Ice-hockey: Streatham end 38-year wait for silverware – as they claim NIHL South Cup

BY DAVID CARR

Streatham ended a 38-year wait for silverware with a NIHL South Cup final win over Invicta Dynamos last weekend.

The South London side, formed in 1932, have had more than their share of ups and downs in recent times, with rink closures and openings, final losses and play-off heartaches along the way.

Already leading the league standings and in contention for four trophies this season, player-coach Adam Carr and his team took the opportunity to grab the first available silverware with back to back wins over Dynamos.

Despite missing top scorer Vanya Antonov and new signing Luke Brittle, Streatham showed no signs of nerves as they romped to a 7-3 first leg win in Gillingham, backed by a vociferous away following.

Controversial summer signing Ryan Watt proving his worth with a hat-trick to add to a brace from Carr and lone goals from Danny Ingoldsby and Scott Bailey.

The NIHL Cup may well be a minor trophy in comparison with the league and play-off gongs, but that didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of a near sold-out Streatham Arena that defied stormy weather to watch a little piece of history made 24 hours later.

It took just five minutes for Ziggy Beesley to open the scoring and the team didn’t look back with captain Michael Farn, Ben Paynter, Carr, Ingoldsby and Adam Wood adding the goals to a 6-2 win on the night, and 1

3-5 scoreline in total.

“You could see by the reaction from the fans and the owners how much it meant to them at the end of the game,” admitted Streatham captain Farn, who is no stranger to winning trophies with his former club MK Lightning.

“The locker room is buzzing right now and we want to use this to spur us on to winning more silverware this season.

“The quicker you can put a game to bed the better and even with a four goal lead coming into Sunday, we didn’t want to give them anything to get hold of. It’s six periods of hockey and I’m just delighted that we’ve performed as we know we can and got the job done.

“The atmosphere was incredible, as it has been at a number of games so far this year, but it was particularly special when that buzzer went.”

Carr echoed the sentiment.

“I’m really proud of all the boys” he said. “Everyone stepped up and showed how much they wanted to win. To be part of the club winning its first trophy in 38 years, and seeing how much it meant to a lot of people, was really special. Hopefully we can bring some more celebrations like that to our amazing support in the next two months.”

Streatham focus back on the league with their lead at the top cut to just two points. A crunch home clash with second placed Solent Devils awaits on Sunday, following on from a tricky road trip to Romford.