News Report

Chieftains vs Solent Devils

An entertaining and physical game resulting in a superb win for the Chieftains!

• admin
• 14 January 2025

The Chieftains were up against the Solent Devils for their first home game of 2025, with the league being so close at the moment, every win is vital. The Solent Devils are currently only one place below the Chieftains in the league, and all was to play for!

The puck dropped for the first period, and the action was end-to-end from both teams right from the off. Both teams were fighting for control, the Chieftains were making some really creative plays, and their passing was top-notch, but Solent was also defending hard at times. At 07:25, assisted by Cameron Bartlett, Grant Bartlett scored a superb goal to put the Chieftains in the lead. But this turned out to be short-lived. At 07:50, the Solent Devils went on the attack and scored an equaliser, just 25 seconds after the Chieftains. The Chieftains came straight back on the attack, and at 08:08 Solent took a penalty for boarding, this was followed by another penalty at 08:57, when Dan Lackey received a penalty for tripping. It was now 5 on 3, and it didn't take long for the Chieftains to take the lead again. At 09:37, assisted by Cameron Bartlett and Mikey Power, Hallden Barnes-Garner scored to make it 2-1. The end-to-end play continued, with the Chieftains having slightly the upper hand, but only just. At 15:35, assisted by Alan Lack and Cameron Bartlett, Grant Bartlett scored the second of his night, as he let rip with a superb shot to send the Chieftains 3-1 into the lead. The first period ended 3-1, Lawday faced 9 shots, and Solent faced 8.

For the start of the second period, the Chieftains were on the penalty kill, but the team was soon back to full strength, and the open play from both teams continued. During the middle of the period, the Chieftains started to take a lot of penalties, which saw them down to 5 on 3 at one point, but Solent just couldn't get any meaningful shots on goal, and when they did, Jordan Lawday was able to successfully head anything off. The Chieftains continued to push, but even though the second period was really entertaining to watch, no goals came during this period, and it finished 3-1. Lawday faced 14 shots, and Solent faced 12.

The third and final period started with an early goal for the Chieftains. At 41:12, assisted by Cameron Bartlett and Alan Lack, Grant Bartlett scored the third of his night to make yet another hat trick for him, it was now 4-1. Just three minutes later, the Chieftains were attacking the Solent goal, there was a hive of activity around the net, and at 44:35, Alan Lack was able to score unassisted to make it 5-1. It was shortly after this goal that Solent called a timeout. Their netminder was replaced, and they set to regain themselves. The game became a lot more physical, and at 48:41, Connor Hutchinson and Grant Bartlett fought on the ice. This was initiated by Hutchinson, but it was all rather embarrassing for him. It didn't take Grant long to send him to the ground, and it was all over before you knew it. Another skirmish came soon after. There was a coming together of players against the boards. John Connolly appeared to go down on the ice, Cameron Bartlett and Alan Lack were in a huge gathering of players, and both sin bins started to fill up. At 50:53, Solent was able to claw back a goal via power play to make it 5-2. The physical and end-to-end play continued, but it wasn't long to wait for the Chieftains to be the ones on a power play. At 54:07, assisted by Mikey Power, Callum Wells scored from distance to make it 6-2. Just minutes later, the tables had turned once more, it was now Solent's turn to be on a power play. At 58:13, Solent scored to make it 6-3. The Chieftains continued to push for another, but time was running out. The home crowd was chanting out the last ten seconds of the game as Solent went on a final attack, and just at the point of the home fans chanting out '1', Solent scored their final goal of the night to make it 6-4. Lawday faced 14 shots, whilst Solent faced 9.

Alan Lack was awarded Man of the Match for his efforts, thoroughly deserved - he was like a rocket all night, congratulations goes to Grant Bartlett for yet another hat trick!

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

#LetGoChieftains #AnotherGreatWin #RocketLacky