when Import Valko was found free on the edge of the crease to quickly slide home their 3rd goal of the night. With the Devils facing a mountain to climb in order to get back in the game and minutes ticking away they applied constant pressure for the last few minutes. They earned a power play with 3 odd minutes to go and came so close to making the break through but the Skins defence held strong. Cardiff had to go for it and when the penalty expired they sent out their 5 on 3 unit full of attacking presence and supplemented it with forward Deacon as they pulled the goalie. The decision almost immediately paid dividends and Scarzy scrambled home a shot on the blocker side to make it 3-2 with 50 seconds to play. Brabon was then briefly re-installed and as soon as the opening face off was won he made to the bench again immediately. Its an incredible feat when pulling the goal keeper produces that all important goal, even more rare for it to happen twice in one game. But that is exactly what happened as the Devils bench erupted when Fisher got that dramatic equaliser less than 30 seconds later and the Cardiff side turned a 3-1 deficit into a 3-3 draw all in the last minute of the game. Definitely a point gained to cap off a successful 3 point weekend from the NIHL Devils.
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