Ice-hockey: Let them eat cake – Streatham get a treat after back-to-back victories
Streatham winger Scott Bailey admits that the promise of a lemon drizzle cake proved to be the perfect motivation, as the table-topping South London side beat Milton Keynes and Invicta to earn another four points last weekend.
The 23-year-old scored twice and also dropped the gloves in an eventful 48 hours that saw the team move four points clear of second-placed Solent Devils, with a game in hand.
A 9-1 home win over MK Thunder set the RedHawks up for maximum points, as Ryan Watt bagged a hat-trick to add to two goals each for Luke Brittle, Michael Farn and Rupe Quiney.
Bailey had the crowd on their feet in the second period with a rare fight, tangling with Thunder’s Sam Dean following a melee in front of the team benches.
“We know we can’t afford to drop any points at the minute,” said the forward. “MK are struggling at the bottom of the table, but there were only two goals in it going into the final 20 minutes. So it just shows that you can’t switch off against any team.”
Streatham completed a clean sweep of rivals Invicta Dynamos on Sunday in the league, having won all the previous three encounters.
Bailey scored twice against his former club as Streatham killed the game early, racing into a 4-0 lead in the first period, before eventually winning
5-1 thanks to further goals from Watt, Brittle and Danny Ingoldsby.
The travelling fans who made the journey to Kent sat back and watched a comfortable win in a venue they’ve enjoyed visiting so far this year.
“It always feels good scoring past your old team and the fans always enjoy it when we beat Invicta,” said Bailey. “I would definitely say this campaign is up there with one of the best seasons so far, not just for myself but as a team and how well we are doing at the moment.
“Everyone on the team gets on well on and off the ice whichhelps create the success we’ve had so far.
“We were also promised a home-made lemon drizzle cake by Dawn D’Anger [part of the management team] if we won both games, so we’ll enjoy that and focus on the weekend ahead.”
RedHawks travel to Slough on Saturday and then host Bracknell on Sunday in SW16.
Forwards Brandon Miles and Adam Wood were handed lengthy bans due to an accumulation of penalty points.
