Solent Devils 2 Chelmsford Chieftains 3 (Saturday)

Chelmsford Chieftains 3 Solent  Devils 0 (Sunday)

CHELMSFORD Chieftains are back in the winning groove after a tough weekend that saw them take a maximum four points from a fiery Solent Devils.

Chieftains started the weekend with a road trip to the south-coast to face the Devils in the tight confines of the claustrophobic Gosport ice rink.

Chieftains started without Darren Brown and Danny Wright, with Ben Clements the chosen starting netminder.

Chieftains started brightly and were ahead with Martin Piecha goal with only five minutes on the game clock.

It was end-to-end action for the rest of the period with both teams having chances, but both Clements and Christian Cole in the Solent net were on great form and the Chieftains had to be content with a slender 1-0 lead at the buzzer.

Into the second period and Chieftains were on target again, Michael Ranby doubling the lead with assists from Matt Turner and Alex Staples at 25:16. Turner made it 3-0 ten minutes later and it looked the Chieftains were well on the way to victory.

But the Devils had other ideas and two goals in quick succession, at 36:22 and 38:48 brought the home team right back into the game.

When the buzzer sounded for the end of the second period it was still anyone’s game. The Chieftains looked the better team, but as with any sport it’s the result that counts and it was going to be a nervous final twenty minutes of play for the travelling fans.

But Chieftains looked far from nervous and piled the pressure on the Solent net outshooting the Devils by 18 shots to 5.

A mixture of Cole and the officials denied the Chieftains of that important two goal cushion, but when the end of the game came the slender one goal advantage proved to be sufficient. Chieftains celebrated maximum points to leapfrog second placed Streatham Redskins and keep the pressure on the league leaders Invicta Dynamos.

On Sunday it was the Devils turn to travel and after what was a close and intense game the previous evening, it was always going to be an entertaining evening at Riverside Ice and Leisure.

When teams meet each other on a back-to-back weekend, especially if the first game is a bad-tempered affair, this guarantees the officials will have a busy night ahead.

Both Brown and Wright returned and Euan King took his place in between the pipes. Points were once again top priority and Chieftains took control of the game, but Cole was on man of the match-winning form and stopped everything fired at him in the first period.

But two minutes after the break Chieftains took a deserved lead. Danny Hammond finding a way past Cole, Ross Brears and Sean Barry adding to their seasons points tally with the assists.

The game was starting to heat up physically, both sides throwing some big hits, some legal, some right on the border of legality.

The Devils defence stood firm as the Chieftains continued their onslaught. But it was not always one-way traffic with the visitors having regular breakaway chances, keeping King and his defence on high alert.

At 35:55 Chieftains fans were celebrating a great strike from the youngest member of the team Bailey Chittock.

James Ayling and Turner put in some great approach work and Chittock ignored the brave Devils defender who put his ‘body on the line’ for his team. His fierce slapshot from the blue line going over the top of his opponent laying prone on the ice, maybe surprising the on-form Cole.

Chieftains led 2-0 going into the third period and looking comfortable, but the opening minutes of the period was more about settling personal scores than goals. From the moment the referee dropped the puck it was evident that the tempers were starting to fray.

At 42:23 Brown and Ralfs Circenis clashed and were sent to the sin bin for roughing with the later also receiving a ten minute misconduct call from the officials who were struggling to keep a lid on the pressure cooker.

The game restarted but came to a halt just seven seconds later as Chieftains captain Julian Smith removed his helmet and dropped his gloves, Devil Mitchell Murray took the bait and the two players exchanged blows and the officials stepped in as the two players went to the ice.

Both players recieved four minutes in penalties for their troubles as they touched gloves in the bin as a sign of respect after a hard fought contest.

When play resumed Chieftains got back down to the job of scoring goals and at 48:33 they sealed the game with a Hammond scoring his second of the night, a powerplay goal after a patient build up involving Turner and Piecha.

The game ended 3-0 to the Chieftains who dominated the play with 53 shots on the Solent net, with King pulling off some solid saves to earn a well deserved shut-out making a total of 29 saves.

With the Dynamos shock defeat by the Bracknell Hornets this means the Chieftains are only two points behind with three games in hand.

The Chieftains have another tough encounter with the Devils in Gosport this Sunday but not before a meeting with some Welsh Devils.

Cardiff NIHL Devils are the visitors to Riverside on Saturday (5.45pm face-off) and the club are doing a special kids for a quid promotion. See www.chelmsfordchieftains.com for further details.