Streatham take on Chelmsford Chieftains this weekend at Brixton hoping to give the current Play-Off Champions a shock.
Streatham have failed to beat Chelmsford in a competitive fixture since the two sides came together into competition again in the ENL in 2009/10. The Chieftains have former Redskins Coach Dean Birrell as Director of Hockey and also boast former Redskins forward Michael Ranby in their line up.
Streatham have links to Chelmsford within their own squad with both Jakub Klima and Tyrone Miller having iced for the Chieftains at one time.
“Playing against Chelmsford is never easy as they are a proven top side in the league and you don’t win the play-off title two years running unless you are a very good team” explained Redskins forward Jamie McIlroy.
“They are a young, fit, disciplined side who very rarely have a night off. They have some proven snipers at this level and also players who have put up impressive stats in leagues of a higher calibre too”
“Because they have such a depth of talent, they are able to roll at least three lines which ultimately wears the opposition down and, more often than not, they are able to take advantage”
“We need to make sure we have a good start on Sunday and match Chelmsford all over the ice, the last thing we want is to go behind early and be chasing the game. I believe that if we start the game at a high tempo and take our chances we could definitely come away with the two points”
Streatham enter the weekend off the back of a big win in Slough last Sunday where the Redskins ran riot with a 15-4 score line. As a former Slough player himself, McIlroy (pictured below) managed to get two goals to make a triumphant return to the Hanger complete.
“I certainly think that the win over Slough will have raised spirits slightly but we are under no illusion that there is still a lot of work to do” explained the Scot.
“We are over a third of the way through the league season now and we all know that our results haven’t been good enough. We’ve had games which could have gone either way but for one reason or another we haven’t caught the breaks, but we need turn things around and start grinding out results”
“We have some tough games in the run up to Christmas and we need to start picking up points to ensure we are in a much better position for the start of 2013”
“I don’t think anyone expected us to be challenging for the league but they certainly didn’t expect us to be sat in 8th position at this stage either. I think we’re in a good place now though and there is definitely a belief in the changing room that we can climb the table and start producing some upsets of our own”
Chelmsford have had a good start to the season and former Redskin Michael Ranby has been in good form for the Chieftains so far this year.
“The season started great, our pre-season fixtures went well, we even beat Telford’s EPL side 4-2” explained the Chelmsford centre.
“That carried through into the start of the season, with a big winning streak. I think we got a bit complacent with a run of bad results which we hope will not cost us further down the line”
“We had a solid win against the Thunder last weekend so hopefully we can take back our good form”
Face off is at 18.45 this coming Sunday (4 November) and tickets are available in advance at the following link:
http://www.streatham-redskins.co.uk/ftickets/index.php
Make sure you get a copy of the match night programme which features in depth interviews with McIlroy and Ranby.
The new Streatham signing reveals what he thinks of the season so far and how he has been welcomed at Streatham, whilst Chelmsford forward Ranby reveals his reasons for leaving the Redskins and why Brixton does not hold happy memory’s for him.
Available for only £2 the programme also includes Joe Johnston’s entertaining Captains Log and also a behind the scenes look at the Redskins with Equipment Manager and Medic Sam Smith.
