Wilson’s side won’t give up Cardiff chase

Jan 17 2009 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

HAVING seen his team’s confidence grow steadily in 2009, Rob Wilson has now declared the chase to overhaul Cardiff Devils, writes STUART RAYNER.

Wilson’s Vipers travel to south Wales tomorrow, though not before this evening’s tricky trip to Elite League champions Coventry Blaze.

The Devils sit a place above in the Elite League table, a six-point cushion between them and the seventh-placed Vipers, who have a game in hand. Having seen the start his side have made to the calendar year, inspired by captain David Longstaff (pictured below), Wilson has ordered them to catch their rivals.

“The guys feel we’ve got a better team than our record shows,” commented player-coach Wilson. “You never give up anything until you’re realistically out of it. I want to win the league still, of course. But is that realistic for us? No. But there’s 20 games to go and anything’s possible.

“And it would be nice to have a run at the two trophies we’re still in, the play-offs and the Knockout Cup.

“Hopefully we can continue to catch Cardiff, Manchester or whoever. If we play really well in the second half of the season, finish seventh and have a good run at the play-offs, I’ll be happy. But obviously I want to finish as high up the table as possible.

“If we can get anything from this weekend we will be in good shape with our next three home games against Hull and Basingstoke (both behind them in the table).”

The Vipers’ record against Coventry this season is played four, lost four. Yet Wilson insists there are no psychological barriers between his side and a Blaze outfit that will feature debutant Blake Forsyth.

“We’re not concerned about facing Coventry the way we’re playing now,” he said. The Vipers have won three of their four games this year. The only loss was a moral victory, carrying them into the semi-finals of the British Knockout Cup on aggregate.

“Since December we’ve been a different team. I felt before Christmas we were playing real well then Mac (Chris McAllister) broke his foot and Eddie (Courtenay) went home on a holiday he’d organised before he joined us.

“The big weekend for us was the one when we qualified for a the semi-finals of the Knockout Cup. We’ve really grown in confidence since those games against Edinburgh.

“Right now things are going well. Burt Henderson’s back in training (after breaking his arm in four places) and it’s starting to make us feel a lot more confident. It’s nice for me to have a full compliment in training.”

The mood has been lifted by Longstaff’s recent performances. The Great Britain international had to be used sparingly over Christmas because of the various injuries he was carrying. But the forward shrugged them off in man-of-the-match performances against Hull Stingrays and Manchester Phoenix last week.

“It’s important we fight through the pain barrier,” said Wilson, himself struggling with a back injury which will see him retire at the end of the season. “I thought David was the best player on the ice in all three teams last weekend.

“David really stepped up for us. He was voted the best player in the league last week and it was totally deserved. He has a very high pain threshold and we’re lucky to have him.”

Billingham Bombers and Whitley Warriors are both in English National League action tomorrow. Billingham entertain Nottingham, while Whitley travel to Coventry, both in North Division One.

Meanwhile, former Sheffield Steeler Nicky Chinn has pulled out of Wilson’s testimonial next month.