Ice-hockey: Streatham smash Oxford City Stars to celebrate NIHL 1 South championship title win in style

Streatham celebrated lifting the NIHL 1 South trophy with an 8-0 win on home ice over the Oxford City Stars, writes Christopher Beal.

It took four minutes for the RedHawks to open the scoring. Danny Ingelsby’s initial shot was saved by Stars goalie Ross Miller, only for it to come loose and roll under him and over the line.

A minute later James Warman scored a more clearcut goal, firing the puck by Miller from the face-off circle after Jared Lane provided the set-up. Miller weathered the storm of 24 shots for the rest of the period.

The South Londoners made it 3-0 on 28 minutes. Vanya Antonov’s chance deflected to a waiting Tomasz Skokan to bury the chance.

Ryan Watt and Josh Ealey Newman provided the set-up on a three-on-one rush with Ben Paynter providing the finish to make it 4-0 heading into the second break.

Vanya Antonov then scored the first goal of his hat-trick, applying the finish after Jack Hoppes and Paynter had set him up. Antonov netted his second a minute later, Skokan providing the assist, to make it 6-0.

Scott Bailey added a seventh as the traffic continued to flow in Streatham’s favour. With Brandon Miles and Jared Lane collecting the assists.

Oxford’s netminder Miller was replaced by Aaron Burton but it did not prevent Antonov rounding out the scoring at the 54-minute mark with a high wrist shot off a pass from Ryan Watt.

Player-coach Paynter said: “You never want to be lifting a league trophy after a loss, so it was good to get the win done. We definitely bounced back from last week, as we didn’t have a great performance last weekend.

“We were making great plays, great opportunities, but we had a lack of concentration when it mattered to get the puck in the net. But we bore down, and put in the bit of grit to get the puck in the back of the net.”

Antonov said: “Every line contributed in terms of goalscoring, and everyone played well defensively, leading to the shutout. It’s always a confidence booster to score a hat-trick. It’s quite nicely timed leading into the play-offs.”

Streatham host MK Thunder on Saturday (5.30pm).

PICTURES: MEL O’BRIEN/FUSIONAL