Invicta Dynamos 8,
Chelmsford Chieftains 5
AN early disallowed goal was a sign of things to come for Chieftains and moments later it was 1-0 to the home side when Andy Smith slotted in under Andy Moffat, making his return to the side.
Richard Whiting then upped the tempo a short while later with a big hip check on Dynamos import Peter Vaisanen who then chased Whiting around the ice to seek revenge and in doing so earned himself a two minute penalty for charging as he flattened Whiting into the boards.
The other Dynamo import Nolan Boike was playing like a man possessed and doubled the Dynamos lead on 11.44 with a neat finish.
Chieftains were awoken and under two minutes later it was 2-1 when Ross Brears and James Ayling combined well to give Brears a simple finish.
Brears was hard-working all night and was a real thorn in the Dynamos side and was unlucky to miss out on the man of the match award, which went to BT Williams.
The game was tied moments later when Mark Williams made a howler of a clearance from the Dynamos zone and passed the puck straight to Danny Hammond who shot the puck past Joe White with some power.
The second period saw the Dynamos go ahead once more with Boike getting his second of the game. Moments later a large melee gathered at centre ice with Jerry Pavlus and Mark Williams exchanging new year’s wishes, followed by large numbers of both teams also joining in the niceties, or so it looked.
Once Williams left the penalty box for his roughing penalty he rifled home a goal thanks to Boike winning a face off in the Chieftains zone. It was 5-2 just over the half way mark when Boike netted his hat-trick goal. The Chieftains were in disarray now and the rampaging Dynamos were going at full force and it became 6-2 thanks to Elliot Andrews netting on the 37.43.
As the players left the ice at the end of the period, there was some words exchanged in the locker area and the next thing the fans knew were that announcements were made for security to attend the changing area as there were scuffles breaking out between players outside the locker rooms. Things were diffused though by cooler heads and the officials stepping in and both sides returned the ice for the third period with no further incident.
Andrews quickly made it 7-2 in the third when Boike set him up with some nice passing moves on the 42.00 mark. The large numbers of travelling fans were silenced by the five goal deficit and it appeared that it was a case of damage limitation. Darren Brown was having none of it though and brought the score within four goals with a nice finish minutes later. Aaron Connolly went close for the Chieftains on 47.46, but White made a fine glove save.
Just over half way through the period and the home side switched net minders and Shane Kemp came in for the Dynamos.
Kemp has been known to struggle and it showed early on as the Chieftains took the game by the scruff of the neck and two quick goals from Brears and Danny Hammond brought the scoreline to 7-5 with just under a minute to play.
Dean Birrell made the decision to pull Andy Moffat for the extra skater but it backfired as Andy Smith netted in the unguarded goal to make it 8-5 and game over.
After the game Birrell said: “We had a bad second period and that’s what cost us. We competed at times, in the third particularly, but that’s not taking anything from Invicta. There were some good individual performances tonight, particularly from Nolan Boike who scored three and set up at least four others.
“Games like that from imports will always make it tough for any side to compete. From our side there were some poor performances from individuals tonight.
“We have Haringey Greyhounds away next week who have struggled this season, but are turning the corner now and we should not underestimate them at all.”
Meanwhile back in Essex, the Chelmsford Warriors hit 10 goals past a lacklustre Lee Valley Lions in a 10-3 drubbing of the East London club. Adrian Woodyard was amongthe scorers again and deservedly picked up the man of the match award.
Sunday night will see both sides in action as the Warriors take on the Bristol Pitbulls at the Riverside in Chelmsford starting at 6.30pm, while the Chieftains head to Alexandra Palace to face the Greyhounds.
Richie Hargreaves has assembled a good blend of experience and youth at the newly formed Pitbulls side and should be a tough test for the Warriors. The Warriors can take heart that they can score double figures without the likes of Gary Brown and Sean Martin, who should be returning to the Warriors line up for the Pitbulls clash.
With the Chieftains travelling away again on Sunday, this will be a perfect opportunity for fans to see the Warriors in what will be an exciting and physical encounter at the Riverside.