Chieftains get unconvincing win over Peterborough Islanders

CHELMSFORD, UK – Both sides struggled to get going in this festive clash at the Riverside, which was seen by many fans in Christmas hats and attire. Early chances were few and far between and the poor form as of late slowly began to creep into the Chieftains play and it wasn’t until 13:07 of the first period when Simon Wren in the Peterborough Islanders net was finally beaten thanks to a blast of a shot from Alex Green which was turned in by Jerry Pavlus just outside the goalie crease. The Chieftains doubled their lead late in the period when an inch perfect pass from James Ayling found man of the match Darren Brown in space and he slotted home with ease.

Just 135 seconds into the second period and the scoreline was 3-0 when Richard Whiting scored and just over a minute later it was 4 as Danny Hammond scored a peach of a goal. Simon Wren pulled off 2 great saves in quick succession at 26:03 as the Chieftains began to lay siege to the Islanders goal. The half hour mark saw the Islanders finally score in a goal which many would say was deserved. It wasn’t a pretty goal from James Pentecost, but it went in and as they say “they all count”. Blaho Novak went close moments later, but Wren again kept out the youngsters’ shot with another fine save. Things tightened right up at 41:25 when the Islanders pulled within 2 goals of the Chieftains as Steve Maile scored a nice goal from close range. This seemed to wake the Chieftains up and with just under 9mins to play James Ayling took control of a pass from BT Williams and danced down the ice with the puck and squared it to Darren Brown who slotted home for his second of the night. 3 minutes later and it was 6-2 when Danny Hammond scored another peach of a goal, this time a solo effort from centre ice ending in a 1on1 with the goalie. After the game, a relieved head coach Dean Birrell said “I’m glad we got that win under our belts. We know we’ve had a bad run lately, but that corner should have been turned now. We’ve scored some goals, got 2 points and can now concentrate on the big game next Sunday in Invicta. We’ve played them twice recently and narrowly lost to them and got a draw at their rink, so we know we can match them.” Birrell continued “There are things from the game that need to be worked on, having no training for a few weeks hasn’t helped matters, so the fans can be rest assured we’ll be working hard to get things flowing again for next Sunday”.   Sunday also sees the Chelmsford second side, Prohockeynews sponsored Warriors, return to the ice after almost a months break as they take on local rivals Lee Valley Lions. The Lions have missed last season’s most influential players in Michael Ranby and Stas Prokofiev as the season has progressed, but their start has been worse than the Warriors’ one has been. The Lions have picked up just 1 win in 7 games this year and that was an 11-3 drubbing of Streatham Bruins. Lee Valley are also able to call upon the services of GB women’s international Angela Taylor, as well as an all-female net minding duo of Ruth Cattell and Robyn Maby. Don’t be fooled into thinking that having mixed teams isn’t fair, Taylor in particular usually gives more than she gets!! Contact the author Pete.lewis@prohockeynews.com