Streatham retain plenty of Championship-winning squad – with George Norcliffe sealing a return

NIHL 1 National Championship champions Streatham RedHawks have moved to retain a significant bulk of their squad for next season, writes Christopher Beal.

Danny Milton, Sam Waller, Tomasz Skokan, Jordan Gregory, Preston Tombs and James Warman – celebrating his testimonial campaign – have all signed up again.

Ziggy Beesley, Jared Lane, Luke Brittle, captain Ryan Watt and player-coach Ben Paynter are also all staying on.

George Norcliffe returns to Streatham after seven years away with the pedigree of a National League goalscorer, having netted 132 points over the past three seasons in Britain’s second tier.

Roman Cathcart joins from Slough Jets with Ben Ealey-Newman heading in the opposite direction along with fans’ favourite power forward Brandon Miles.

Jack Hoppes has traded SW16 for the South Coast, joining bitter rivals Solent Devils, while Callum Burnett has left for Invicta Dynamos.

Preston Tombs will play up on a 2 way with Berkshire Bee’s when schedules don’t clash.

Incoming signings, Brendan Baird, who will be playing for Streatham for the first time since 2018, and Harvey Stead, who makes his High Road debut, will add an offensive edge to the D core.

While up front Aidan Doughty returns to Streatham as well after six years away playing at National League level and brings an eye for goal at NIHL 1 level along with a physical style of play. With all three having joined from Berkshire Bees.

Paynter said: “I’m really happy with how the recruitment has gone this summer, there were areas I felt we needed to improve in off the back of last year and think I’ve managed to address those areas.

“We have had some guys move on from our core over the last few years and as much as we want to keep our core together teams have to evolve and continually try to improve to stay competitive and we aim to be challenging for every trophy up for grabs again this season.”

PICTURES: MEL O’BRIEN/FUSIONAL