Chieftains win Essex derby

The Romford Raiders made the short trip up the A12 in large numbers to create another huge crowd at the Riverside to witness a close,exciting, end-to-end game that could have gone either way for most of the game. 
 
Referee Yuri Solojanovs and Chieftains forward Blaho Novak will have tongues wagging for various reasons, however the real stars of the show on the night were the two netminders with Michael Gray and Ben Clements being in outstanding form. Both kept their sides in it throughout the game and it was going to take something exceptional to break the deadlock and it took until the 42nd minute for the first goal to be scored, however not the first time the puck hit the net, when Aaron Connelly fired home from close range as Michael Gray gave up a rebound on a Ross Brears shot. Both Gray and Clements, in the Chieftains net, made 41 saves each on the night, with Gray having 42 shots on him. Rightly both players were awarded the man of the match beers and both sets of fans can be very proud of their goalies after this game. Midway through the first period the puck bounced back off the plexi behind Clements's net and Danny Marshall was on hand to put the puck in the net, however the goal was ruled out for high-sticks as Solojanovs adjudged the contact to have been made above crossbar height.

The game was filled with controversy and players on both sides were invoking the wrath of the opposing fans with Pierre Wilhelmsson firstly getting tempers to rise with a nasty hit from behind along the boards which in many people's eyes should have been given more than a 2minute minor penalty. Blaho Novak managed to upset the Raiders fans and players twice in the game for doing the same thing. In ice hockey if your stick goes up and draws blood from an opponent it's an automatic match penalty, however Novak accidentally caught Raiders player-coach Danny Marshall in the face in the second period and drew blood, yet nothing called and in the third period, with just over 3minutes to play, again caught Marshall in the face, but this time Solojanovs called it by the book and sent Novak for a straight match penalty. Earlier in the game, former Chieftain JJ McGrath took his stick to Danny Cox's forearm behind the play and Cox struggled off the ice and the Chieftains bench was going mad and demanding a penalty be called, however Solojanovs didn't call anything as he hadn't seen the incident.

Back to the hockey though and it was an exceptional game, even though it only had 1 goal. Both sides created plenty of chances and put a lot of shots in on the goaltenders, however neither side was keen to give up anything as they knew what the Essex derby meant and the reaction of the victors after the game showed that. Ice hockey fans normally like to have lots of goals to talk about, but this game will live long in the memory as it was one of the most exciting games seen at the Riverside for some time and both sets of fans can be proud of their teams after this barnstorming game.

After the game Dean Birrell said "The fact of the matter is, is that Romford didn't let us play. Romford came at us tonight and made it uncomfortable and stopped us playing our game. They clogged up the neutral zone and the slot, they worked our defensive unit hard, they gave our forwards some hits and they played at a high tempo, probably the highest tempo game we've played this season. We have a number of players who are not experienced in games like this and that counts for something. With no disrespect to Romford, but I felt we could have, should have got something more from this game than a 1-0 result, but that's not to take anything away from their goalie who was outstanding but I'm pleased we won. Ben Clements was immense for us tonight and stood strong at everything fired at him and in games like this you need to have game makers and he was ours tonight." 

Birrell was less complimentary about the officiating "I was disappointed in the inconsistency of the officiating and the way in which calls were made, but we have to learn to deal with that. We had one guy smashed into the boards from behind that could have been a nasty incident, but not called anything other than a minor penalty, yet two players get tangled up and they get the same thing. What happens if the stick goes up high and draws blood it's a penalty, deliberate or not, but he didn't call it in the first, yet in the third he did. Again we come back to the inconsistency."