Ice-hockey: Streatham aim to bounce back after unbeaten run is ended

Streatham head into their final action of 2017 hoping to bounce back after two defeats last weekend ended their six-game unbeaten run, writes David Carr.

The RedHawks had enjoyed a stunning run of results but came unstuck 3-2 at London Raiders and then lost 7-4 on home ice to the Basingstoke Bison.

Streatham paid the price for a number of penalties against a Raiders side who have hit form. The late winner by Brandon Ayliffe sealed the points for the hosts and Streatham made life hard for themselves with men in the sin bin for key moments in the game. Adam Carr and Michael Farn were on target.

“We tend to get sucked into a scrappy game away at London and it takes us off our stride” said assistant coach Terry England. “The domino effect is we then lose our way, we start to take silly penalties and it’s a question of keeping our discipline.”

The following night didn’t get any easier for the RedHawks in front of  a depleted home crowd who had braved the snow to attend the only game not postponed in the league schedule on Sunday.

Streatham were 3-0 down early on as Tomas Karpov, Aaron Connolly and Hallam Wilson got Basingstoke off to a flying start. Streatham rallied to take the score to 3-3 thanks to a brace from Alex Sampford and a goal from Jamie Hayes. But then they hit penalty trouble again and the Bison took the final period 4-1 with Adam Carr getting the only RedHawks goal.

“The loss against a short-benched Basingstoke was always going to be a difficult game, especially after we halted their solid run of wins on their home ice the weekend before last,” explained England.

Good teams put bad weekends behind them and move forward – that’s what we are going to do this coming weekend.”

Streatham entertain Bracknell Bees in a rare Saturday home fixture this weekend before travelling to Milton Keynes Thunder for their final game before the Christmas break. The team are eighth in the table.

Streatham have no fixtures until early January with the club opting not to schedule games over Christmas or New Year’s weekend, unlike some of their rivals.