AFTER the previous week’s disappointing double loss against the Redskins of Streatham, the Chieftains answered those that questioned their desire for winning in style.

It was always going to be a tough weekend on the road for the defending league champions with trips to Bracknell and Invicta. But they were well prepared and well fired up for what would be a big weekend, as the end of the season draws ever closer.

Saturday’s trip to Bracknell to face the Hornets looked the easier of the two contests on paper.

But this was proved not to be the case, and had it not been for the on form Chelmsford netminder Euan King the final result could have been so different.

Chieftains were 4-0 up after two periods with goals from Danny Hammond, Cameron Bartlett, Lukas Zatopek and Martin Piecha.

But the score did not tell the full story as in that time King had to fend off 27 shots on the net, with ex-Chieftain’s netminder David Wride in the Hornets goal facing only 14.

In the final period the Hornets hit back with two quick goals, but the defence and King stood tall as the onslaught continued.

But as the Hornets pressed forward the gaps appeared and Chieftains had more chances to test Wride, but he had shut-up shop for the rest of the night.

The Chieftains had done enough and when the final buzzer came they celebrated along with the travelling fans, what was a hard fought, but well deserved 4-2 victory.

On Sunday it was back over the QE2 bridge for the second time in two days, to Gillingham and the home of the Invicta Dynamos for the top-of-the-table clash.

This was billed as a battle royal for the champions and the “Mo’s”who were looking a real threat in this season’s title race.

The previous evening’s man of the match and the on-form Euan King was in the net for the second night running, a change to the normal policy of King and Ben Clements sharing the puck-stopping duties over a weekend.

The game started with both teams having chances, Invicta unlucky not to take the lead only to be denied by the post.

Seven minutes in and it was the first powerplay of the game for the Dynamos as Piecha retaliated with a slash after taking exception to a hard hit from Anthony Leone. Chieftains defensive wall stood firm and the game remained scoreless.

But this was to change as 11:25 when a pass from Matt Turner found Bartlett who cut inside the last defence man and rifled the puck home into the roof of the net to open the scoring.

Chieftains then had to overcome another powerplay for the Dynamos as Ryan Giles was given a two-minute penalty for interference.

With a man advantage the Dynamos were once again thwarted by some good defensive play from the Chieftains, not to mention a little help from the goal-post for the second time of the night.

But Chieftains rode their luck and went into the first period break with a slender one-goal advantage.

Two minutes into the second period and Chieftains doubled their lead, Hammond’s shot rebounding of Mark Lee in the Dynamos net but Piecha was on hand to finish the job making it 2-0 at 22:03.

At 28:22 a pass from Bartlett gave Darren Brown clear sight of goal as he left the Dynamos defence in his wake. But his shot was well saved by Lee, but once again it was Chieftains who pounced on the loose puck, Turner the finisher.

At 3-0 Dynamos instantly felt like this important game was slipping away from them and called a time-out in an effort to regroup.

Four minutes later is was 4-0 after Hammond’s pass found Ross Brears who demonstrated his puck-handling skills, beating his man and backhanding the puck off of the bar into the net.

This was Lee’s final play of the game as the Dynamos replaced him with Mark McGill between the posts in a bid to shore up their goal and prevent further Chieftains goals.

But within two minutes the Chieftains were on target again, this time a short-handed strike as Michael Ranby was sitting a two-minute penalty for slashing.

Darren Brown took advantage of the forward-pressing Dynamos and for the second time of the night found himself one-on-one with the Dynamos netminder.

This time he did not need the help of a team mate to finish the job as he skilfully beat McGill from a narrow angle at 33:33.

A 5-0 lead into the final period and Chieftains looked comfortable going into the final 20 minutes of play.

A minute after the restart and the dominant champions were celebrating again. Another Brown strike after James Ayling spotted him unmarked on the back post, his accurate pass comfortably slotted home.

The Chieftains were cutting through the Dynamos defence with ease, and at 42:46 an awful line change gave Chieftains another goal chance, another one on one chance for Bartlett and with just the unprotected McGill to beat, he swooped, backhanding the puck once again into the roof of the net, 7-0 and only a miracle could help their opponents now.

But as they went on search for that miracle, again the rampaging Chieftains forwards sprung into action.

Hammond, Brears and Piecha broke quickly with just one sole defender and a netminder between them and the net. Brears’ pass found Piecha and his bullet of a shot hit the back of the net, ringing the crossbar on the way in at 53:44.

And with less than five minutes of the game remaining Ayling netted to make the final score 9-0 at the buzzer.

A superb performance and a brilliant result for the Chieftains as they gained a maximum four important league points over the weekend.

This puts them back on top of the table with a two point and three game advantage over the Dynamos with ten games remaining.

This weekend Chieftains head to the Isle of Wight to face Wightlink Raiders, before the clash of the two tribes on Sunday.

The Chieftains face the Redskins at Riverside (6.30pm face-off) and with the double loss at the hands of Streatham a fortnight ago they will be looking for revenge.

It’s an important fixture for both with league points and an important confidence boost for the winner, as ahead is their NIHL cup semi- final at the end of the month.