CHELMSFORD, UK – Player-coach Gary Clarke was disappointed to not pick up maximum points in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Oxford. Clarke said after the game “It was a tough game against a netminder (Chris Douglas) who had an outstanding game and we created plenty of chances but were unable to find a way past him. We worked very hard up front to create the chances, but it just didn’t work out for us in front of goal. We did very well on defence to limit them to just 10 shots, but we will definitely be working on shooting this week and trying to get some belief back in ourselves in front of goal”. The Chieftains had gone into the game on the back of a 13-2 drubbing of Streatham the week before and were confident of getting maximum points, but the Stars came with a gameplan to put men around the goal and defend Douglas’s net from the off. They played such a defensive game that in the second period they didn’t manage 1 shot on Ben Clements who had a quiet night in the Chieftains net. An early marker from Darren Elliott put the Stars 1-0 up less than 5 minutes in with a fine solo effort. The Chieftains came back and were dominant and it took until the 19th minute for new import Jakub Klima to scramble the puck home from close range to tie the scores at 1 a piece going into the first break. The Chieftains took control of the game in the second, but were unable to get too many meaningful shots on Douglas, managing just 7 in the period. However that was 7 more than Oxford managed as they packed the defensive zone with players and kept most attacks at bay. Controversy struck at 50.25 when referee Dave Cloutman seemed to signal a goal to the Chieftains after a mad scramble around the net and the net flying off from a shove from Paul Gore of the Stars, but then moments later seemingly changed his mind and instead gave a 2 minute penalty to Gore instead, much to the bemusement of most in the rink. Despite some late pressure from the home side, Douglas stood strong and rightly took home the man of the match award, while Klima took the award for the Essex side. Next week the Chieftains head to Cardiff for their first encounter with the new-look Devils outfit and should be an equally tough test. Clarke said “Cardiff are a young and hard-working side and we’ll have to be wary of them. We know we can create the chances, but in Mike Brabon they have another strong netminder so we know we’ll have to improve our shooting and rebound play to get something from South Wales”. Game stats: 04:44 GOAL Chelmsford 0 – 1 Oxford Darren Elliott (Forshee) 08:20 PEN OCS Gareth Endicott 2 Slashing 11:02 PEN CC Connor Stokes 2 Roughing 15:39 PEN OCS Lee Featherstone 2 Holding 15:39 PEN OCS Lee Featherstone 10 Abuse of Official 18:28 GOAL Chelmsford 1 – 1 Oxford Jakub Klima (Alex Green) 34:34 PEN CC Alan Green 2 Hooking 36:19 PEN OCS Lee Featherstone 2 Interference 42:27 PEN OCS Lee Featherstone 2 Holding 50:25 PEN OCS Paul Gore 2 Delay of Game 53:14 PEN CC Jakub Klima 2 Unsportsmanlike Conduct 53:14 PEN OCS Richard Wojciak 2 Slashing Shots on goal: On Chieftains (Clements) 7-0-3 = 10 (90%) On Oxford (Douglas) 18-7-15 = 40 (97.56%) MoM: Chieftains – Jakub Klima Oxford – Chris Douglas Officials: Dave Cloutman, Pering, Brooks
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