Chieftains unlucky not to get a draw

CHELMSFORD, UK – An enthralling game of hockey at the Riverside tonight in which the Chieftains went up against league leaders Invicta Dynamos. From the off the Chieftains went at Invicta and Ross Brears was unlucky not to score. The puck was raced up the other end of the ice from a clearance by Invicta netminder Joe White and Nicky Lewis fired it past Ben Clements in the Chieftains goal after just 17 seconds. Moments later and things heated up in the corner when BT Williams and Ryan Giles got involved in a scuffle and referee Rene Ross sent both to the penalty box. The Chieftains were pressing the Dynamos hard now to get back into the game and Danny Hammond and Blaho Novak teamed up well for Hammond who just shot wide of White’s goal. Clements was called into action again seconds later after a mistake by Alex Green almost cost the Chieftains another goal. At 12:21 the Riverside came alive when Hammond latched onto a pass from Jerry Pavlus and slotted it home past White to tie the game up.

It was shortlived though as just 40 seconds later it was 1-2 when former Chieftain Elliot Andrews had a shot that deflected off Green’s leg and went into the net. Both sides tried hard to either extend their lead or tie the game up during the rest of the period, but the teams went into the first break with the Essex side 2-1 behind. Concentration had slipped early in the second period and import forward Nolan Boike took full advantage of the opportunity presented to him and made the scoreline 1-3. Ross had begun to lose control of the game and Novak seemed to be taking the brunt of the chippy stuff off the puck and and he ended up taking matters into his own hands. He was subject to some nasty stickwork by tough guy Grant Baxter and Novak dropped his gloves and Baxter went to the ice. Novak threw a few punches at Baxter and took a 2+2minute penalty for his troubles. This had fired up the home side and large crowd in attendance and moments later Hammond almost made it 2-3 but his shot was saved by White who was also grateful for the post as his save bounced off the post. Hammond made sure with his next chance at 29:25 as he rifled home a shot from the blueline that flew into the top of the net at some pace past a stranded White while on the powerplay. Hammond then almost made tied the game up at 35:40, but his shot went just wide with only the keeper to beat. Tempers had been simmering throughout the game they came to a head at 38:17 when a scrum of players gathered just in front of White’s net and Giles broke free from it with Rudi Dzurko in hot pursuit. The two squared off with the gloves and helmets on the ice and they fought with Dzurko getting more punches in and landing on top of Giles. The home side were delighted with the Slovak’s performance and the crowd was going wild. The elated fans immediately had their joy turned to anger as Ross awarded both Giles and Dzurko a 2+2 roughing penalty and then tacked on a match penalty to Dzurko for excessive roughing. It means he will miss the return game in Kent next Sunday. Into the third period and the game, although 1 goal in it, was wide open and neither side looked like giving up easily. At 46:02 and the Essex fans and players were ecstatic with man of the match Aaron Connolly who finished off in style a great passing move between him, Brears and Green. The game was poised at 3-3 with just under 14mins to play. Both sides threw everything at the other and the Dynamos had the best chance on 48:00 but Ben Clements pulled off the save of the night to deny the Kent side a winner.Sadly, Clements’s luck ran out at 58:47 when Andy Smith found a gap at Clements’s nearside and put the puck home to break Chieftains hearts. The game played out without further incident, but the reaction of the Dynamos players and fans was such that the win meant a lot to them and that they had been made to work very hard for the result. Speaking shortly after his teams defeat, head coach 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. I thought over the course of the game, we were the better side and deserved something out of the game. But, we showed we can compete and gave a great account of ourselves. Taking nothing away from Invicta though, they played a fantastic game as well and showed why they have won the league and been at the top for so long. I am very proud of the boys tonight and I know going into next week’s game 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. It might not seem like it, but the boys really do respond to the crowd getting behind them and being loud.” Contact the author Pete.lewis@Prohockeynews.com