Controversy Hits Chieftains, As Oxford Grab Draw

Last weekend saw the Chieftains stumble to a 4-4 draw in Oxford, although it wasn’t their own doing that cost the game, but poor decisions from the officials. SportTrades Pete Lewis as always reports for us:

In a game in which there were eight goals scored, Chelmsford went home feeling like they’d lost the game due to being on the wrong end of some poor decisions in the game. The Stars though were a test for Chieftains. Oxford should have gone ahead early on but Ken Forshee shot straight at Ben Clements in the Chieftains goal. Moments later and the first real chance at the other end fell to Ross Brears from a nice layoff from Danny Hammond. Referee Freeman towards the end of the period sent Richard Wojciak of the Stars for a 2 minute minor for hooking and as well as a further 10 minutes for questioning the referee.

On the resulting powerplay the Chieftains broke the deadlock thanks to a smart Alex Green finish who fired past Skaife. As the players were returning to re-start the game the referee sent Abu-Saada to the box also for 10minute misconduct and it appeared that the Stars discipline was rapidly going. As the buzzer went Stars new signing Andrew Shurmer went steaming in on Blaho Novak, only to be totally up-ended by the young forward who stepped into the onrushing defenseman and sent him sprawling across the ice. Instead of the usual melee that follows instances like that; many Stars players seemed to be laughing at Shurmer who had just been shown up by a 16 year old School boy! Who said kids can’t play against the big boys.

The second period started well for Chieftains when Hammond slotted home from another perfect Novak pass three minutes into the half to put make it 2-0. The Stars fired back minutes later through Shurmer who slid a shot in under Clements to reduce the lead. Goal of the night came ten minutes later when Hammond picked the puck up at centre ice and skated past his marker before slotting the puck past goaltender Skaife from a tight angle. Again though the Stars refused to lie down and captain Darren Elliot took advantage of the Chieftains stopping play as they thought the whistle had gone to wash out an alleged goal, but only to find the whistle hadn't gone and to their horror Elliot scored. The Chieftains made it 4-2 two minutes from the end of the second period when Jerry Pavlus finished past Skafie after a good team move.

It looked to be one-way traffic now, but the Stars had other ideas as the third period began. Forshee grabbed a goal three minutes into the period through somewhat controversial circumstances. Clements the goalie for the Chieftains was clearly been infringed in his crease, which under the rules of hockey isn’t allowed. Referee Freeman failed to see this error and much to the surprise of those in attence the goal was given - much to the displeasure of Clements and the Chieftains players. Even Stars Coach Simon Anderson seemed to motion to the Chieftains players a look of embarrassment. Then to cap it all, in the dying minutes of the game Freeman missed another infringement which allowed Stars Grant Bailey to level the game and earn the hosts a tie.

After the game Birrell said "We will take nothing away from Oxford, they were up for it and gave us a real tough game. I don't want to say too much about the officiating, but suffice to say 2 of their goals at least were down to the officials getting the basics wrong. I think Oxford deserved something from the game, but I'd rather they had earned their draw fairly rather than being gifted it". Looking ahead to this Sunday, little needs to be said.The Chieftains host Invicta Dynamos. Invicta are top of the league and will be a huge test. The teams have not met in league action in almost a decade and it’s a game that should live up to the hype, it's one that i certainly can't wait for!