News Report

Chieftains Beat Streatham

Chieftains end the league season on a high, beating Streatham 7-2!

• admin
• 14 March 2023

This season has gone so quickly, it's definitely been one hell of a ride! At the beginning of the season, we had an influx of new players. It took a little while for them to gel, but the whole team pulled together and worked so hard all season. The final game against Streatham was to be a showcase of just how far the team had come.

Streatham have already been crowned League Winners. They've only been beaten once in the league this season. That was by the Solent Devils back on the 6th November. Could the Chieftains pull off the impossible and beat them?

As the puck was dropped for the first period, the atmosphere in the Riverside was fantastic. The Chieftains went on the attack straight away,  with only 13 seconds being played of the first period, assisted by Luca Tessadri and Ethan Reid, Grant Bartlett got the puck and fired it at the Streatham net. It went in, the crowd erupted, 1-0 to the Chieftains! What a lightning start!

Streatham went straight on the attack, but the Chieftains got control. The team were playing brilliantly together, supporting each other, defending hard. This was rewarded at 3.21 with another goal by Grant Bartlett, this time assisted by Pents and Cameron. To be up 2-0 at this time was mind-blowing for the fans. The noise levels just kept increasing within the Riverside, it was rocking! Streatham went on the attack again, but the Chieftains were holding strong, the puck going end to end. At 10.55, Streatham managed to claw a goal back. This didn't seem to deter the Chieftains at all. Luca was performing at his usual, extremely high standard. The team were as one, and were managing to create great counter attacks from the Streatham onslaught. Shots on goal for the 1st period were 19 against Luca, and 10 on the Streatham goal. The first period ended 2-1 to the Chieftains.

As the second period started, fans were nervous, Streatham were really applying pressure on the Chieftains, but as per the first period, the Chieftains were able to absorb this pressure and attack when the opportunity arose. At 24.09, Cameron scored a brilliant goal on the breakaway, but fans were shouting at the other end for a different reason. Grant had gone down hard and looked injured. The game was stopped whilst Gemma was rushed out onto the ice. Thankfully, Grant was able to get back up on his feet. The crowd clapped with relief. It was now 3-1 to the Chieftains.

You could tell by this point that Streatham were rattled, the pressure on the Chieftains was immense at times, Luca was absolutely phenomenal, pulling off some great saves, but still the onslaught came, everybody was defending well, but the second period was to be all about the Streatham offence. As the second period was nearing its end, there was a breakaway. Grant managed to get his hat trick at 38.48, assisted by Callum, the Chieftains were really making the most of their chances! Shots on goal for the second period were 29 on Luca, and 8 on the Streatham goal. What a crazy job Luca had done! The second period ended 4-1 to the Chieftains.

The first 2 periods were amazing. The Chieftains were looking in great shape, 3 goals ahead, and to be fair to the team, they didn't look tired, they just needed to hang on for the last period! At 41.16, TJ Fillery scored a fantastic goal, assisted by Casey Wilson and Dan Hitchings, he had so much pace, he flew through the Streatham defence and scored! 5-1 to the Chieftains. The Riverside was rocking once more, this was turning out to be a truly amazing game. Compared to the onslaught of the second period, the third was much more of an even affair. At 50.12, Streatham scored, but only 9 seconds later, Grant Bartlett had managed to get his 4th goal of the night. The crowd was absolutely loving this display from the team, they just looked so deadly on the counter attack, it was now 6-2 to the Chieftains, but the Chieftains still weren't done, they wanted more, and this showed. At 51.42 it was Casey Wilson's turn to get on the score sheet with a cracking goal. It was now an unbelievable 7-2 to the Chieftains. It was end to end action right up until the final buzzer. Shots on goal for the third were 12 on Luca, and 14 shots on the Streatham goal.

The game was all about quality. Streatham had by far the most shots on goal, but the Chieftains had been so deadly on the counter attack: quality netminding, quality defending, and quality scoring! Well done team and especially well done Luca for becoming Man Of The Match.

It might have been a while coming, but it was worth waiting for. This game just showed how much quality there is in the team, and the fans couldn't be more proud of them. With the Cup Finals coming next, what a time to hit form!

We can't wait to see you all at the Riverside on Sunday 26th March.

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

#LetsGoChieftains #PhenomenalGame #BringOnTheCupFinal #AlwaysProudToBeAChieftain