CHELMSFORD, UK – Saturday night saw the Chelmsford Chieftains head to Buckinghamshire to take on the Milton Keynes Thunder in their first match in English National League 1 (South) after their unbeaten league season in division 2 last year. It was a physical game with some end to end hockey played, but the Chieftains dominance showed over the course of the game. Goals from Rudi Dzurko, Danny Hammond and Danny Wright secured the 3-1 win. Head coach Dean Birrell said, “For us, we can play better for sure. But it is the first game of the season and no-one should be expecting a flawless performance. We got the win which is what we came for so in that sense it is job done. I am interested more in getting the points on the board and the wins and we’ll let others worry about the physical side of the game. “Next week we have a tough challenge against the Bracknell Hornets, but we’ll be ready for them and we’ll be expecting a tougher game than tonight. Having said all that, we’ve got things which we need to work on and sharpen up on in training and I’ll be looking for those areas to be improved upon in the coming weeks”. Scorers on the night: Danny Hammond (1goal+1assist), Rudi Dzurko (1+0), Danny Wright (1+0), Blaho Novak (0+1), Jerry Pavlus (0+1) In Chelmsford’s second game of the weekend, it was a much different story with the final score against Haringey Greyhounds of 18-1 in what was the highest league win for the Chieftains in the ENL. The products of the Chelmsford junior system were the stars of the show with hat-tricks from Blaho Novak, Aaron Connelly and Ross Brears. James Ayling just missed out on a hat-trick too. The game also proved that the team has all round toughness as one of the quietest men on the team, Darren Brown, got involved in an incident with notorious wind-up merchant Dave Richards which resulted in him receiving a 2+10minute penalty. Richards took a 2+10+5+Game+Match for the same incident in what many felt was a very harsh and over the top call from referee Bellenger. Birrell was once again delighted in the performance of the junior players saying, “It wasn’t as tough as the MK game, but we made some progress on things I wanted improvements on from last night’s game. It’s great to see so many of the youngsters getting amongst the points and it bodes well for us that in games like this the youngsters can take on a bigger role, but the senior guys will be on hand when the tougher challenges come in in future weeks. We’re under no illusions though and their feet will be made sure that they stay on the ground.” “We have a very tough game next Sunday evening against Bracknell Hornets and we’re going to have to improve and pick our game up for then. Over the weekend both of my goalies (Ben Clements and Andy Moffat) performed well and they did all that I could ask of them. I’m very happy to have got a goal difference of 19 after 2 games, but I do not expect to have any easy games throughout the season and I’ll be expecting the players to work hard every night and make sure we come away with 2 points from each game,” said Coach Birrell. Scorers: Ross Brears (3+4), Blaho Novak (3+3), Aaron Connelly (3+2), James Ayling (2+3), Sean Easton (2+1), Danny Hammond (2+1), Rudi Dzurko (0+3), Jerry Pavlus (1+1), Danny Wright (1+1), Tom Foskett (1+0), Alex Green (0+1), Richard Whiting (0+1) Sunday’s opening home game of the new ice hockey season in Chelmsford was as productive off the ice as it was on it. The club had a special evening to raise money for Callum Miller, a severely disabled 4 year old boy, and they were successful in raising ÂŁ340 on the night for Callum. The money is to go towards getting Callum the treatment he needs from a specialist in Germany. Callum’s mum, Jane, said “We’re delighted at the generosity of the Chelmsford Chieftains fans. They made us feel so welcome at the game and we’re very touched by the amount they raised on the night. Callum especially enjoyed being able to present the man of the match awards at the end of the game and getting to meet captain of the Chieftains Richard Whiting. Richard has very kindly offered to donate the money raised at his testimonial at the end of this season to Callum’s Cause and that really touched us”. For more information on Callum Miller please go to www.callumscause.com where you can also donate money to the cause. Contact the author Pete.lewis@prohockeynews.com
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