What a difference a week makes

CHELMSFORD,U.K- After last weekends difficult home game against the Invicta Mustangs, the Chelmsford Chieftains were out for revenge this weekend in two arguably tougher games. First up on Saturday was a road trip to Basingstoke to face the Buffalo, followed by a home game on Sunday against Division 1 side Milton Keynes Thunder. With a tough trip getting down to Hampshire with road and traffic problems, the Chieftains problems were compounded by having a delayed face off due to a junior tournament overrunning and also they would be without inspirational coach Dean Birrell who had other commitments. A tough game ensued and it could fair to say that the officials didn’t help the Chieftains or the game to make it a spectacle of hockey, however the Chieftains were still able to overcome these problems and come back with a 6-4 win with star player Danny Hammond getting a first period natural hat trick and also man of the match for the Chieftains. The game was not without controversy though as the Buffalo fourth goal was alleged to have been grasped from mid-air by Buffalo forward Mark Stratford and dropped onto his stick and put in the net. Sean Easton was so incensed by this decision he ended up receiving two 10 minute penalties for abusing the referee and as such went for an early shower. Stand in coach Richard Whiting commented on Hammond after the game. “It was good for the team tonight to come away with two points and in particular Danny Hammond who fully deserved his man of the match, he worked hard all game and didn’t give up,” Whiting said. “We all worked hard and to come to what I consider one of the toughest teams in the league and come away with two points was great for us.” Despite the good performance Whiting wasn’t getting carried away. “At times it was a great team performance, but mistakes on defence let us down and cost us a few sloppy goals, however we kept in front and got the points,” Whiting said. “It was disappointing to lose Sean for arguing, as he knows that referees wont change their minds, he is a sensible lad and we’ll be talking to him and take it from there. It was a tough game and emotions were running high, but the way the puck ended up in the net was a bit dubious.”  The Chieftains form and fortunes improved dramatically on Sunday night as they faced the Milton Keynes Thunder from the higher English National League division 1 in the ENL South Cup competition. It was widely expected to be a tough game for the Chieftains, but lady luck was smiling on them as the Thunder went into the game with their heads down after being beaten 6-0 the night before to the Bracknell Hornets in a league game. With checks being thrown from the off it was obviously going to be a physical battle and a tough game for both sides, however once again Hammond was the star for the Chieftains alongside his line-mates Lee Brears and Jaroslaw Pavlus. Also in the side making his second appearance of the season, his first being the road game in Basingstoke, and his first at home was crowd favourite Nathanael “BT” Williams. Williams has come on leaps and bounds in recent seasons and this year he is one of the senior players at the club, despite being only 21. With his known abilities to fight and defend his team-mates he would obviously be a natural target for the tougher Thunder players. Kristian Simo in particular was jabbing away at Williams throughout the game, but Williams was able to rise above it and not react and put in a solid if unspectacular performance. The one player who did react to a cheap shot though was hard-hitting and tough defenceman Karl Hopper. A punch to the face by Dan Chaplan, as the pair were rising from the ice, resulted in a pummelling from Hopper on the 19year old Thunder player. Referee Ian Hayden gave both 2+2 for roughing for the scrap. The game was uneventful in terms of physicality for much of the game, however the Chieftains dominated the Thunder all over the ice and a result of 4-1 was probably warranted as the Chieftains were that much better than the Thunder on the night. After the game hard to please coach Birrell was very happy with the way things had gone. “I am pleased tonight and we came into the game knowing we had to pick up our game and we did just that, there are still one or two things which we need to work on,” Birrell said.  “The defence improved and we created lots of chances in front of their net, I was very impressed with our third line tonight (James Ayling, Sean Martin and Ross Brears – Ayling scored a goal and Brears assisted) as they showed the character I am looking for from these boys.”  One other point of note and something the fans should take on board is `Don’t believe everything you see on the ice`. After a bit of an unsavoury incident, fiery tempered and some times official-hating Sean Easton appeared to be having a words with linesman Dave Tottman, while trying to get to referee Hayden. The seemingly cool headed Pavlus physically pulled him away from the officials and pushed him towards the bench, much to the apparent disgust of Derek Bartlett behind the Chieftains bench who was shouting at Easton to continue to have a go with the officials. Many fans believed that there would and should be another abuse of an official call coming Easton’s way, however it was later revealed that it was all a bit of a joke amongst the players and coaching staff and the officials took it in good spirit too and all in all everyone skated off with a smile on their face, much to the wonderment of those in attendance.