Halloween night was the occassion for a mixed set of results for the two Chelmsford senior teams as the Warriors went down 6-2 at home to the Solent & Gosport Devils while the Chieftains got a well-earned draw in Cardiff against their version of the Devils. SportTrades Pete Lewis as always reports:
The Warriors struggled to get going in the game and when they did they were already behind and struggling to get past a tough Solent side. The fans who turned up were treated to some good hockey from both sides for short bursts but over the course of the game the Solent team proved to be tough opponents and despite the best efforts of Adrian Woodyard and man of the match Ben Osborne, who scored a goal a piece, it wasn't enough and 6 goals from the Devils were enough to seal a 6-2 win. The Warriors don't play again until the 22nd and in that time there will be plans laid on how to regroup and push hard and get their season going in a manner that the team should be performing at.
Meanwhile in the Welsh capital it was a horror show at times as the Cardiff ENL Devils played some nasty and intense physical hockey which took it's toll on the Chieftains side early on. Veteran Canadian Brent Pope was the main culprit, along with Gareth Dixon and Jamie Dancey who also chipped in with nasty hits on the young Chelmsford side who were missing 'enforcer' BT Williams, who remained on suspension,to stand up for the team.
Incidents were happening all over the ice and referee Rene Ross did well to keep a lid on the game. The Chieftains battled hard against a lot of bullying and intimidation and were rewarded early with a goal from Danny Hammond to take deserved lead a few minutes into the game. The match became scrappy and more physical as the Chieftains began to get frustrated and tried to hit back where they could, but this only encouraged the Devils further. The Devils tactics seemed to pay off as they hit 4 unanswered goals and the feisty and chippy game headed into the last 10minutes with the Essex side 4-1 down. It could have been more had it not been for goal line clearances from netminder Ben Clements and defenceman Sean Easton.
Hammond then took control of the game and advantage of the tiring Devils team and hit 2 goals in under 3minutes to complete his hat-trick. At 4-3 and less than 8minutes on the clock the Chieftains fans were on their feet drowning out the home supporters and the team on the ice responded as Ross Brears stepped up and notched the game-tying goal. Hammond's hat-trick was enough to pick up the man of the match award for the Chieftains side. Coach Dean Birrell said after the game "It showed a lot of character from the boys that they could come back from 4-1 down and get a result like that against some intense and physical play which was effective for the Devils until their steam ran out in the third period allowing our youngsters to take the game to them. I am really proud of how the team played tonight".
Sunday night was a different story altogether as title contenders Wightlink Raiders headed to Chelmsford in what many predicted would be another physical encounter and one which the Chieftains would probably struggle to get anything out of after the physical battering taken in Cardiff the night before. However the Chieftains showed just why many predict them to be Invicta Dynamos main challengers to the title as they hammered the Raiders 8-1. Hammond picked up goals 4 and 5 for himself over the course of the weekend and Jerry Pavlus notched a hat-trick in this fairly one-sided encounter. Raiders player-coach Jeremy Cornish was completely outfoxed by Hammond on of the goals as a cheeky backheel from the Chelmsford forward left Cornish looking red-faced. The other goals came from Blaho Novak and James Ayling and continually impressive defence man Danny Wright.
An early check from Richard Whiting on Raiders forward Damon Larter got things heating up, but again Rene Ross kept a tight lid on the game and it didn't get out of hand. A late consolation goal for the Raiders came from Kent Johnson who picked up the man of the match award for the visitors. Andy Moffat was solid in the Chieftains net which rightly earnt him the home sides man of the match. Birrell said "I thought the goal was a poor one to give away at that late stage of the game and I wasn't impressed with it, however we dominated them throughout the game and was impressed at how the team performed coming off of last nights tough encounter."
Looking ahead to this Sunday's return clash with Cardiff at the Riverside Birrell said "We will have BT Williams back, but I expect the team to play as they did on Saturday and soak up what the Devils dish out. Again, as this weekend, we have to keep out of trouble physically as we just don't have the physical capabilities to match up to other sides in the league. This weekend skill and finesse overcame brawn and intimidation and I am pleased with how we performed to have taken 3 points from the weekend when many expected us to be lucky to get 2". The Chieftains V Devils faces off at 6:30pm at the Riverside on Sunday 8th November.
Thanks to Helen Fryer for the photo of Chelmsford's Sean Easton
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