Ice hockey: Chelmsford Chieftains stay top of the table with win over Streatham Redskins

They dropped important league points on Saturday following a 4-0 shut-out defeat by Wightlink Raiders.

But on Sunday they were back on form at Riverside defeating Streatham Redskins 6-2 to remain on top of the league.

Saturday’s trip to the Isle of Wight was a day to forget for the team as they just couldn’t find their form.

The close confines of the small ice pad and the close attention of the Wightlink players combining to thwart the normal passing game of the Chieftains.

Cameron Bartlett forces his way through the Redskins' defence

On Sunday it was back to Riverside and the fans turned out in force for this important match against the Redskins.

The Chieftains had not been on home ice for a fortnight and that was when they suffered a 6-3 defeat by Streatham.

So it was an early chance for revenge. And with the two sides going head-to-head in the cup semi-final at the end of the month, it would be a significant boost to the confidence of the winners.

Chieftains looked in determined mood early on and were rewarded with three minutes on the clock. Darren Brown and Cameron Bartlett stormed the opposition net, their speed leaving the chasing Redskins in their wake.

With only one defender between themselves and the goal Brown passed to the unmarked Bartlett who made no mistake to make it 1-0 to the Chieftains.

Before the DJ had time to announce the goal details it was 2-0, just seconds after the restart. Danny Hammond’s accurate pass to Czech forward Martin Piecha, his fierce shot giving netminder Will Sanderson little chance.

Danny Hammond puts the Redskins' net under pressure

The alarm bells started ringing for the visitors and they started to make a few sorties into the Chieftains' defensive zone.

But the Chieftains' defence and netminder Euan King held firm. The period ended 2-0 with the Chieftains enjoying the freedom of the Riverside ice pad, much larger than the one they encountered 24 hours previously on the island.

Four minutes after the restart it was again Bartlett on the scoresheet. He received Brown’s pass and despite the close attention of two defenders, he forced his through and beat Sanderson high into the roof of the net.

But at 27:23 the visitors made it 3-1 with a powerplay strike from Steven Fisher. The man advantage paid off as Chieftain’s defenceman Ryan Giles watched from the sin bin after receiving a two-minute penalty for tripping.

It was then the visitors' turn to fall foul of the rules, Jack Tarczycki and Adam Mahoney both called for tripping in quick succession.

This gave Chieftains a five on three opportunity which they took. Julian Smith’s shot from the blue line was saved, but the rebound was poked in to an open net by Darren Brown from close range to make it 4-1 to the Chieftains.

Alex Staples and Sean Barry were then both called for delay of game as their misjudged clearance attempts cleared the plexi and struck the net surround.

The calls came within ten seconds of each other giving the Redskins almost two minutes with a two-man advantage.

But the tight Chieftains' defence kept them at bay and the sides returned to even numbers without any addition to the score.

But as the period wound down, Redskins pulled another goal back with just two seconds remaining. Callum Best maybe giving his team a glimmer of a hope in the final twenty minutes.

But within the first three minutes of the third that glimmer had been extinguished as both Piecha and Hammond struck to make it 6-2 to secure a well-deserved two points.

This leaves the Chieftains on level points with Invicta Dynamos, but still with three games in hand with eight games remaining in the National Ice Hockey League South Division One campaign.

This weekend the Chieftains take the long trip to Cardiff on Saturday, before returning to Riverside on Sunday for the visit by Milton Keynes Thunder (6.30pm face-off).