Streatham can be party-poopers against Peterborough Phantoms

By David Carr

Streatham head into their final weekend of regular season action looking to bounce back after a bitterly disappointing defeat on the road in Kent last Sunday.

The RedHawks travel to Peterborough Phantoms on Saturday before hosting Invicta Dynamos on Sunday in a weekend that provides the team with the final chance to prepare ahead of a play-off quarter-final clash against Swindon Wildcats.

The game in Cambridgeshire against the Phantoms hands the South Londoners the opportunity to be party poopers as Peterborough need to win by a comfortable margin to give themselves any chance of beating Basingstoke Bison to the league title.

Both sides will finish level on points and with an even head-to-head record should they win their fixtures at the weekend. Under the rules of the league, the next tiebreak is decided on goal difference, so the Phantoms will be desperate to rack up the goals against a RedHawks team with only pride to play for in theory.

“Last weekend was our worst performance of the season, so all I am concentrating on is making up for that,” said head coach Jeremy Cornish. “We have the play-offs the following weekend and we have to step things up dramatically in these two upcoming games to give ourselves the best preparation.”

Streatham went down 4-2 in Gillingham to an Invicta side who had lost all four previous encounters between the sides in the campaign this year.

In front of a big crowd in Kent the RedHawks started slowly and didn’t recover, despite goals from Andreas Siagris and Adam Carr.

Former Wightlink import Jaroslav Cesky scored a brace against his old coach, and both Steve Osman and Lousi Colvin got a goal each.

On Sunday, Streatham get the chance for revenge as the Dynamos visit SW16 for a 6.45pm face off. Streatham are likely to be at full strength, with only Adam Wood on the long-term injury list.