Chelmsford shock rivals to clinch glory

ROMFORD, UK – Chelmsford Chieftains secured the ENL South Play-Off championship as they overcame bitter rivals Romford Raiders with a 6-2 second leg win, after the first tie had ended 4-4 the night before.

 
It is fair to say that most Chieftains fans filing into their rivals rink before the game would have feared the worst after Romford had scored a last minute equaliser in the first leg and seemingly had the momentum of the tie.
 
A formidable force on their own ice this season, the league championship winning Raiders were well fancied to add the Play-Off trophy to their cabinet, to join the afore-mentioned league gong and also the South East Cup.
 
Standing between Danny Marshall’s men and a much sought after treble were a Chelmsford side that had finished second in the league and were desperate to deal the cruellest of blows to Romford in front of their own fans.
 
The game began with both sides lining up with the same personnel, aside from a net minding change for the visitors as David Wride replaced Ben Clements between the pipes.
 
Wride was called into action early on as Marshall made space down low for himself before passing to Juraj Huska whose shot was saved well.
 
Despite an early power play thanks to a slashing call on AJ Smith, Chelmsford struggled to gain any momentum as Romford pressured them constantly with some good link up play.
 
Billy Phillips saw his slapshot blocked by the diving Dwayne Newman and moments later Raiders Captain Anthony Leone threaded through a beautiful pass to Smith on the far post and he fired the puck home to give the home side a dream start.
 
Romford continued to pile forward as Chelmsford struggled to deal with the energetic Matt Turner and Smith, and then Marshall pinged the puck off Wride’s crossbar with a rocket of a shot from the right wing.
 
Marshall was on the receiving end of a big hit by Michael Ranby behind the net and then Shaun Yardley waded in to seek retribution, only for Huska and Danny Cox to tangle as the atmosphere was upped a notch.
 
Romford were furious a minute later as defenseman David Oliver was left sprawled out on the ice off the play with Tom Davis skating across to try and get at the ever more involved Ranby.
 
This stoppage appeared to have an adverse effect on the scoreboard as it suddenly reset and began displaying the time of day rather than the minutes of the game. After a long stoppage which was easily timed as starting at 5.41pm until 5.49pm, the game restarted with the timekeepers bench ordered to calculate times and penalties via stop watches.
 
Romford continued their good play as Phillips skated hard down the right wing unopposed before rounding the net and unleashing a wrist shot at goal, before being smashed into the boards by Danny Hammond.
 
Despite their good play, Romford pushed the self-destruction button as Huska dawdled on his own blue and allowed Hammond to poke the puck past him before calmly slotting past Michael Gray in the Romford goal.
 
The Chieftains celebrations unwisely took them past the Romford bench who reacted, before sending their third line out to mix things up as they had done the night before.
 
JJ McGrath then worked hard down the right wing to take the puck past the flat footed Chieftains forwards, but his quick wrist shot through the legs of Dwayne Newman was dealt with comfortably by Wride.
 
Huska then found himself in space in a similar position seconds later but his hard slapshot hit Wride straight in the helmet and play was stopped whilst a dazed Wride pulled himself round.
 
Yardley was caught in possession on his own blue as Clarke raced clear for Chelmsford however Raiders defenseman Julian Smith did exceptionally well to block any path towards goal. Romford continued to pressure and the impressive Matt Turner weaved his way through the Chelmsford rear-guard before being hauled down by Hammond who earned himself two minutes in the box for holding.
 
With two minutes to go in the period the Romford power play was carving out chance after chance with Phillips hitting the outside of the post with a big shot from the point, but then Davis clumsily boarded Clarke to ease the pressure on the visitors as the final seconds ticked down.
 
With Romford looking the more impressive side in the first, the power play from the end of the period allowed Chelmsford to start with a man advantage and Clarke combined superbly with Klima, and the latter finished well from just inside the slot.
 
It was a timely goal for the visitors and Wride had to be on hand soon after as Phillips cannoned another shot goal wards.
 
Just as it looked like the home side had regained their composure, Kaminskas lined up Alex Green and drilled him into the boards from behind leaving referee Evans no choice but to give him a 2+10 penalty plus Green a two thanks to his subsequent retaliation.
 
With Kaminskas sat out, Chelmsford began to take a hold on the game and Klima was denied from close range by Gray and then the Romford stopper pulled off another great save seconds later to deny Clarke.
 
A big slash by Phillips on Ranby in the neutral zone gave Chelmsford another power play and when Ranby chased a dump behind the net, the former Streatham man stretched to play the puck out to Clarke who was all alone in front of Gray and scored to give Chelmsford the lead.
 
