Ice-hockey:Ben Paynter ‘buzzing’ after Streatham extend unbeaten run to nine matches

BY DAVID CARR

Streatham captain Ben Paynter admits his team are buzzing after extending their winning streak to nine games.

The South Londoners continued their round-robin London Cup campaign in style with victories over Invicta Dynamos (7-1) and Chelmsford Chieftains (5-4) last weekend.

Along with the NIHL South 1 Cup, the London Cup competition is another trophy Streatham are in contention for – with positive results over two strong rivals boosting the team’s prospects of lifting their first silverware early next year.

“It felt really good getting back after a couple of weeks off and getting straight back to it with a couple of wins,” explained Paynter, whose side had a rare break in fixtures prior to the games.

“We want to win all the silverware that is on offer and those two victories edge us closer to doing so.”

Both games were played in front of large crowds, with Streatham Arena particularly busy on Saturday night for a 7-1 win over Invicta.

“The atmosphere in Streatham was fantastic,” said Paynter.

“It didn’t take the boys long to get back into the swing of things and that was largely due to the fans packing out the rink and making lots of noise.”

Josh Ealey-Newman bagged a hat-trick, adding to a brace from Vanya Antonov and efforts from James Warman and Ben Ealey-Newman, pictured below.

Streatham survived a late comeback attempt from the home side to hold out for a one goal win in Essex. There was a brace each from Antonov and Michael Farn, plus a fourth of the weekend for Josh Ealey-Newman.

“In Chelmsford our travelling fans again turned up in numbers and the boys are feeding off that energy,” said Paynter. “There is a real buzz about the place at the minute and we’re just counting down the days to every weekend now.”

Streatham take on Solent Devils in a two-legged NIHL South Cup semi-final this weekend with the home leg on Sunday in SW16. The winners will face either Slough Jets or Invicta Dynamos in the final in early 2022.

The tie pits the top two teams in the league against each other and promises to be an intriguing match up given ill-tempered encounters in the past.

Player-coach Michael Farn returned from injury last weekend to boost the squad. Brandon Miles, Danny Ingoldsby and Jordan Gregory missed out and will be assessed.