News Report

Goals Galore!

Chieftains beat MK Thunder with a great team performance

• admin
• 21 February 2023

We can't believe we're now in the final quarter of the current season, it seems to have gone so fast already. With the home games becoming spaced out towards the end of the season, we've really been missing our hockey fix, so when the opportunity arose to make it to Milton Keynes, we jumped at the chance!

Milton Keynes have a very young side, so it was interesting (and suprising for the travelling away fans) to see ex-Chieftain Captain Julian Smith wearing what looked like the spare shirt of number 8, icing for MK Thunder. Would he be able to help the team with his vast experience?

The first period started, and the Chieftains set out their intentions early. It was very fast-paced. The Chieftains took control, the passing was excellent, the puck seemed to be dancing from left to right across the rink, sometimes right in front of the net, but initially the Chieftains just couldn't find the back of the net. The pressure was mounting on Milton Keynes. There was a scramble in front of the goal. It was difficult to see, but as the players surrounded James Pentecost, it confirmed what the fans thought. Pents had scored the first goal and got himself on the score sheet. Once the first goal went in, this seemed to open up the flood gates! Shortly after Pents had scored, TJ then scored. This was then followed by a goal from Cameron Bartlett. The goals were coming thick and fast. Everytime the Chieftains had the puck, they just looked like scoring. Up stepped TJ to score the 4th goal (and his second of the night). This was then followed by Grant Bartlett scoring, shortly followed by Oli Baldock scoring. Within such a short period of time, the Chieftains were now 6-0 in the lead. Keiran Raynor made it 7-0 with a great goal and after that, MK Thunder changed out their netminder to see if this would stem the flow. The first period ended 7-0 for the Chieftains. A great display of skill and teamwork, a great effort!  It's worth pointing out that Petr Cech pulled off some great saves during the 1st period. It's just that the majority of the traffic was down the other end. In the first period, the Chieftains had 25 shots on the MK goal, and they had just 7 shots on our goal.

The second period followed on pretty much from where they left the 1st period. The Chieftains were definitely in control, and Cameron Bartlett was first to score in the second period to make it 8-0. This was then followed by Grant Bartlett (9-0), and yet another from Cameron (now 10-0). This was definitely a clinical display from the Chieftains, just highlighting how ruthless they can be. Petr Cech was playing his part too, making some great saves, and with the defence supporting him, it really looked like a shut out was on the cards. With a charge on goal, Richie Pickering managed to take a great shot which ended up in the back of the net. His celebration ensued, at speed, he bundled himself into the Chieftains players standing up by the players' bench. A brilliant celebration and you could see what it meant to him! Grant Bartlett managed to score yet another goal towards the end of the second period, making it 12-0 at the end.

The Chieftains gave the away fans an amazing first 2 periods of hockey. As the 3rd period started, MK thunder were attempting to gain control, but the final period seemed to even out more for both teams. At times, it was end to end hockey. Every time the puck was down at the Chieftains' end, you could tell the defence were really working hard to get the shut out, but somehow MK managed to find their way through and get a goal (but this was to be their only one of the night). The scoreline was 12-1 to the Chieftains. However, the fact that MK had scored seemed to spur the Chieftains on even more and they went back on the attack and gained control of the game once again. This additional charge of energy earned Grant another goal (13-1), followed later on in the period by Cameron Bartlett. The third period ended 14-1 to the Chieftains. What a great team performance! The awareness between the players on the ice was fantastic, highlighted by the excellent flicks, tricks and passing. Their hard work had paid off with a great result!

Oli Baldock was awarded Man of the Match to reward him for all of his efforts, well done Oli!

If you'd like to see the stats for the game, just click here.

#LetsGoChieftains #GoalsGalore #LovingRichiesGoalCelebration