To their credit, Romford bounced straight back with seven minutes to go in the period as the tireless AJ Smith gained possession in the corner and played the puck out front to Turner who finished smartly past the outstretched Wride to make it 2-2.
 
Chelmsford didn’t let this deter them and they began to find more joy going forward thanks to the absence of Kaminskas.
 
Clarke forced Gray into a good save with his outstretched blocker but then the Romford stopper had his head in his hands moments later when he allowed a floating wrist shot from Darren Brown to loop into the far corner of the net to give the visitors the lead again.
 
Chelmsford surged forward from the following face off and Clarke quickly found Hammond unmarked and the Chieftains number nineteen skipped across the crease and planted the puck in the back of the net.
 
The end to end nature of the game was evident moments after, as a loose puck bounced past the static Chieftains defence and both Huska and Marshall desperately tried to bring it under control but somehow the visitors managed to clear away the danger.
 
Huska then had another great chance to score as Marshall teed him up nicely in front of goal but the Slovak, normally so accurate, blasted wide from close range.
 
The inability to make a breakthrough appeared to be unsettling the home side and in the last five minutes of the period Chelmsford began to go through the gears. Klima, Hammond and Ross Brears all went close as the visitors camped in the Romford zone, and the home side were rather fortunate that Chelmsford had a goal washed out as Gray nudged his goal off its mooring prior to the shot from the circling Chieftains forward.
 
With seconds remaining the hard skating McGrath nearly got on the score sheet as he tipped Leone’s sublime cross ice pass goal wards however Wride stretched out his right leg pad to make a fantastic save.
 
Chasing a two goal deficit, Romford started the third looking rather despondent whilst their opponents could sense more goals could come. Klima burst down the right wing and should have passed across to Ranby all alone, but instead fired straight at the goalie and then Brears saw his quick snapshot from the slot saved by Gray.
 
To boost his forward line, Marshall pushed the returning Kaminskas up front; however it was Huska who carved out the next big chance as he shot from an angle on the right wing that rippled the net to send some of the home fans into raptures. Unfortunately it had landed on the back of the net rather than in it and the Chelmsford fans ironic cheers rang back at the Rom Valley Way faithful.
 
With the home fans still backing their team, Romford plugged away as the Chelmsford defence began to tire. A power play courtesy of a slashing call on Ranby allowed Romford to crank up the pressure and Wride had to be alert to both Turner and Phillips as the home side camped in the Chieftains zone.
 
Yardley’s excellent pass across the slot found Huska all alone but Wride was well positioned to stop the subsequent one timer from the Slovak. Taylor then made his own chance with some neat stickhandling but couldn’t get his shot past the Chelmsford stopper.
 
The lack of penetration was to be Romford’s undoing as James Ayling skated clear on the right wing with nine minutes to go and his pass found Tom Long who finished his own rebound after Gray had made the initial save.
 
The celebrating Chieftains mobbed Long in front of a delirious Chieftains support, as Romford began to realise that perhaps this was not going to be their night. This was typified from the restart as Huska fired another chance over the bar from close range and then Marshall found Kaminskas all alone at the back post but he dragged his shot wide.
 
It was all too much for the frustrated Lithuanian as he hurtled towards Brown in the corner leaving the Chieftain thankful he was wearing a face cage to take the impact of the two hander to the head and then tempers started to escalate as Gray tripped Wright as he skated past the goal and sent the Chelmsford defence man hurtling into the boards.
 
Phillips then left a lazy leg in on Alan Green in the neutral zone and was given a tripping penalty to ease the pressure on Chelmsford. With two minutes to go Green skated clear on the left wing before firing home and past Gray to make it 6-2 before being planted into the boards by Tyrone Miller. McGrath earned himself a penalty in the subsequent melee as he let his emotions get the better of him and Newman stepped in to the fray to protect his line mates as things threatened to get ugly between the two benches.
 
Chelmsford played out pretty much the remainder of the game on the power play as their fans danced in the aisles cheering and chanting, before greeting the final buzzer with an almighty roar as the player decked in the Chieftains colours of black and yellow piled onto goalie David Wride.
 
The departing Tom Long signed off his Chelmsford career with a well-deserved man of the match award and the league champions were left to reflect on what might have been as they made a quick exit from the ice whilst their rivals sprayed champagne on each other.
 
Both teams and officials can take credit for a fantastic play-off final, watched by big passionate crowds and containing everything from controversy and goals to big hits and drama.
 
Chelmsford Chieftains are crowned ENL South Play-Off Champions 2011/12.
 
Contact the author david.carr@prohockeynews.com