Cheiftains Clash With Invicta Lives Up To Hype!

For those of you who read our post on Friday which featured the latest news on the Chelmsford Chieftains would have known that on Sunday, they had arguably their biggest game of the season. It was a game against local rivials and leaders of the ENIHL South Div 1 league – the Invicta Dynamos. As you’re find out it proved to be a great game of Ice Hockey, Sport Trades Pete Lewis was there and here’s his report of the game:

In a game that everyone involved with the Chieftains had been looking forward to in years, there was much expectation that Chelmsford would beat the league leaders. To do that the team would need to start the game well, and although they had a chance in the first ten seconds of the game through Ross Brears – Invicta grabbed the lead after only 17 seconds. A pass by Invicta netminder picked out the quick Nicky Lewis in an attacking position and he fired a snap shot past Ben Clements in the Chieftains goal to score.

It was a shock to the crowd that the visitors would score that early, but there was no time to panic even at this stage and soon the hosts were level, through a smart goal from Danny Hammond on 12 minutes. Hammond (pictured below on the left) was picked out well by Jerry Pavlus and slotted past White in front of the net to put the hosts on level terms. The joy of equalising was short lived as just 40 seconds later, Invicta scored again as Elliot Andrews had a shot deflected past Clements in goal. It was harsh on the hosts but hockey is like that sometimes, you can never relax even for a second.

Going into the second period, it was obvious that Chieftains couldn’t afford to concede another goal to the visitors, which is sadly what they did just three minutes into the period. After the hosts lost poccession of the puck, Invicta’s Nolan Boike teed up Joe Johnston bearing down on the Chelmsford goal and the Brit forward lifted over Clements to give the Dynamos a two goal advantage. It was a lead that could have been added to as Chieftain’s prospect Blaho Novak saw the red mist and attempted to take on Grant Baxter in a tussle but Baxter soaked up the punches on the ice without retaliating to earn his side a four minute powerplay advantage.

Even with a man light, Chieftains were still looking for a goal and they almost got that when Hammond had a powerful shot saved by White in goal, who was lucky to see his save bounce of the inside of the post. Hammond atoned for that moments later when he rifled home a shot from the blueline which flew into the top of the net past a stunned White to reduce the lead to 1 with 29 minutes played. The dying minutes of the second period were full of action. First Hammond missed a chance to score his hatrick when he shot the puck wide with only White to beat. Then with two minutes to go before the end of the period, a major scuffle emerged which ended in Chelmsford’s Rudi Dzurko and Invicta’s Ryan Giles brawling on the ice with both players getting 4 minute penalties for their actions.

With only one goal between the teams at the start of the third period, it set the game up brilliantly for a thrilling conclusion. Six minutes into the half and the home support were estatic as Aaron Connolly finished of a great passing move between him, Ross Brears and Alex Green to make the score 3-3. With both teams not wanting to sit back and take a draw, there was a feeling that there was going to be a winner in the game and sadly for the home support, Invicta went home with the win as the visitors scored a goal in the penultimate minute of the game. After Peter Vaisanen won a face off for the visitors just inside the Chieftain’s half, a quick pass inside to Andy Smith caught the hosts out. With only Clements to beat, Smith kept his cool and launched the puck beyond the netminder to conclude a dramatic game and send Chelmsford to only their second defeat of the season.

Head coach for the Chieftains Dean Birrell had this to say “"It was a great performance from the boys tonight. I asked all of them to give it 110% and they did. we were the better side and deserved something out of the game”. Birrell though gave praise to the visitors saying “They played a fantastic game as well and showed why they have won the league and been at the top for so long.

Next Sunday is the big rematch between the teams as the Chieftains travel to Kent to play Invicta at their Gillingham Ice Bowl. If the game this weekend is to go by, the return game should be another good encounter. Birrell is confident that the team can perform well and please the travelling Chelmsford support saying “and I know going into next week's game, we know what we have to do now to get the win. We'll be giving it our all again and hope the travelling Chelmsford fans will give it their all too. The fans were in fine voice tonight and I hope that sort of support continues”.

The Chieftains feeder club, the Warriors went down 8-2 this Saturday to a dominant Swindon ENL Wildcasts. Despite some good saves from netminder Andy Brummitt, the Wildcats could not be contained and won at a canter. More from the Chieftains next week!